117 - Exchange Building, Kansas City, Mo.

The handsome six-story Board of Trade Building at 8th and Wyandotte was built in 1888 by the Chicago architectural firm, Burnham-Root, which also designed Emery-Bird-Thayer’s. The building ws the third home of the Board of Trade. The first exchange, organized in 1869, was housed in a small building near the old Union Depot in the West Bottoms. A year later the exchange moved to the second floor of the Armour Building at 5th and Delaware, near the Missouri River boat dock. The first floor of the building housed the Armour Bank. This location was used by the exchange until 1887, when architects in competition submitted plans for larger quarters. The brick and terra cotta structure pictured in this 1908 post card was the plan chosen. A noteworthy feature was the large exchange room with arcaded windows in the left wing, providing adequate light for a large number of rental offices. When the Board of Trade moved south to its new building at 10th and Wyandotte in 1925, the building pictured became the Manufacturers Exchange Building. It was razed in 1968. George Ehrlich, in his Architectural History of Kansas City, wrote: “The demolition of the Board of Trade Building in 1968 was considered a severe loss, not only o Kansas City’s architectural wealth, but also to American architecture in general.” Today’s Board of Trade Building is at 4800 Main in the Country Club Plaza area. Kansas City Times, August 6, 1982.