KSHS
TOPEKA–At its regular quarterly meeting held at the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka on Saturday, February 6, 2016, the Historic Sites Board of Review voted to forward five nominations to the office of the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C., to be evaluated by its professional staff members. If they concur with the board’s findings, the properties will be included in the National Register. The board also voted to list one property in the Register of Historic Kansas Places.
Nominated to the National Register of Historic Places:
Abernathy Furniture Company Factory (Plant K)
1100 N 2nd Street, Leavenworth, Leavenworth County
Hemmed in at the original site at North 2nd and Seneca streets, the Abernathy Furniture Company (1883) expanded with the construction of a new plant in 1926. Plant K, a complex of four brick buildings located one-half mile north of the existing factory, enabled the company to double its production capacity and to continue the manufacture and distribution of furniture in an era when many of its local competitors were closing operations. Abernathy was among the longest operating industries in Leavenworth and was one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the region. The original factory complex at 200-210 Seneca Street was listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The historic context for Plant K is within the period of significance (1883 to 1950) documented by the National Register nomination, though Plant K’s period of significance begins in 1926 with its construction.
First United Methodist Church of Lawrence Oregon-California Trail Segment
867 US-40 Highway, Lawrence vicinity, Douglas County
This 0.6-acre remnant of the Oregon and California trails network is part of the eastern (beginning) section of the combined trail, which emigrants passed over on the first few days of their journey west. One of the most important resources in this initial portion of the trail was Big Springs, a reliable water source lying approximately nine miles west of these two swales. Active between 1840 and circa 1860, these swales are associated with transportation and exploration/settlement along the combined route of the Oregon and California trails. This site’s location on the trail may suggest the presence of related artifacts. Due to current transportation developments within the immediate vicinity, this site is all that remains of a larger segment.
Eskridge Bandstand
City Park, Eskridge, Wabaunsee County
The Eskridge Bandstand, built between June 1908 and March 1909, stands in the approximate center of Eskridge City Park (established in 1903) and is the park’s focal structure. The park and bandstand are associated with the most vigorous period of economic growth and community development in the history of Eskridge. Built primarily for city band, the bandstand has a long history of use for other public and private social events. The period of significance begins with its construction in 1908 and extends to 1966.
Grandview Terrace Apartments
1736-1748 N Hillside, Wichita, Sedgwick County
Constructed between 1949 and 1950, the Grandview Terrace Apartments are nominated as a rare example of a post-World War II (WWII), private apartment building in the Fairmount neighborhood in north central Wichita. With the influx of WWII veterans and the increase in job opportunities in aviation, the housing shortage in Wichita that began in 1940 and 1941 continued well into the 1950s. Local real-estate women Maud Beech (sister of Beech Aircraft founder) and Marguerite Mollohan took advantage of the unmet demand for modern living. The apartment complex included covered off-street parking as well as a beauty salon, pharmacy, and restaurant. The property is also significant as a distinct 1950 Modern style building designed by Wichita architects Overend & Boucher. The Grandview Terrace Apartments reflect the general tenets of the post-WW II Modern apartment building not unlike the federal housing during and after the war.
Ash-Grove Historic District on East Douglas Avenue
2100 to 2330 blocks East Douglas Avenue, Wichita, Sedgwick County
The Ash-Grove Historic District is nominated for its association with the growth and development of this commercial cluster opposite Wichita East High School. The 2100-2300 blocks of East Douglas Avenue were initially developed during a time when the city was experiencing explosive growth that led to neighborhood and commercial expansion outside the city’s core. Development along this section of East Douglas followed the establishment of Wichita’s “Auto-Row” immediately east of downtown and coincided with the selection of the south side of the 2200 block as home to Wichita’s new high school, built in the 1920s to serve the eastward-marching Wichita population. This growth stalled by the end of the decade as the 1930s ushered in a focus on survival, not expansion. The second wave of development within this district spanned from 1940 to 1960. Wichita’s World War II and post-war growth was related largely to Wichita’s aviation industry. Grove Street, the eastern boundary of the district, served as the north-south thoroughfare connecting the aviation businesses that had developed south and east of the city. Eight new buildings were constructed in this three-block area in the post-war era. The district generally took its current form by 1960.
Added to the Register of Historic Kansas Places:
Coffeyville Municipal Building & Courthouse
102 W 7th Street, Coffeyville, Montgomery County
Completed in 1929, Coffeyville’s Municipal Building & Courthouse is an excellent example of civic architecture of the 1920s. It serves a unique dual function as a city hall and district court in a non-county seat community. The building was distinguished in municipal realms with financing from the city’s electric and light plant, without a cent of tax dollars—particularly significant given that the building was completed just after the stock market crash in 1929. Designed by Coffeyville architect Clare (C. A.) Henderson, in partnership with consulting architects/engineers Owen, Sayler, & Payson of Kansas City, Missouri, the Classical Revival style building maintains a significant degree of historic and architectural integrity. Its interior retains a marble-clad rotunda, terrazzo staircases, coffered plaster ceilings, and pendant light fixtures. The exterior embraces dominant characteristics of the Classical Revival style including symmetrical façades with central entrances, a prominent cornice band, massive Doric columns and pilasters, and delicately carved terracotta and stone panels.
The National Register of Historic Places is the country’s official list of historically significant properties. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archaeological resources. Eligible properties must be significant for one or more of the four criteria for evaluation. Properties can be eligible if they are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. They can be eligible if they are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. Distinctive construction can qualify properties for the National Register if they embody the characteristic of a type, period, or method of construction, or represent the work of a master, or possess high artistic values, or represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction. Lastly, properties may be eligible for the National Register if they have yielded or may be likely to yield information important in prehistory or history. The National Register recognizes properties of local, statewide, and national significance.
The Register of Historic Kansas Places is our state’s official list of historically significant properties. Properties included in the National Register are automatically listed in the State Register. However, not all properties listed in the State Register are included in the National Register. The same general criteria are used to assess the eligibility of a property for inclusion in the state register, but more flexibility is allowed in the interpretation of the criteria for eligibility.
Related Internet Links:
National Register of Historic Places: nps.gov/nr
Kansas Historical Society (National and State Registers): kshs.org/14638
To read drafts of these nominations and links to photographs, see this link: kshs.org/14633 (This is a temporary link to these documents.)