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1901 McGee Street Automotive Service Building

Auto dealerships on the National Register of Historic PlacesBuildings and structures completed in 1912Early Commercial architecture in the United StatesJackson County, Missouri Registered Historic Place stubsNational Register of Historic Places in Jackson County, Missouri
1901 McGee St
1901 McGee St

The 1901 McGee Street Automotive Service Building, located at 1901 McGee St. in Kansas City, Missouri, was built in 1912. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. It is a two-story two part commercial block building, 99 by 111 feet (30 m × 34 m) in plan, built with hollow tile walls by builder/architect C.C. Smith. The building " deftly illustrates the specialized adaptation of a typical main street commercial building for automobile sales and service functions. As the popularity of automobiles soared, real estate investors constructed this building near the heart of Kansas City’s nascent Automobile Row. By blending a traditional commercial façade with physical elements that addressed the specific needs of automobile sales and service, the building met the needs of tenants and consumers. Distinctive features include large storefront windows on the first story, which gave passersby a clear view of the vehicles for sale inside; large expanses of over-sized windows on the second story and skylights in the roof, which provided ample light and ventilation to work areas on the second floor; and an oversized freight elevator capable of transporting vehicles, as well as auto parts, from the back alley to the first floor or the second floor. Most notable, though, is the building’s highly unique structural system, which supplements a typical early-twentieth century masonry and wood structure with massive steel I-beams that span the ceiling on the first floor and distinctive turnbuckle trusses that hang from the ceiling on the second floor. These structural enhancements responded to the very heavy loads the building had to support to serve its intended function. The automotive service building at 1901 McGee Street clearly embodies this type and period of commercial design and is characteristic example of the automotive service buildings that survive from the heyday of Kansas City’s automobile row. The period of significance, 1912 – 1941, reflects the dates of construction and a significant renovation."

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article 1901 McGee Street Automotive Service Building (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

1901 McGee Street Automotive Service Building
McGee Street, Downtown Kansas City

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Latitude Longitude
N 39.090277777778 ° E -94.58 °
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McGee Street 1901
64108 Downtown Kansas City
Missouri, United States
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1901 McGee St
1901 McGee St
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Nearby Places

Crossroads, Kansas City
Crossroads, Kansas City

The Crossroads (officially the Crossroads Arts District) is a neighborhood within Greater Downtown with a population of 7,491. It is centered at approximately 19th Street and Baltimore Avenue, directly south of the Downtown Loop and north of Crown Center. It is the city's main art gallery district and center for the visual arts. Dozens of galleries are located in its renovated warehouses and industrial buildings. It is also home to numerous restaurants, housewares shops, architects, designers, an advertising agency, and other visual artists. The district also has several live music venues. Numerous buildings in the neighborhood are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the TWA Corporate Headquarters Building, Western Auto Building, and Firestone Building. There are two historic groups of buildings also on the Register—Working Class Hotels at 19th & Main Streets (Midwest Hotel, Monroe Hotel, and Rieger Hotel) and Crossroads Historic Freight District (industrial buildings clustered along the tracks north of Union Station).The Crossroads district is also home to one of the county's largest remaining examples of a Film Row district. The Film Row district consists of 17 buildings. Following the demolition of a Film Row building, the Film Row district was placed on Missouri Preservation's 2013 list of "watched properties."The Kansas City Star and The Pitch maintain offices in the neighborhood, along with HOK and Barkley. The Belger Arts Center is also located in the district.