Frederick C. Gunn (1865/66?-1959) Papers (KC0305)
Frederick C. Gunn, noted Kansas City architect, came to Kansas City in 1890. His father, Otis B. Gunn, was a young engineer on the Rochester and Niagara Falls Railroad when he married Mary Helen Crosby. They moved to Wyandotte County, Kansas, in 1856 and lived there during the Civil War. Major Gunn was the first member of the Kansas Senate elected from Wyandotte County, later became a major in the 4th Kansas Volunteers, and served on the staff of the war governor, Charles Robinson. Major Gunn acted in the capacity of the chief engineer in the building of Kansas City's Union Depot, played a leading role in the construction of the Hannibal Bridge over the Missouri River, and took an active part in the railroad development of the Middle West. The family moved to Lawrence, Kansas.
Frederick Gunn planned and helped design several Kansas City buildings such as the City Market (1938), the Jackson County Court House (1934), the Mercantile Building at 12th and Grand, the headquarters of the Church of the Nazarene at 2923 Troost, among others. He was in partnership with architect Louis Curtiss in the 1890's, with whom he designed buildings such as the Missouri State Building for the 1893 World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago and the Progress Club. They, together with F.E. Hill, planned Oak Hall for William Rockhill Nelson.
This collection consists of newspaper clippings, one ledger book, diaries, pamphlets, and books written by and/or concerning Otis B. Gunn and his son Frederick C. Gunn. In addition to the papers of father and son, the collection contains daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, and photographs in fragile condition dating from before the 1850s. ca. 1840s-1986.
46 folders.
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updated:
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Kansas City
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