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River View
- 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.
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