Wichita City Hall -- Wichita KS
N 37° 41.082 W 097° 20.282
14S E 646544 N 4172132
The Romaneasque former City hall building for Wichita KS has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1971. Tread carefully - as you admire this building, some fearsome toothy things are looking back at Y-O-U!!
Waymark Code: WMH16N
Location: Kansas, United States
Date Posted: 05/05/2013
Views: 5
The impressive Richardsonian Romanesque late Victorian Wichita City hall has been serving this community since 1892. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and converted to a museum a decade later.
Blasterz LOVED this courthouse - we like chimeras of all kinds, but it takes a special set of sharp eyes to spy the frightening demons high above the street on the clock tower that seem to the emerging from the stone to rend visitors to pieces.
From the Wichita-Sedgewick County Historical Museum website: (
visit link)
"About the Museum and its Building: Old City Hall
The Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum Association owes its inception to the foresight of the Sedgwick County Pioneer Society, founded in 1919 by Mrs. George Whitney . . . . The Pioneer Society collected and housed artifacts in the Sedgwick County Courthouse . . . The Pioneer Society collection was moved from the courthouse to the hallway above the main entrance to the Forum in 1939.
The idea of creating a new historical museum in the City Building emerged in the 1960s when plans to build a new City Hall left the future of the 1892 structure in doubt. Public support for preserving the building led to a commitment by the City Commission in 1969 that the City Building be maintained for the benefit of the community. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and designated a local historic landmark in 1975, . . . the new museum [opened]on May 3, 1981. . . .
The “Palace of the Plains,” a striking example of the work of architects Willis Proudfoot and George Bird, was Wichita’s pride and joy when completed in 1892. . .
. . .
The building continues as a beacon of historic preservation in downtown Wichita and serves as the museum’s premier artifact." [end]
Here is a link to the National Register nomination form: (
visit link)