The Kansas City Museum at 3218 Gladstone Boulevard occupies Corinthian Hall — the 1910 Beaux-Arts mansion built by lumber baron Robert A. Long. Designed by architect Henry F. Hoit and named for the six Corinthian columns defining its entrance façade, the roughly 70-room, 35,000-square-foot estate was donated to the city by Long’s heirs in 1939 and opened to the public on May 5, 1940. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the R.A. Long House (1980), the mansion reopened after a multi-year restoration closure (2017–2021), and the museum — rebranded The Museum of Kansas City in 2025 — continues to document Kansas City history for the Historic Northeast neighborhood and the wider metro.

History

Robert A. Long (1850–1934) was one of Kansas City’s most prominent Gilded Age industrialists, having built Long-Bell Lumber Company into one of the largest lumber operations in the country.1 By the early 1900s he had already commissioned Henry F. Hoit to design the R.A. Long Building (completed 1907), the first all-steel-framed building in Kansas City.23 He turned to Hoit again for a grand family residence, and construction on Corinthian Hall was complete by December 1910.4

Long and his family lived at Corinthian Hall for more than two decades. He died in 1934. His daughters, Sally and Loula, transferred the estate to the Kansas City Museum Association in 1939, and the museum opened to the public on May 5, 1940 — initially covering history, science, anthropology, and natural history.56 The Works Progress Administration (WPA) assisted with converting the mansion’s interior into exhibit spaces; the conservatory was adapted as a live-animal learning area for school groups.5

When Science City at Union Station opened in 1999 and absorbed the science programming, the museum refocused exclusively on Kansas City history.5 It closed again in May 2017 for a comprehensive structural and exhibit renovation and reopened on October 21, 2021 after a Stage I restoration.7 In 2025 the institution adopted the name The Museum of Kansas City.58

The building

Corinthian Hall is a four-story Beaux-Arts mansion clad in Bedford limestone with a Carthage stone base and a red tile roof.14 Its name derives from the six imposing 25-foot Corinthian columns that anchor the main entrance façade.1 Architect Henry Ford Hoit (1872–1951), whose firm was then known as Howe, Hoit & Cutler, designed the residence as an explicit statement of civic ambition and industrial wealth.12 At completion in 1910 — the estate, furnishings, and outbuildings cost close to $1 million — it stood among the grandest private homes in Kansas City.1 The mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the R.A. Long House on November 14, 1980 (reference 80002366).9

Key dimensions and features:

  • Roughly 70 rooms across four stories — the HABS survey records “roughly seventy rooms”; popular accounts often cite 7214
  • 35,000 square feet of total floor area (24,292 square feet of livable space)5
  • 3.5-acre estate with original carriage house, conservatory, and outbuildings overlooking the Missouri River valley104
  • Beaux-Arts classicism expressed through the Corinthian-column portico, rusticated limestone base, and symmetrical massing4

Long also retained Hoit for his downtown headquarters and separately developed the Longview Farm estate in Lee’s Summit as a working farm and secondary residence.2

Collections

The museum’s holdings — more than 100,000 objects — were assembled from several sources beginning at its 1940 founding. The Kansas City Museum Association incorporated the Dyer Collection, one of the most comprehensive collections of Native American artifacts in the region, with a strong emphasis on Southern Plains tribes; it was assembled by Indian Agent Daniel Dyer and his wife Ida from the 1880s until Daniel’s death in 1912.11 The museum is actively engaged in repatriation of relevant materials under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which it regards as a human-rights priority.11

Broader collection areas include:

  • Kansas City history — urban development, commerce, and civic life from the town’s founding through the twentieth century
  • Frontier and territorial era — settlement of the Missouri River corridor, the Santa Fe and Oregon trail trade, and the Civil War border conflict
  • American Indian history of the region — pre-contact through the removal era and beyond, with the Dyer Collection as anchor
  • Natural history — geological and biological specimens representing the region’s natural environment (science programming transferred to Science City in 1999)

Renovation

The museum closed in May 2017 after years of deferred maintenance and structural deterioration.67 JE Dunn Construction, with International Architects Atelier, carried out the restoration of Corinthian Hall.10

Stage I addressed the mansion’s envelope and primary interior spaces. The work — approximately $24–25 million, funded through KCMO voter-approved General Obligation Bonds and private contributions — was completed in 2021.108 The museum reopened on October 21, 2021 after what organizers described as seven years of effort in which “over a thousand hands” — electricians, plumbers, craftspeople — touched the building.7

Stage II targets the remaining campus structures: a James Turrell Skyspace, the JewelHouse (a re-envisioning of the former conservatory), the Carriage House, and the Lodge, along with the carpenter’s shed, pergola, and perimeter fence and gates. Funding draws on a combination of public and private sources, including State of Missouri appropriations; Carriage House exterior restoration and Lodge rehabilitation were completed in 2025–2026, with further scopes proceeding as funding is secured.108

See also

Sources

Footnotes

  1. KC Yesterday — “The Story of Corinthian Hall.” — asserts: built 1910 for Long as a statement of wealth and civic ambition; named for the six 25-foot Corinthian columns of the front facade; Bedford limestone with a Carthage stone base and red tile roof; over 70 rooms; construction took nearly three years and the completed estate cost close to $1 million; Long-Bell grew into one of the nation’s largest lumber producers; Long helped finance the Liberty Memorial and co-founded the American Royal. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. Wikipedia — “Henry F. Hoit.” — asserts: Hoit (August 4, 1872 – May 30, 1951); joined Howe, Hoit & Cutler on arriving in Kansas City in 1901, later Hoit, Price and Barnes (1919); designed the R.A. Long Building (1907), Corinthian Hall, and Longview Farm. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Wikipedia — “R. A. Long Building.” — asserts: completed 1907 as Long-Bell Lumber headquarters; the first all-steel-framed building in Kansas City; NRHP-listed January 8, 2003 (ref 02001683). ↩

  4. Library of Congress — Historic American Buildings Survey No. MO-1863, “R.A. Long House (Corinthian Hall) (Kansas City Museum of History and Science).” — asserts: construction ended December 1910; architect Henry Ford Hoit, FAIA; buff Bedford limestone facade, shallow hip roof in red tile with copper flashings; “roughly seventy rooms”; 26-by-50-foot marble entrance hall; period-style interiors by William Baumgartner & Company; 40-by-121-foot carriage house. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  5. Wikipedia — “Museum of Kansas City” (article renamed from “Kansas City Museum” 2025-05-05) — asserts: Corinthian Hall built for Robert A. Long, completed 1910, architect Henry F. Hoit; 35,000 sq ft total, 24,292 sq ft livable; daughters Sally and Loula transferred the estate to the Kansas City Museum Association in 1939; museum opened May 5, 1940; WPA labor helped convert the mansion to exhibits and the conservatory became a live-animal space for school groups; Science City’s opening ended science programming at the museum; closed 2017, reopened October 21, 2021; NRHP-listed as R.A. Long House, ref 80002366. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  6. Missouri Preservation — “Robert Alexander Long Mansion ‘Corinthian Hall.’” — asserts: 70-room Beaux-Arts mansion by Henry Ford Hoit; deeded by the family to the Kansas City Museum Association and subsequently the City of Kansas City; years of public use and inadequate maintenance took a toll (watch-list entry); 2021 McReynolds Award for the restoration. ↩ ↩2

  7. KCUR 89.3 — “It took 7 years and ‘over a thousand hands’ to restore the Kansas City Museum” (2021-10-14) — asserts: closed for repairs since May 2017; reopened October 21, 2021; “over a thousand hands have touched this building” (executive director Anna Marie Tutera). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  8. The Museum of Kansas City (official) — “Restoration & Rehabilitation.” — asserts: Stage I cost approximately $25 million, funded through public and private sources including KCMO General Obligation Bonds; Stage II covers the Carriage House, Lodge, JewelHouse (former conservatory), carpenter’s shed, pergola, paddock area, and perimeter fence/gates, funded in part by the State of Missouri; 2025–2026 work included Carriage House exterior restoration and Lodge rehabilitation; future scopes proceed as funding is secured. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Missouri SHPO — Jackson County National Register listings index — asserts: “Long, R. A., House, 3218 Gladstone Blvd., Kansas City (11/14/80)”; corroborated by NPS NPGallery NRIS record 80002366, npgallery.nps.gov. ↩

  10. KC Studio — “Kansas City Museum Announces Stage II of Ambitious Restoration.” — asserts: Stage I (Corinthian Hall) opened October 2021 at approximately $24 million, funded partly by KCMO voter-approved General Obligation Bonds; the property is a 3.5-acre estate; Stage II includes a James Turrell Skyspace and re-envisioned JewelHouse and Carriage House; International Architects Atelier and JE Dunn Construction on the project team. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  11. KC Studio — “The Collections of the Kansas City Museum: Preserving History into Perpetuity.” — asserts: collection of more than 100,000 objects; the Dyer Collection assembled by Indian Agent Daniel Dyer and wife Ida from the 1880s until his death in 1912, strong in Southern Plains material; museum repatriating American Indian materials under NAGPRA as a stated human-rights priority. ↩ ↩2

See also

Categories
  • Wiki Page
  • Building
  • Historic Northeast
  • Gilded Age
  • Pendergast
  • Modern

On the record — ks.city/wiki/buildings/kansas-city-museum · last revised 2026-08-05