North Esplanade Historic District
The North Esplanade Historic District was designated as the first historic district in the city on December 12, 1977. It consists of fourteen residences and the North Esplanade Park, stretching four blocks along North Esplanade Street between Ottawa Street in the north to Seneca Street in the south. Historically, this district has been a popular residential area for upper and middle class businessmen. North Esplanade Street was originally known as Main Street, and it follows the bluff line above the Missouri River. This area of Leavenworth was in the original 320 acre town plat that was filed in the Surveyor General’s Office at Fort Leavenworth on December 20, 1854. The individual lots in these four blocks were originally twenty-four feet wide, and 125 feet deep, bounded on the west by an alley fourteen feet wide. The west side of the street has always been a residential district, and the first houses on the street were relatively small, and served as working men’s homes or boardinghouses. Larger structures were built from the 1860s through the 1880s, and many of the owners were managers of commercial and industrial enterprises. Many of Leavenworth’s leading businessmen lived here in the 1880s and 1890s. The structures listed below as a part of the district, are all set back approximately the same distance from the street and were built before 1900. The houses on North Esplanade are differentiated from others in northeast Leavenworth by their size, well-maintained appearance and yards, and common relationship to the street and park. It is one of the most cohesive, unified neighborhoods in Leavenworth tied together visually by the North Esplanade Park.
North Esplanade Park
Part of the original town plat, the park is the oldest public park in Kansas. It is a beautiful grassy expanse overlooking the Missouri River and into Missouri, with trees along the street. Playground equipment is at the north (since 1973) and south ends of the park, and a sidewalk with park benches and vintage-style lampposts (c. 1999) runs throughout the length of the park. Two historical audio way stations are in the park. The southern station documents Bleeding Kansas and the northern one provides information on the Anthony family, including Colonel Daniel R. and Susan B. Anthony, who were brother and sister. Colonel Anthony lived in the house directly opposite this station at 417 North Esplanade and his sister visited here often.
Winfield Denton House
515 N. Esplanade
Mid 1880s
This irregularly shaped house is located at the southwest corner of Ottawa Street and North Esplanade. It is a large, two-and-one-half story white wood frame structure with some of its wood detailing still intact. Winfield Denton purchased the property in 1886. Together with Elmore W. Snyder, who owned 409 N. Esplanade, the two men were the proprietors of Kansas Central Elevator, located just down the street to the north of the district.
James McCahon House
507 N. Esplanade
Mid 1860s
The McCahon home is a two-and-one-half story clapboard structure, formerly painted white. The one-story screened porch across the east façade of the house is not original. James McCahon, an attorney at law, bought the property in 1865. He died in 1871 and his wife Martha lived here as a widow until 1883. Another well-known Leavenworth citizen who resided here in the early 20th Century was Otto H. Wulfekuhler. He was born in Germany in 1865 and was a life insurance and farm loan agent.
Alvin Woodworth House
501 N. Esplanade
mid 1860’s
The Woodworth House is a two-story brick structure, with a hip roof and Captain’s or widow’s walk. In the 1890s, a large bay window was added to the dining room and a small bay window was added to the living room. Two other prominent Leavenworth citizens resided in this home. Adolph (Adolf) Lange, Sr. added the north wing and the bay window off the sitting room in the 1880s. The home remained in the Lange family until 1960. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Stanley, Jr. lived in the home for approximately 40 years beginning in the 1960’s. Judge Stanley was a United States District Judge, and served with distinction in the
Armed Forces during two world wars but he is famous locally for his participation in the last actual calvary charge during the pursuit of Pancho Villa in the early 1900s.
George Ross House
417 N. Esplanade
early 20th Century
The original two-story home on this property belonged to Daniel R. Anthony and was built in the early 1870s. At approximately the same time, Samuel Cochran, a wholesale grocer and capitalist purchased a two-story home next door at 419 N. Esplanade. D.R. Anthony started in insurance and was an early editor and proprietor of The Leavenworth Times and an early postmaster. His sister, suffragette Susan B. Anthony, visited him often on the Esplanade. Colonel Anthony, owing to his sister’s fame, championed women’s suffrage as a U.S. Senator. After his death in 1904, his wife Anna O. Anthony continued to live in the home for another ten years. By 1914, George Ross owned the Cochran home just north of the Anthony house. When Mrs. Anthony decided to move to California, she sold her home to Mr. Ross. An architect determined that the Anthony house was structurally sound and to make the home more suitable for the Ross family, the Cochran house was razed sometime after 1915. The north half of the present structure was constructed as an addition to the Anthony home. The entire house was then stuccoed and a new roof and sun porch was added.
Elmore W. Snyder House
409 N. Esplanade
Mid 1880’s
This Victorian home is a large, two-and-one-half story irregularly shaped wood frame (clapboard) structure. It has a rounded tower on the northeast corner and a one-story porch across the east façade. Elcana Hensley, President of the Kansas Insurance Company, built the home in 1871. In 1885, banker E.W. Snyder purchased the home. Born in New York State in 1850, Mr. Snyder came to Leavenworth in 1883 and worked in the grain business with the firm of Snyder and Denton (see 515 N. Esplanade). In 1888 the Manufacturers National Bank was organized, and Mr. Snyder became its president. Thirty-three years later he was the oldest bank president in Kansas. In 1893, he and Senator Vinton Stillings (see 303 N. Esplanade) built the Terminal Bridge over the Missouri River for $1.2 million. This brought two railroads to town and made a highway to Platte County, Missouri.
Lewis Burnes House
403 N. Esplanade
late 1860’s
This two-story federal-style brick home has a hip roof with wide bracketed cornices. Its original red brick has been painted white and it probably had cosmetic alterations in the early 20th Century. The room on the north side of the home was added in 1997, and the garage extension was added in 1998. Lewis Burnes, a lawyer, built the home c. 1865 and lived here until 1874. Additionally, John C. and E.B. Ketcheson lived in the home between 1875 and 1881. In 1882, John built another home and both men moved into this house at 309 N. Esplanade.
William Small House
321 N. Esplanade
c. 1871
This two-story home was probably built c. 1871 by Joseph C. and Mary H. Irwin, but underwent extensive exterior alterations in the early 20th Century including the addition of stucco, a red tile roof and an L-shaped porch. In approximately 1887, prominent businessman William Small and his wife Zephy purchased the house. William Small and Company was the largest real estate company in town. Mr. Small also helped organize and was the President of Leavenworth and Mexico Agricultural Company, which owned and grew coffee on 1,100 acres in Mexico. Mr. Small was known for his honesty and generosity. His wife carried on his philanthropy after his death by founding the William Small Memorial Home for Aged Women at a cost of $50,000. It still exists at 711 N. Broadway Street and was converted to 26 apartments in the mid-1980s after years of neglect.
L.G. Terry House
317 N. Esplanade
c. 1865
This two-story Victorian brick home was built c. 1865 for L.G. Terry. The principal exterior features include a two-story bay window on the south side and a widow’s walk over the porch on the east façade. This wood porch with four columns is not original to the house and the entire house has been painted white. On the interior, the home has its original gas furnace with gravity feed water radiators, nine foot ceilings, maid’s quarters, an Italian marble fireplace, butler’s pantry, and leaded glass transoms. Mr. Terry was the Superintendent of the Kansas Stage and Omnibus Company and died in the early 1880s. In approximately 1884, his widow took over as the proprietor of Leavenworth Bus Transfer and lived in the house until 1908.
William Small House
313 N. Esplanade
c. 1880s
This smaller two-story wood frame home has a one-story wood veranda on the east façade. William Small, a dealer in dry goods with Small, Ramsey and Vories, built the home circa 1883.
Ketcheson House
309 N. Esplanade
c. 1882
John C. Ketcheson, a printer, purchased the three lots that comprise this property in 1877 and built this large irregularly shaped two-story white frame Queen Anne Victorian house in 1882. The structure of the home has changed little since then. Its principal exterior features include the octagonal three-story tower on the east facade, the rounded veranda also on the east facade, two-story bay windows on the east and south sides and leaded glass windows in the original dining room. The property includes a two-story carriage house that also has leaded glass windows. In 1895, Mr. Ketcheson sold the property to Colonel James L. Abernathy, who founded Abernathy Furniture Company in the spring of 1856.
Edward Stillings House
303 N. Esplanade
mid 1870s
This two-story red brick home has a hip roof and wide bracketed cornices. It also features an elaborate one-story wood veranda on the east façade. By the 1970s, the home had been painted white with white trim. Judge Edward Stillings bought the property in 1876. His brothers Ralph and Vinton E. Stillings resided in the home as well and, they too, were lawyers in the firm Stillings and Stillings. A later and very colorful owner was Ferdinand “Jesus” Mella, born in Italy in 1857. As a co-proprietor of the National Hotel during Carry Nation’s visit to Leavenworth in March 1901, Jesus dissuaded her from taking a hatchet to the bar due to his “pleasant smile.” He served three terms on the city council, and was known for his optimism and helpfulness.
E. H. Durfee House
219 N. Esplanade
c. 1872
This two-story Italianate red brick home was originally built by Indian trader E.H. Durfee in 1872 as a rectangular Italian villa with a hip roof, stone window accoutrements and wide bracketed cornices. Probably during the 1920s, major alterations to the exterior incorporated Georgian Revival details and included the application of stucco and the addition of a garage, a new and wider front stairwell and porch, and a sun room. The stucco was sandblasted off of the brick c. 1984, and combined with weather damage to the brick Text-coat was applied for protection, the roof was replaced, and soffit and facia were restored. In 1998 a major addition to the west side of the house added over 1,400 square feet to the home.
E.E. Henry House
213 N. Esplanade
c. 1880
This two-and-one-half story frame house features a one-story veranda across the east façade, and a two-story bay window on the south. The original home was the north portion of the structure and the south part was added at a later date. E.E. Henry, the famous Leavenworth photographer, built the home c. 1880.
C.W.P. Collins Boarding House
203 N. Esplanade
c. 1872
This L-shaped, one-and-one-half story brick apartment was built as a rooming house in 1872. it features a Mansard roof with gabled dormers and a one-story wood porch on the east façade. In 1876, C.W.P. Collins purchased the building. In 1882, ten people were listed in the City Directory as boarders. The Planters Hotel was southeast of the property on the east side of N. Esplanade, until it was demolished in the 1950s. A replica of the “Lincoln” steps from the Planters building will commemorate his 1859 declaration as a candidate for the U.S. Presidency. Up until Lincoln’s Leavenworth visit in December 1859, he had been met by less than enthusiastic support.
Union Depot – 123 S. Esplanade
