Keen Kutter Building facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Keen Kutter Building
|
|
|
U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
|
 |
|
 Location in Kansas
|
|
| Location | 830 East First Street, Wichita, Kansas |
|---|---|
| Built | 1906 |
| Architect | Mauran, Russell and Garden (St. Louis) |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
| Part of | Wichita Historic Warehouse and Jobbers District (ID03001172) |
| Added to NRHP | November 21, 2003 |
The Keen Kutter Building is a historic building in Wichita, Kansas. It was once a large warehouse for hardware tools. In 2003, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means it is an important place in American history.
The building has four stories and a tall water tower. This tower helped power a special sprinkler system to fight fires. Today, the tower is a well-known part of the city's skyline. In 1999, the building became the Hotel at Old Town. Inside the hotel, you can see a huge collection of old Keen Kutter hardware tools.
Contents
A Look Back: The Keen Kutter Story
This building was originally owned by the "Morton Simmons Hardware Co." You could even see the Keen Kutter logos on its water tower. Keen Kutter was a famous brand owned by the Simmons Hardware Company.
How Hardware Was Sold
Simmons was one of the first companies to sell hardware all over the country. They used a special book called the "Hardware Encyclopedia." This book was like a huge catalog with thousands of pictures. Customers could pick what they wanted from the catalog. Then, the items were sent by train directly to one of their warehouses.
This building in Wichita was one of those warehouses. It had nine shipping areas where trains could drop off goods. Today, you can barely see where these train bays were.
Simmons had warehouses in six different states. They sold many things like ammunition, lawn mowers, axes, knives, and other tools. Their company motto was: "If you can't eat it, and it don't pour or fold, it's hardware." This meant they sold almost anything that wasn't food, liquid, or fabric!
Building a Modern Warehouse
The Keen Kutter Building was built between 1905 and 1906. It was designed by architects from St. Louis. The building was made of brick.
The tall water tower was built to be a landmark. On the sides of the building, you can still see faded old logos. These show the names "E.C.Simmons - Keen Kutter" and later "Harwi." The tower's main job was to hold 20,000 gallons of water. This water could be used by sprinklers on all four floors if there was a fire.
This building was very modern for its time. It had electric elevators and an internal telephone system. It even had special call boxes for messengers. The offices were designed to get lots of natural light. They were placed in a long, narrow area on the first two floors. On the ground floor, there was a room to show off the company's products. There was also a comfy room with easy chairs for both customers and employees.
Changes Over Time
In the 1920s, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company started making knives and hardware. They joined with the Simmons Hardware Company. So, this warehouse was used by both Winchester and Simmons.
The Winchester and Keen Kutter brands did well together. But in 1929, they decided to split up. The Simmons company and this building went back to focusing on their main hardware business.
Today, many of the Keen Kutter tools that were once stored and sold from this warehouse are valuable collectibles. There are books that list hundreds of items from the Keen Kutter brand.
After the Hardware Companies
In October 1929, the building was sold to Alfred Jonathon Harwi. He owned a hardware company based in Kansas. The Harwi company had been around since 1875.
Later, a local hotel owner named Jack deBoer bought the building. He decided to turn it into a hotel. The new "Hotel in Old Town" opened in 1999. It has 115 rooms. The hotel has bought what they say is the "largest authentic collection ever assembled" of Keen Kutter hardware. These tools are displayed on every floor, making the hotel feel like a private museum. It focuses on the history of Keen Kutter and old Wichita.
