I received E-Mail that said:
The last unknown castle you have listed in Kansas City Missouri was indeed a public works building and was built in such a grand style as when it was erected. The Paseo was the home of the Jewish gentry of Kansas City, who were largely barred from Scarritt and some of the other then fashionable areas of KC. Also nearby was the Millionaires Row of Troost where even one of the partners with the Rockefeller's in Standard Oil lived. At the time Independence Avenue was another affluent address and of course the gentry passed here often as it fed off of the north end of Paseo. So I suppose to have stuck an unglamorous public works building here would have been unthinkable, so big brother chose a very nice castle instead.
Now the grand houses are predominately gone, a few nice ones remain derelict. Nearby Hyde Park, an oasis of affluence in the middle of an urban slum, is again a pricey neighborhood. If you are in KC it is worth the trip to see this castle as it is lovely.
Later, I received E-Mail that said:
I stumbled across your website as I was looking for information on a 'castle' in Kansas City that I have seen time and time again as I pass through the city. You have a picture and brief description of it in your Missouri section. I finally found some limited information about it at the city library. It is referred to as the City Work House (or Vine Street Work House) and is located at 2001 Vine street. It is a former city prison building built in 1897 by architects Wallace Love and James Oliver Hogg. As described in the article, it utilized a steam fan system to provide ventilation. I later found a library web page showing information from a 1969 newspaper article that further describes the building.
On 3-22-11, I received e-mail with this link:
http://kansascityworkhouse.wordpress.com/
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