1954 Demolition of the Robert E. Lee Hotel

[FangKC]

I found this interesting article in the KC Free Press on the demolition of the Robert E. Lee Hotel at 13th and Wyandotte--now the site of the subterranean parking lot under Barney Allis Plaza. When it was demolished, the 200-room hotel was 29-years-old.

http://www.kcfreepress.com/news/2010/ap ... ert-e-lee/

Another photo:

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=4

[NDTeve]

Cool story and article. 

[moderne]

Love the metal deco port cochere canopys over the entrances, and is that the Folly in  the background?

[Highlander]

How did a hotel in Kansas City Missouri come to be named the Robert E Lee Hotel?  We may have been a border state but Missouri stayed in the Union the entire war and it's a little odd to see the names of confederate generals in post civil war America adorning buildings anywhere but Virginia and the deep south.

[FangKC]

Yes, that is the Folly in the background.

Perhaps the hotel was giving that name by the property owner who built it. There were a lot of Confederate sympathizers in the Kansas City area.

Even Harry Truman's paternal and maternal relatives, and his mother-in-law, were sympathetic to the Confederate cause.

[aknowledgeableperson]

How did a hotel in Kansas City Missouri come to be named the Robert E Lee Hotel?  We may have been a border state but Missouri stayed in the Union the entire war and it's a little odd to see the names of confederate generals in post civil war America adorning buildings anywhere but Virginia and the deep south.

Don't forget about those Missouri folks that burned Lawrence, KS (movie Ride with the Devil - Frank James - etc.)  And if I am not mistaken isn't there a cemetary just east of here for Confederate soldiers?

From Wiki:
After the secession of Southern states began in 1861, the Missouri legislature called for the election of a special convention on secession. The convention voted decisively to remain within the Union. Pro-Southern Governor Claiborne F. Jackson ordered the mobilization of several hundred members of the state militia who had gathered in a camp in St. Louis for training. Alarmed at this action, Union General Nathaniel Lyon struck first, encircling the camp and forcing the state troops to surrender. Lyon then directed his soldiers, largely non-English-speaking German immigrants, to march the prisoners through the streets, and they opened fire on the largely hostile crowds of civilians who gathered around them. Soldiers killed unarmed prisoners as well as men, women and children of St. Louis in the incident that became known as the "St. Louis Massacre."

These events heightened Confederate support within the state. Governor Jackson appointed Sterling Price, president of the convention on secession, as head of the new Missouri State Guard. In the face of General Lyon's rapid advance in the state, Jackson and Price were forced to flee the capital of Jefferson City on June 14, 1861. In the town of Neosho, Missouri, Jackson called the state legislature into session. They enacted a secession ordinance. However, since the pro-Union state convention had been given the sole power to do such a thing, and the state was more pro-Union than pro-Confederate, this ordinance is generally given little credence. Nevertheless, the ordinance was recognized by the Confederacy on October 30, 1861.

With the elected governor absent from his capital and the legislators largely dispersed, Union forces installed an unelected pro-Union provisional government with Hamilton Gamble as provisional governor. President Lincoln's Administration immediately recognized Gamble's government as the legal government. This decision provided both pro-Union militia forces for service within the state and volunteer regiments for the Union Army.

[phxcat]

Don't forget about those Missouri folks that burned Lawrence, KS (movie Ride with the Devil - Frank James - etc.)  And if I am not mistaken isn't there a cemetary just east of here for Confederate soldiers?

From Wiki:
After the secession of Southern states began in 1861, the Missouri legislature called for the election of a special convention on secession. The convention voted decisively to remain within the Union. Pro-Southern Governor Claiborne F. Jackson ordered the mobilization of several hundred members of the state militia who had gathered in a camp in St. Louis for training. Alarmed at this action, Union General Nathaniel Lyon struck first, encircling the camp and forcing the state troops to surrender. Lyon then directed his soldiers, largely non-English-speaking German immigrants, to march the prisoners through the streets, and they opened fire on the largely hostile crowds of civilians who gathered around them. Soldiers killed unarmed prisoners as well as men, women and children of St. Louis in the incident that became known as the "St. Louis Massacre."

These events heightened Confederate support within the state. Governor Jackson appointed Sterling Price, president of the convention on secession, as head of the new Missouri State Guard. In the face of General Lyon's rapid advance in the state, Jackson and Price were forced to flee the capital of Jefferson City on June 14, 1861. In the town of Neosho, Missouri, Jackson called the state legislature into session. They enacted a secession ordinance. However, since the pro-Union state convention had been given the sole power to do such a thing, and the state was more pro-Union than pro-Confederate, this ordinance is generally given little credence. Nevertheless, the ordinance was recognized by the Confederacy on October 30, 1861.

With the elected governor absent from his capital and the legislators largely dispersed, Union forces installed an unelected pro-Union provisional government with Hamilton Gamble as provisional governor. President Lincoln's Administration immediately recognized Gamble's government as the legal government. This decision provided both pro-Union militia forces for service within the state and volunteer regiments for the Union Army.

In addition to the local confederate history, and the odd fact that we pretty much allowed the myth of the Lost Cause to fester, the hotel seems to have been built at a time of resurgence of the Klan as the cool thing to do.

[moderne]

The Kansas City area was mostly pro confederate.  Don't forget General Order #11 where 20 thousand people were driven from their homes and towns and the homes and towns were burnt down by the union troops.  It could be argued the counties south of Jackson have not recovered to this day.  There are even some towns that vanished so completely their exact sites are not know today.

[WSPanic]

The Kansas City area was mostly pro confederate.  Don't forget General Order #11 where 20 thousand people were driven from their homes and towns and the homes and towns were burnt down by the union troops.  It could be argued the counties south of Jackson have not recovered to this day.  There are even some towns that vanished so completely their exact sites are not know today.

Actually, this was the first reported flash mob in KC history - the Unnion troops were just restoring order.

/Revisionism

[mlind]

True story about my great-great grandfather from a history of Douglas County KS.

"Adam B. Lind was a feisty, red-headed German-speaking Pennsylvania dutchman whose abolitionist sentiments forced him to move from Missouri to Douglas county, KS.  Lind’s quarrels with his pro-slavery Missouri neighbors finally went beyond mere verbal exchanges.  One evening when he and his children were in the wagon returning home from the flour mill, someone concealed in the underbrush fired shots at them.  Fortunately, no one was hit.  This incident forced Lind and his wife, Catherine Eve Falkenstein Lind, to leave Missouri.  They moved near Lone Star, Douglas County, KS, where they bought land."

[NDTeve]

How did a hotel in Kansas City Missouri come to be named the Robert E Lee Hotel?  We may have been a border state but Missouri stayed in the Union the entire war and it's a little odd to see the names of confederate generals in post civil war America adorning buildings anywhere but Virginia and the deep south.

have you been to Southern Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, etc?

[Sportster]

Too bad Simonsen ( and Fang) is dead wrong on location.

For the record, there were four Robert E. Lee Hotels. One in St. Louis, San Antonio TX, Laredo TX and Kansas City.
The Robert E. Lee WAS NOT where the underground parking garage is. Period, paragraph, done.

The underground parking garage was the location of the old Convention Hall, which was demolished in 1935, after Municipal Auditorium was erected. The Robert E. Lee stood on the Northwest corner of 13th & Wyondotte.
This is borne out not only in historic postcards of the day but can be EASILY verified through photographs at MVR.

Nothing sets me off more than false historicization.

Sportster
...lets please be accurate

[ComandanteCero]

The Robert E. Lee stood on the Northwest corner of 13th & Wyondotte.
This is borne out not only in historic postcards of the day but can be EASILY verified through photographs at MVR.

Isn't Barney Allis plaza located at the northwest corner of 13th and Wyandotte?

I must be missing something here....

[grovester]

historical throwdown!

[Sportster]

It was always my understanding the Robt. E. Lee was where the Crown Plaza is now.
Convention Hall took up the entire block where Barney Allis Plaza is now.
So now, I'm lookin around and goin Hmm.
Apologies - I may be eatin crow on this one.
More later.
I take back what I said.

Sportster
...mebbe find some ketchup

[lock+load]

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=4

Looks like the Folly Theater in the background of this picture, so NW corner of 13th and Wyandotte looks correct.

The postcard in the other link would appear to show the same.

[FangKC]

What are you talking about Sportster?  

The old convention hall didn't take up the entire block--just the southwest part--maybe 60 percent of the entire block. And the parking garage does take up more than just the old convention hall site.

This photo link below shows the old convention hall directly west of the Robert E. Lee Hotel on that block during the 1928 convention.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... X=1&REC=13

The following link shows the Robert E. Lee Hotel, across from Municipal Auditorium, after the old convention hall was demolished.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... X=1&REC=19

This link shows the footprint of the old convention center.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=9

Barney Allis Plaza.  You will note that the site of the Crowne Plaza Hotel is shown in this image. It shows that the Robert E. Lee was not there, but the Power and Light Building's power plant.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=5

This image shows the block under construction for the parking garage, which include both the convention hall and Robert E. Lee parcels, as well as others.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=7

[Sportster]

Well you saved me a trip to the library!

In most all of the postcards I have of Convention Hall, it shows streets on both sides - even the RPPC's - which is what led me to believe it took up the entire block. There's even a source that shows it on the site of the present day Crown Plaza, hence my skewed sense of fact.
The Sanborn map pretty much bears out my incorrectness too - thank you for that.
Now I will go back and re-visit my revisionist, false historicization view of this block! 

If anybody has any ketchup or mayo...

Sportster
...crow, table for one

[FangKC]

Sportster, there was an alley that ran along the side of the convention hall between it and the Robert E. Lee Hotel. That's probably want you are remembering as a street.

It's no big deal. I don't remember things accurately all the time. Thus, I constantly have to research details again, because I can't accurately see them in my mind's eye.

Although it's not a complete wash, I found out redoing my research that there was another hotel on the site of the present Municipal Auditorium, on the SW corner of 14th and Central--the Holland House.

http://kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.p ... OX=1&REC=7

The other thing I've noticed is that the old fashioned sketch-type postcards don't always accurately reflect things. Sometimes the artists took liberties. Photographs are more accurate.

[PumpkinStalker]

The other thing I've noticed is that the old fashioned sketch-type postcards don't always accurately reflect things. Sometimes the artists took liberties. Photographs are more accurate.

Absolutely.  Heighth is altered, windows altered.  One of my favorites is Kersey Coates Drive with the stairs coming down from Case Park.  I have some old postcards where this is TOTALLY botched compared to photographs.  The artist will flatten the 3-dness to make it appear LONG and sprawling.