At the end
of Delaware is the old Union Depot, now on the National Register
of Historic Places. The building was completed in 1884, but because
of contract disputes the first train rolled onto the tracks in
November 1888.
In 1984 V.B.
Greenamyre gave the property to the city. Subsequently voters
approved a bond issue and ½ cent sales tax to finance its
renovation and expansion. In 1988 the depot was reopened as Leavenworth's
Riverfront Community and Convention Center, a handsome location
for meetings and conventions of up to 350 people. It also houses
complete health and recreational facilities.
Just south
of the Riverfront Community Center is the Leavenworth Landing
Park which runs for a third of a mile along the Missouri River.
The design of the park focuses on the role of Leavenworth as the
"Gateway to the West", with emphasis on the various
modes of transportation that led to the growth of Leavenworth
as the major jumping off point for settlers heading west. You
may also begin the Wayside Walking Tour at this location.
North from
the former Depot is North Esplanade Street where houses numbered
from 203-515. North Esplanade is designated as a historic district
on the National Register of Historic Places. As you travel north
you will see a vacant lot immediatly to your right, this is where
the Planters Hotel stood for 100 years,overlooking the river landing.
The building
at 203 North Esplanade supposedly once housed one of our city's
finest "palaces of pleasure" and was operated by a proud
madam. In the early days, approximately 120 saloons made up an
important part of Leavenworth's business community. Although before
the Civil War the population never officially rose above 8,000,
the transient population of those who came to work for a few days
or weeks numbered many thousands. These people stayed just long
enough to get a "grub stake" then moved on to homesteads,
gold mines or to oblivion.
