Westport Historical Society KC - 1855 Harris-Kearney House Museum

10/01/2026

Preserving history takes work—and your support is helping make it happen.

The Westport Historical Society is putting capital campaign funds to work repairing the Harris-Kearney House’s second-floor veranda so it can be safely used again. These photos show the deterioration beneath the surface and the work underway to address it.

This restoration is part of a multiphase preservation project to ensure the Harris-Kearney House remains a place to discover Westport’s history for many more generations to come.

Thank you to our donors, volunteers, and supporters for helping us care for this treasured house. Every contribution helps protect the building and the stories it holds.

https://westporthistoricalkc.org/capital-campaign/

09/28/2026

Don’t forget to sign up!! We still have tickets left for Friday evening.

1 week until spooky season starts! Don’t forget to get your tickets today! Starting with Harris Kearney House tours

09/23/2026

A little Halloween spirit meets a lot of Westport history at the Harris–Kearney House! 🎃

Step inside and explore our Halloween exhibit featuring artifacts from the late 1800s through the early 1900s. See what everyday life looked like in another era—and discover a few surprises along the way.

Visit us every Saturday and Sunday from 1–4 PM. We’d love to see you at the house! 🕯️

09/19/2026

Everyone has a story—and every story deserves to be told.

The Westport Historical Society is pleased to help spread the word about the first Kansas City Archives Bazaar, presented by the Kansas City Area Archivists and the Kansas City Public Library in celebration of America 250 and National Archives Month.

Saturday, October 10, 2026
1–4 p.m.
Helzberg Auditorium, Central Library, Kansas City Public Library
Free admission

Visitors can meet representatives from area archives, learn practical ways to care for and digitize family photographs and papers, tour the Missouri Valley Room Special Collections, and enjoy history-inspired activities and door prizes.

This event speaks directly to our mission to preserve, protect, and promote the history of Westport, the Town of Kansas, and early Kansas City.

Our own historical resources include books about our city’s history and specialized aspects of 19th-century life—including architecture and interior design, gardening, fashion, and textile conservation. We also preserve numerous genealogical files donated by descendants of early Westport families who arrived before 1875.

Do you have photographs, papers, records, or family stories connected to Westport or early Kansas City? We welcome your help in keeping that history alive. Please consider sharing your family’s story with the Westport Historical Society.

Learn more about the Archives Bazaar, including its program and parking information:

https://www.kcarchivists.org/

09/17/2026

The Harris-Kearney House is one of the few examples of Greek Revival in Kansas City. But what does that exactly mean?

When you hear "Greek," you think Greek temples, but it's a little different in American architecture. At the core, Greek Revival is about simple, symmetrical, classically-detailed features. For example, with the Harris-Kearney House:

It's symmetrical. Windows and the front door line up evenly on the façade — no lopsided additions or random windows.

The roof is low and plain, with a wide flat band (the frieze) running under the eaves — echoing the horizontal top of a Greek temple instead of a steep, fussy Victorian roofline.

It's plain and boxy overall — flat surfaces, straight lines, no heavy decoration. Greek Revival leans on proportion and a few bold shapes rather than ornament. (The one exception: the front porch has decorative wooden brackets, likely a later touch of Italianate style layered onto the original house.)

Other prominent Greek Revival buildings in the Kansas City area include the Wornall and Majors Houses. The Wornall House shows off the style's more classic columned entrance, while the Majors House offers a modified take with its recessed two-story porch.

Greek Revival is proof that elegance doesn't need ornament — just the right details.

09/17/2026

Our website is currently experiencing technical difficulties. We’re working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and appreciate your patience!

09/14/2026

What a wonderful weekend celebrating the 47th Art Westport!

Since the art fair was founded by a local group of artists, the Westport Historical Society has proudly sponsored the information booth each year. That tradition would not be possible without the volunteers who generously give their time, energy, and knowledge to welcome visitors and support our Westport community.

These photos show only a few of the many people who helped this weekend, but we are grateful for every volunteer who represented the Society, answered questions, shared Westport’s history, and helped make the weekend a success.

Thank you for showing up for the Westport Historical Society and for the neighborhood we all love. We appreciate you more than we can say!

09/11/2026

Spend the weekend enjoying art and history in Westport!

Members of the Westport Historical Society—proud stewards of the Harris-Kearney House—will be staffing the information booth at Art Westport this weekend. Stop by and say hello!

While you’re in the neighborhood, join us at the Harris-Kearney House on Sunday from 1–4 p.m. for a tour. We’d love to see you!

https://westporthistoricalkc.org/tours/

09/09/2026

Every historic preservationist's favorite resource is the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, a collection of maps from 1867 to 1970 that documented structures for fire risk assessment. While they were made for insurance underwriters, they've become a great way to track how buildings changed over time.

So what do the colors and symbols mean? Let's use the Harris-Kearney house as an example, shown here on the "Insurance Maps of Kansas City, Missouri, Volume One, 1895 (revised to January 1907)." The map shows the house in two colors: yellow and pink. Yellow means wood/frame construction, and pink means brick or masonry construction. The number 2 marks how many stories the building had, and the dashed lines outline lighter, less permanent additions — like porches or sheds attached to the main house. You'll also see small marks like an X at a building corner, which usually indicates a shingle roof.

If you have a Kansas City Library card, you can look up more local Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps here: https://kclibrary.org/digital/fimo

P.S. The map shown here depicts the Harris-Kearney house as it looked in 1907, but the citation says 1895 — so which is it? An amazing archivist solved the mystery for me this morning: because it was expensive to create new maps from scratch, Sanborn would reuse old maps and simply pencil in updates where changes occurred. If you look closely, you can actually see the lighter boxes where corrections were marked over the original.

09/07/2026

Celebrating Our Social Media Team!

On September 3, the newest member of our Social Media Team, RAY KASCKOW, shared a post about a Westport historical topic I had never seen or heard before—which is one of the reasons I loved it so much! It was a wonderful and informative post, and I'm always delighted when we can share something new, even with those of us who think we know a lot about Westport history!

THANK YOU, RAY!

As president of the Westport Historical Society, I want to take a moment to recognize how proud I am of the wonderful work being done by our entire Social Media Team. From time to time, other WHS members have also shared terrific historical information, adding even more depth and variety to what we are able to share with our followers.

Since SHAYNA CURNYN took the lead of our Social Media Team at the beginning of this year, I have received numerous positive comments from people telling me how much they enjoy our page and how much it has improved. The posts are informative, interesting, and—best of all—the topics are wonderfully varied.

And just look at the numbers! Our followers have grown from a little over 200 to 796 in just seven months! I think that is a powerful confirmation that this team is making a real difference—and that people are enjoying what they see.

What makes this team especially successful is that each member has their own interests and areas of curiosity, with the freedom and support to pursue them. The result is a fascinating mix of stories, photographs, facts, and historical discoveries. I look forward to seeing what they uncover and share next!

My heartfelt thanks and congratulations to Shayna Curnyn and her fabulous team—RORY COLLINS, Carol O'Neal Younts, and our newest member, RAY KASCKOW—for their creativity, hard work, and dedication to sharing the history of Westport.

We are very fortunate to have all of you working on behalf of the Westport Historical Society! ❤️

Marty Wiedenmann Jarvis
President, Westport Historical Society

Want to Be Part of the Team?

Love history—or simply enjoy learning something new about the past? Do you enjoy sharing interesting discoveries with others?

If you'd like to help us share Westport's history, architectural details of the 19th century or anything related to the people who lived here, through Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram, we'd love to meet you! We're always looking for people with different interests, perspectives, and areas of historical curiosity to join our Social Media Team.

Interested? We'd love to have you. Feel free to call us or sign up here:

Volunteers are the backbone of the Westport Historical Society. Your efforts help us preserve history and enrich our community. Whether you can volunteer regularly or just for a single event, your contribution makes a difference.