Retracing the History of Kansas City’s Courthouses

By Diane Euston

  The structure of city government in the early years in Kansas City is harder than one may predict to decipher. The common issues we even see today, including the proper development of a city jail, were paramount issues that hit city leaders at the very beginning.

  I get a lot of requests from readers to look into certain aspects of our city’s history, and one of my dear friends from my grade school days at St. Thomas More asked me to explore the courthouses that once existed in our city and where they were. I raised an eyebrow at his request, because I had felt that the history of these buildings was pretty clear.

  However, he was right. The history and the locations of Kansas City courthouses was less than forthcoming in research, and it led me to think about the city jail and other structures that we often don’t think too much about.

  It needs to also be mentioned that our area is especially unique considering there are two courthouses serving the Jackson County area: one in Independence, functioning early as the county seat, and Kansas City, functioning by the 1850s as a court in the western area.

  Rarely do I take requests from friends or readers that turn into a full article, but this question about the functionality of the courts and their purpose in the earliest days of Kansas City was worth looking into.

Through the 1850s: The City of Kansas 

  Imagining what was happening and what was a true priority in the early days of Kansas City is harder than one can imagine. Records indicate that the earliest courthouse was at the southeast corner of 4th and Main, but other records indicate that the early courts were somewhere else.

  The city charter was approved February 22, 1853, officially recognizing the City of Kansas. The area encompassed a quarter mile west of Broadway, east to just past Holmes Road, north to the Missouri River and south to 9th Street.

  Quickly thereafter on May 11, 1853, according to Milton J. Payne (1829-1907), early councilman and later mayor of Kansas City, an “early [prison] of hewn logs, 14×16 feet, was ordered to rebuilt on the riverfront and was completed on July 30th.”

  Milton J. Payne also mentioned that an early council chamber was secured on April 4, 1854 and was located on Front Street, between Main and Walnut “and was fitted with a table and a dozen chairs, costing $19.25.” 

  In 1855, the growth of Kaw Township (now Kansas City) allowed for a court of common pleas to be created. The court held its first term in January 1856 in the council chamber. Milton J. Payne wrote, “The act creating the court required the city of Kansas to furnish a court room and officers and pay half the expenses, and empowered the city to levy a tax of one half of one percent on the assessed value of the property of Kaw Township.”

  By 1856, this location was burned and some records were lost. By October, the city approved $3,500 toward building a City Hall. A two-story brick building with a tin roof, which included the council chamber and an officer “suffice for court purposes and public meetings” was called for.

  In 1860, a market house made of brick was erected on Market Square (now the City Market) east of City Hall, and a courthouse was built at the southeast corner of 4th and Main.

A Push to Permanent Courts: the 1870s

  After the Hannibal Bridge was built across the Missouri River in 1869, the prophecy of Kansas City’s future was at an all-time high; there was little doubt at this prediction not coming true. The courts could see that they needed more space. 

  The people in charge of Kansas City’s future saw the need for more hotels and temporary headquarters. This was true of our early court system, too. 

  The future of Kansas City’s courthouse was intertwined with the history of a hotel that was never to be; the Nelson Hotel at the northeast corner of 2nd and Main was all part of the master plan of Kansas City. 

  In April 1868, an inauguration ceremony for the building of the Nelson Hotel took place. And, just like with the start of large building projects today, “the mayor and common council carried their hand with a spade, and threw dirt quite lively for a few minutes.”

  The hotel project drove real estate prices in the area up considerably; a lot on Main Street that was once $1,000 was selling for $3,000.

  Early descriptions of the Nelson Hotel showcased its prominence in the city, as it was supposed to comfortably fit 200 guests. In September 1868, the Kansas City Weekly Journal reported that it was a “six story building, with a towered roof, and the entire work is to be done in the best possible manner. . . It will cost, when entirely finished, $160,000. . . The roof will be an ornamental one, French in style, and have five towers.”

  The plans of the Nelson Hotel were tasked to Kansas City’s budding architect, Asa Beebe Cross (1826-1894). A St. Louis transplant who got his start by opening a lumber yard in Kansas City in the 1850s, Cross quickly grew to be one of the most respected architects in the city’s history. He designed Wornall House, Union Depot, Sauer Castle, the Seth Ward Home, Vaughan’s Diamond Building, and Vaile Mansion.

  It is said he drew up the plans and executed over 1,000 buildings in Kansas City, but today, only a handful still stand.

  The Nelson Hotel was one of Cross’ early designs, and the newspaper reported, “Mr. A.B. Cross, the architect, has shown rare skill and taste in the design and plans of this edifice, and the ‘Nelson,’ when finished, will be an enviable monument. We are proud to say Mr. Cross is an old citizen of Kansas City.”

  For various reasons including lack of supplies, the Nelson Hotel stopped and started work multiple times. By 1870, the project was still not completed and the city was determined to find an appropriate place for a new courthouse.

  The newspapers reported, “A new court house is much needed. The present tumble-down shanty is a disgrace to our city.”  

  At the northeast corner of Main Street at 2nd, city leaders eyed the incomplete Nelson Hotel and arranged in early 1871 to purchase the building.  By June 1871, work commenced in reconfiguring the Nelson Hotel into Kansas City’s first permanent courthouse. 

  Interestingly, the courthouse  is largely attributed to Asa Beebe Cross; however, after the building was transformed into a courthouse, Cross wasn’t in charge. The job fell to William B. Everhart (1836-1892) who “designed and directed” the building project.

  The three-story courthouse in September 1871 got its dome installed.

  In October 1871, the criminal courts in the central wing on the second floor began holding trials in the building. “The walls and also the ceiling are beautifully frescoed with light lilac, which gives the [criminal courtroom] a subdued bluish light,” the newspaper reported.

  The third floor hosted the circuit courtroom, and the west wing of the second story was the new location of the Kansas City Law Library equipped with 11-foot high built-in black walnut bookcases lining one wall. The sheriff’s office was on this floor along with offices for the courts. The fourth and fifth story had 10 rooms, and the west wing featured 11 rooms for rent.

    One of the largest changes to the building was in the basement. The space was reconfigured so it could be used as a city prison. There, 20 cells made of iron “with all the improvements” would host two prisoners per cell. 

  It didn’t take long for the city to grow out of this large building. By February 1872, the jail was almost at capacity with 39 prisoners. As Kansas City continued to grow into a metropolis, so did the need for a larger space.

A Devastating Tornado Forces a New Courthouse and Temporary Spaces

  On May 11, 1886, downtown Kansas City was changed forever. At about 10:30 in the morning, the sky became densely clouded with an off-green tinge. Forming over the Missouri River, the storm quickly transformed into a full-blown tornado. 

  Without much warning, the tornado made it onto land and into a direct path toward the courthouse. When the building was transformed from a hotel to a government building, many of the beams and supporting structures put in place by Asa Beebe Cross were eliminated in order to make larger spaces. This, it turned out, would be a devastating decision.

  Within a few seconds, the top two floors of the courthouse were blown into unrecognizable pieces. Two victims were claimed inside: deputy sheriff Henry Dougherty and deputy recorder William Hedges.

  Trapped in the basement were five prisoners. All escaped the wreckage and took the opportunity to go on the run. Amazingly, all but one prisoner returned later in the evening. Amazed at their survival and honesty, Kansas Citians brought cigars and fruit to them to congratulate them on their escape – and return.

  The courthouse had $10,000 in “cyclone insurance” that was used to rebuild what they could, but most citizens cried out for a new building altogether. An architect was hired to fix the courthouse. It was decided to remove the destroyed upper levels and only repair the lower two floors. 

  While the courthouse was being fixed up, the probate court moved to Lockwood’s Hall at 5th and Main, and the county clerk moved into the Sheidley Building. The circuit court used the old Bank of Commerce building at 5th and Delaware.

  When the old courthouse completed its makeshift renovations, it was only occupied by the criminal court, county collector, recorder, assessor and probate court. 

  It was clear to all the city leaders that they needed to invest in a new space, especially after a tornado took down a large portion of their first permanent courthouse.

  In March 1890, the city sold the property to the Kansas City Suburban Railway Company for $40,000. By 1891, the old courthouse was transformed into an ice factory and cold storage warehouse.

Building Brand New- The 1892 Courthouse

  In September 1888, architectural plans for a brand-new courthouse were released, showing its “massive and substantial” appearance. Designed by Leo Canmann (1850-1919), an architect who moved to the city just a few years earlier, the new courthouse was built as a showstopper. The location at Missouri Avenue and Oak St. would feature a main entrance off 5th Street where an entrance was to be flanked with granite columns. 

  All rooms were planned to have natural light from large windows, and the first floor would feature the recorder, county court and clerk’s offices, and county inspector. The second floor had four rooms for each of the four judges, and the third floor was to hold the court of appeals, law library, and Judge Guinotte’s probate court.

  The plans were beautiful, Kansas Citians believed, but they weren’t thrilled with the chosen location of the courthouse. The newspaper lamented in 1890,. “Why cannot we take lessons from the growth of cities which we all have seen within a few years and none so remarkable as that of our own. . . Which way is Kansas City to grow? South, to be sure. The geographical center is now Twentieth and Grand Avenue.”

  They certainly were right, but city leaders just didn’t listen even then. This was the prime mistake of leaders as the city’s population began to boom and the boundaries of the city were rapidly moving south- they continued to build city buildings in the old heart of the city. In August 1890, the Kansas City Journal wrote, “There have been too many mistakes made in the location of buildings, such as the old courthouse, the new courthouse, the Exposition building, the Centropolis hotel, the Warder Grand Opera House and others. The business interests of the city are moving south, and not north.”

  Alas, the city continued with their plans and began construction of the new courthouse. Many people believed that Asa Beebe Cross was in charge of the new building, but this wasn’t the case. Cross was “supervising architect” to Leo Canmann who did extra work when needed for Cross. Canmann told the newspaper, “The plan was prepared entirely by me, Mr. Cross having nothing to do with it, and I put a great deal of study and work upon it. I consulted the county judges and others in order to obtain as near as possible an idea of what was wanted.”

  Learning from past mistakes, the new courthouse, Romanesque in style, featured outside foundation walls eight feet thick at the base and four feet thick at the top. The first floor had three-foot thick walls. On the roof, “not a pound of wood was used;” instead, 525 tons of steel beams and fireproof terra cotta with slate were installed.

  By February 1892, two “high speed” elevators guaranteed to run 300 feet per minute were added to the building. By April, the transition to the completed building was underway. The Kansas City Star reported April 8, “The old furniture was moved to the new building, the county court being too poor at this time to buy new.”

  Interestingly, the new courthouse was not built to house the criminal court system.  For $39,000, the county judges purchased a piece of ground at the southwest corner of Missouri Avenue and Oak diagonal from the courthouse for a criminal court and jail building. Designed by Adriance Van Brunt (1836-1913), the criminal court building featured a tunnel from the courthouse to the jail. The building was three stories high with 240 cells on the second floor divided by classes. 

  When the new courthouse was in use, there were still delays in opening the new jail and criminal court; prisoners were moved on June 20, 1892 from the basement of the original courthouse to their new accommodations. 

  The new courthouse cost upwards of $500,000 while the criminal court and jail building cost $135,000. A new City Hall was also built at its prior location at the current-day City Market between 4th and 5th Street on Main in 1892.

An Art Deco Courthouse for the Ages

   To no surprise, the city once again lamented at the lack of space in the 1892 courthouse. Several features in the original design were overlooked. There were no jury rooms, no rooms for witnesses and they were becoming concerned with the fire risks. 

  By the 1920s, it was certainly turning true that the city moved south, just as people predicted a century earlier. The location of the courthouse at 5th and Oak was a long way away from the southern city limits of 77thStreet. 

  Judge Elihu W. Hayes told the Kansas City Post in June 1925, “The location of the courthouse was a sad mistake at the beginning.” The judge mentioned the jail was overcrowded and the number of judges presiding (four judges in 1892 versus 19 judges and four commissioners today!) had greatly increased to fifteen presiding. “We need most of all a new courthouse, in a more suitable location, and a new county jail,” he lamented.

  Talk of a new courthouse as part of a bond issue for $5 million dollars began in 1926, and in addition to a new courthouse downtown, it included a new hospital and a new courthouse in Independence. 

  Where to build it was a question; a community group suggested it should be built between 8th and 15th Street in between Broadway and Locust.  In June 1926, they settled on the location at 11th and Locust where the old Central High School stood.

  But it wasn’t to be; over half the voters said no to the bond issue, and it required 2/3 of the vote to pass.

  Then, the Great Depression created another delay.

  In 1931, presiding judge Harry S. Truman began his own campaign to see that the new courthouse was built. He drove his own automobile over 2,400 miles looking at different public and private buildings. In addition, he had several architects draw up plans.

  In March 1931, Truman picked his favorite drawing – a 12-story Art Deco masterpiece that would flood the city’s skyline at 12th and Locust.  It included a jail on the top floor for 500 prisoners that would have a special elevator that had two stops- the criminal court and the jail. 

  At the time, the city only suggested that a half a block of real estate be used for the project, and Truman wasn’t happy about it. “I can’t conceive of putting a building like that on a half block of ground,” he told the newspaper.

  And it was to be so; the city purchased a city block between Oak and Locust from 11th to 12th Streets before the 10-year plan went to a vote. The architects for the exterior were Wight and Wight, the architects of the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art; the plans came from Keene & Simpson, the designers of the courthouse in Independence and the Hall of Waters in Excelsior Springs.

  The land cost the city $1 million dollars, and the building was projected to cost $4 million. On May 26, 1931, the bond issue passed with four to one voters in favor of the new courthouse. Two years later, the buildings at the site, including the old Central High School, were leveled to the ground.

  The 28-story art deco building was dedicated December 27, 1934 with Harry S. Truman, a newly-elected senator, presiding over the ceremony. It was one of his last official duties before he left for Washington, D.C.

  City Hall was completed in 1937, and in 1938, the final of the civic center buildings was finished when the Kansas City Municipal Court opened northeast of the Courthouse at 500 E. 11th Street.

History Holds On

  Just last month, taxpayers approved a public safety sales tax to build a new city jail, finally replacing the outdated and overcrowded one that taxpayers also approved back in 1931. To be clear, the Police Headquarters building, finished in 1938, also had a jail on its upper floors.

  If history tells us anything, it won’t be long before there are cries for an updated courthouse. The question may be whether the city will want a brand-new building, likely putting in danger the future of our recognizable court building and City Hall that make up the larger downtown civic center.

  The history of our court buildings proved to be an interesting one, as the strides toward building a metropolis mirror the strides of having a dedicated courthouse to match the city’s progress. The current building, recognizable on the city’s skyline, likely wouldn’t have been possible without the drive and determination of the future resident of the United States, Harry S. Truman. 

  There he stood at the fifth and final courthouse dedication in 1934, just days away from being sworn  into the Senate. Many identified this as being the third courthouse, but in actuality, research proves this was the fifth courthouse. Truman once said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

  Those words still ring true today.