City guide
12 buildings worth a detour, each with what to look for. Open them on the map, or walk them with the iPhone app, which collects each one you photograph.
The buildings that define the city's architecture.
Carey House, also known as the Eaton Hotel, is a five-story eclectic building completed in 1887 at 525 East Douglas Avenue in downtown Wichita. It was built by businessman and Wichita mayor John B. Carey and anchors Carey House Square District, a contiguous block of late 19th- and early 20th-century buildings. The building is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Register of Historic Kansas Places.
Photo: UNOBUDO , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, also known as St. Mary's Cathedral, is the seat of the Diocese of Wichita in the Delano neighborhood. Designed by Emmanuel Louis Masqueray, it was begun in 1906 and consecrated on September 19, 1912, at a cost of $500,000, with Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore presiding over the dedication before 30 other Catholic bishops.
Photo: Chris Riggs , CC BY-SA 4.0
Comley House is a Queen Anne style building in Wichita, individually listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the Register of Historic Kansas Places.
Photo: Jeffrey Beall , CC BY 3.0
The Kansas Gas & Electric Company Building is an International Style building in downtown Wichita, individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Register of Historic Kansas Places.
Photo: Jon Roanhaus , CC BY-SA 4.0
Built in 1918 as the Lassen Hotel, this 11-story downtown Wichita building was designed by architects Richards, McCarty & Bulford and later renamed Market Centre. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and is also on the Register of Historic Kansas Places.
Photo: Judy Handley , CC BY-SA 3.0
Old Wichita City Hall is an 1892 Richardsonian Romanesque building downtown, designed by Proudfoot & Bird. It's individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Register of Historic Kansas Places.
Photo: Spacefem , CC BY-SA 3.0
The Orpheum Theatre is a downtown Wichita vaudeville house designed by renowned theater architect John Eberson and opened September 4, 1922, funded by a group of local investors. It was one of only three early theaters built with the elements that would soon coalesce into Eberson's signature atmospheric style, and it's now individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Register of Historic Kansas Places.
Photo: Jazz921 , CC BY-SA 4.0
The Sedgwick County Memorial Hall and Soldiers and Sailors Monument, built 1911-13 on the grounds of the Old Sedgwick County Courthouse in Delano, honors Sedgwick County's Civil War veterans. Two local GAR posts first proposed the memorial in 1904, but funding waited until 1911, when the Kansas State Legislature passed a one-time county tax levy to fund monuments in counties with a population over 72,000; the monument was designed by E. M. Viquesney with sculpture by Frederick Hibbard and the W. H. Mullins Manufacturing Company.
Photo: Carptrash , CC BY-SA 4.0
Built between August 1930 and April 1932 at a cost of $1.2 million, the U.S. Post Office and Federal Building in downtown Wichita served as post office, courthouse, and federal office building, and is now the U.S. Courthouse for the District of Kansas. It was produced under supervising architect James A. Wetmore's office and is part of a group of Kansas post offices recognized on the National Register of Historic Places for their artwork.
Wichita High School is a 1911 Collegiate Gothic school building downtown, designed by William B. Ittner, a nationally significant school architect. It's individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Register of Historic Kansas Places.
The Wichita Scottish Rite Center began life in 1887-1888 as the YMCA's Building, designed by Wichita architects Proudfoot & Bird in the Romanesque style. The Scottish Rite Freemasons bought it in 1898, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 as the Scottish Rite Temple.
Photo: Judy Handley , CC BY-SA 3.0
Fine buildings that fewer people seek out.
Completed in 1914 at 220 S. Main Street, the Wichita City Carnegie Library Building is a two-story, limestone Beaux-Arts civic building in Wichita's central business district, just south of the old City Hall. After the 1966 Central Library opened, it served as city offices and municipal court, then became home to the Wichita Omnisphere and Science Center starting in 1976.
Photo: Judy Handley , CC BY-SA 3.0
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