Historic Districts and Historic Homes

The First City of Kansas founded in 1854 and has many historic neighborhoods and districts.

This page includes the city’s eight National Register Historic Districts and eight additional National Register properties associated with the early development of the first city of Kansas and the opening of the western frontier of the United States.  Each of the Districts are linked below and can be printed out at your convenience.  

Throughout those early years, heroes and villains walked these streets and some of the more notorious will show up in association with the city’s early-built environment. This page includes examples of mid-to-late 19^th and early 20^th century buildings that help bring history to the present.

Fort Leavenworth and Eisenhower Veterans Affairs Medical Centers are also National register properties but, as federal reservation land, they are independent of local historic preservation processes.

The districts are walkable.  Most of them are compact and were drawn around a common theme or construction era, except, of course, the downtown area.  The Downtown Historic District reflects the eclectic nature of commercial development from decade to decade as times changed.  It is also the largest geographic district and may require driving from parking lot to parking lot if you want to take a close look at the surviving buildings.

If the locals are out, they are usually happy to speak to you about their homes, but please respect their privacy and their property. The sidewalks are public spaces, yard areas are not.  Thank you for your cooperation and for your interest in our community.  We are very glad you are here and we hope you will enjoy some of the finest examples of early architecture in the state.