He Built in the Path of Progress: Asa Beebe Cross

Intensive and biographical article about the career of Kansas City architect Asa Beebe Cross, or Asa Cross (1826-1894), with photos and descriptions of his local buildings, including the Eisen Building at 7th and Broadway Boulevards and many more well-known buildings of the area, mostly demolished because of their location before the historic preservation movement in the 1970s, with photos of the Vaile Mansion, Vaughan's Diamond building, and the Saint Patrick's Church and Parish House. This article discusses the merits of historic preservation in general and compares Asa Beebe Cross's architecture in Kansas City to other documents of the past. Among his buildings mentioned locally are the following: Vaughan's Diamond building in 1869 at the Junction, the 1878 Union Depot, the 1871-1872 and 1892 Jackson County Courthouses, the 1887 Keith and Perry building, the 1878 Saint Patrick's Church, the 1881 Vaile Mansion, the 1885 Bank of Commerce, and the 1883 Gillis Opera House.