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==History==
==History==
[[File:Kansas City Club, Kansas City, Mo. - LOC 4a13242a.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|Clubhouse, 1888-1922]]
[[File:Kansas City Club, Kansas City, Mo. - LOC 4a13242a.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|Clubhouse, 1888-1922]]
In the period after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], most of Kansas City’s existing social clubs were pro-[[Confederate States of America|Confederate]].<ref name=kccbook>Jerry T. Duggan, ''A History of the Kansas City Club: 1882-1982'' (The Kansas City Club: 1982)</ref> A group of progressive businessmen, professionals, and industrialists, including [[Edward H. Allen]], [[Long-Bell Lumber Company|Victor B. Bell]], [[Alden J. Blethen]], [[Thomas B. Bullene]], [[Lathrop & Gage|Gardiner Lathrop]], [[Leander J. Talbott]], [[William Warner (Missouri)|William Warner]], and [[Robert T. Van Horn]], decided to provide an alternative, and organized the Kansas City Club on November 10, 1882.<ref name=kccbook/> Initially, the club met at [[Kersey Coates]]'s hotel on Quality Hill.<ref name=kccbook/> In 1888, the club moved into its first clubhouse, a brick building at the corner of Twelfth and Wyandotte Streets.<ref name=kccbook/>
In the period after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], most of Kansas City’s existing social clubs were pro-[[Confederate States of America|Confederate]].<ref name=kccbook>Jerry T. Duggan, ''A History of the Kansas City Club: 1882-1982'' (The Kansas City Club: 1982)</ref> A group of progressive businessmen, professionals, and industrialists, including [[Edward H. Allen]], [[Long-Bell Lumber Company|Victor B. Bell]], [[Alden J. Blethen]], [[Thomas B. Bullene]], [[Lathrop & Gage|Gardiner Lathrop]], [[August Meyer]], [[Leander J. Talbott]], [[William Warner (Missouri)|William Warner]], and [[Robert T. Van Horn]], decided to provide an alternative, and organized the Kansas City Club on November 10, 1882.<ref name=kccbook/> Initially, the club met at [[Kersey Coates]]'s hotel on Quality Hill.<ref name=kccbook/> In 1888, the club moved into its first clubhouse, a brick building at the corner of Twelfth and Wyandotte Streets.<ref name=kccbook/>


[[Image:Kcclubbuilding.jpg|thumbnail|left|200px|Clubhouse, 1922-2001]]
[[Image:Kcclubbuilding.jpg|thumbnail|left|200px|Clubhouse, 1922-2001]]
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==Notable members==
==Notable members==
* [[Edward H. Allen]], 10th [[List of mayors of Kansas City, Missouri|Mayor of Kansas City]] (1867–68)<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Edward H. Allen]], 10th [[List of mayors of Kansas City, Missouri|Mayor of Kansas City]] (1867–68)<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[[[Long-Bell Lumber Company|Victor B. Bell]], lumber magnate<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Richard L. Berkley]], 50th Mayor of Kansas City (1979–91)<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Richard L. Berkley]], 50th Mayor of Kansas City (1979–91)<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Alden J. Blethen]], newspaper publisher<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Alden J. Blethen]], newspaper publisher<ref name=kccbook/>
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* [[Harry Darby]], [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from Kansas (1949-50)<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Harry Darby]], [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from Kansas (1949-50)<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], 34th [[President of the United States]] (1953–61)<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], 34th [[President of the United States]] (1953–61)<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[John B. Gage]], 45th Mayor of Kansas City (1940-46)<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Ewing Kauffman]], pharmaceutical magnate and owner of the [[Kansas City Royals]]<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Ewing Kauffman]], pharmaceutical magnate and owner of the [[Kansas City Royals]]<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Charles E. Kearney]], early railroad magnate<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Charles E. Kearney]], early railroad magnate<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[R. Crosby Kemper]], banker and philanthropist<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[R. Crosby Kemper]], banker and philanthropist<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[R. Crosby Kemper Jr.]], banker and philanthropist<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[R. Crosby Kemper Jr.]], banker and philanthropist<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Lathrop & Gage|Gardiner Lathrop]], attorney<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Robert A. Long]], lumber magnate<ref>[http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1918ks/biol/longra.html William E. Connelley, ''A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans'' (Chicago: Lewis, 1918)]</ref>
* [[Robert A. Long]], lumber magnate<ref>[http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/archives/1918ks/biol/longra.html William E. Connelley, ''A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans'' (Chicago: Lewis, 1918)]</ref>
* [[August Meyer]], mining magnate<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Ralph Leroy Nafziger]], founder of [[Hostess Brands]]<ref>George Derby and James Terry White, ''The National Cyclopedia of American Biography'' (2012 ed.)</ref>
* [[Ralph Leroy Nafziger]], founder of [[Hostess Brands]]<ref>George Derby and James Terry White, ''The National Cyclopedia of American Biography'' (2012 ed.)</ref>
* [[Tom Pendergast]], [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] political boss<ref name=kccbook/>
* [[Tom Pendergast]], [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] political boss<ref name=kccbook/>

Revision as of 15:33, 7 August 2013

The Kansas City Club
Company typePrivate club
FoundedKansas City, Missouri, 1882
HeadquartersKansas City, Missouri
Websitewww.thekansascityclub.org

The Kansas City Club, founded in 1882 and located in the Library District of Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, USA, is the oldest existing gentlemen's club in Missouri. (The club began admitting women members in 1977.) Along with the River Club on nearby Quality Hill, it is one of two surviving private city clubs on the Missouri side of Kansas City. Notable members have included Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, General Omar Bradley, and political boss Tom Pendergast.

Clubhouse

The Kansas City Club's main entrance on Baltimore Avenue

The club is located in a neoclassical masonry and reinforced concrete building at 918 Baltimore Avenue, which was designed by John McKecknie and built in 1922.[1] It is situated at the corner of Ninth Street across Baltimore Avenue from the Central Library and across Ninth Street from the New York Life Building. The clubhouse previously was home to the University Club of Kansas City from 1922 to 2001 (see below).

The four-story clubhouse contains a dining room, a pub, a library, a cigar stand, full-service athletic facilities, and banquet and meeting facilities including a lounge, a ballroom, and private conference rooms.[2] Two "inner clubs" have their own private lounge and bar spaces for their own members.[2] The athletic facilities include cardio, weight, and strength training equipment, a trainer, a masseuse, hot tubs, steam rooms, saunas, a racquetball court, and two squash courts.[2] Along with the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Pembroke Hill School, the Kansas City Club is one of only three locations in Kansas City with squash facilities.[3]

History

Clubhouse, 1888-1922

In the period after the Civil War, most of Kansas City’s existing social clubs were pro-Confederate.[4] A group of progressive businessmen, professionals, and industrialists, including Edward H. Allen, Victor B. Bell, Alden J. Blethen, Thomas B. Bullene, Gardiner Lathrop, August Meyer, Leander J. Talbott, William Warner, and Robert T. Van Horn, decided to provide an alternative, and organized the Kansas City Club on November 10, 1882.[4] Initially, the club met at Kersey Coates's hotel on Quality Hill.[4] In 1888, the club moved into its first clubhouse, a brick building at the corner of Twelfth and Wyandotte Streets.[4]

Clubhouse, 1922-2001

In 1922, having absorbed several other clubs, and with a membership of more than 600, the club built a 14-story beaux arts clubhouse (the Kansas City Club Building) at the corner of Thirteenth Street and Baltimore Avenue.[4] The clubhouse included a large dining room, several bars, private meeting rooms, a banquet hall, athletic facilities, an indoor pool, six floors of guestrooms, and a rooftop terrace.[4] The club quickly grew and entered into reciprocal arrangements with many other prominent clubs worldwide.[4] Membership was opened to women in 1977.[4]

In 1987, the club had 2,180 members.[5] By 2001, however, membership had dwindled to less than 900.[5] The club blamed the drop in membership on the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which made club dues non-deductible, as well as changes in culture that made young professionals less apt to join clubs.[6] The clubhouse also needed upgrades to its facilities that cost between $5 million and $10 million.[5]

Finally, effective July 31, 2001, the club agreed to merge with the University Club, a private club at the corner of Ninth Street and Baltimore Avenue, and purchase the University Club's facilities, which were smaller and cost only $1 million to upgrade.[5] The merger also infused the Kansas City Club with the University Club's membership of 200.[5] In 2002, a developer bought the Kansas City Club's 1922 building and turned it into loft apartments and a banquet hall, renaming it the Clubhouse on Baltimore.[7]

In November 2012, the club celebrated its 130th anniversary with a charity gala.[8]

Notable members

See also

References

  1. ^ "Library District Walking Tour," Kansas City Library (retrieved Aug. 5, 2013)
  2. ^ a b c The Kansas City Club (Official Website)
  3. ^ United States Squash Racquets Association: Missouri facility locations
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai Jerry T. Duggan, A History of the Kansas City Club: 1882-1982 (The Kansas City Club: 1982)
  5. ^ a b c d e Katie Hollar, "Kansas City Club, University Club will merge," Kansas City Business Journal (July 25, 2001)
  6. ^ Leslie Zganjar, "Kansas City Club has 30 days to decide, University Club president says," Kansas City Business Journal (May 25, 2001)
  7. ^ Rob Roberts, "Owners will convert Gumbel Building into condominiums," Kansas City Business Journal (May 8, 2005)
  8. ^ "Kansas City Club 130th Anniversary Celebration," The Kansas City Independent (November 2012)
  9. ^ William E. Connelley, A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans (Chicago: Lewis, 1918)
  10. ^ George Derby and James Terry White, The National Cyclopedia of American Biography (2012 ed.)

39°06′11″N 94°35′04″W / 39.102931°N 94.584405°W / 39.102931; -94.584405

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