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Town of Kansas by Frederick Emanuel Shane
Photo CreditCarol M. Highsmith Photography
Town of Kansas
Photo CreditCarol M. Highsmith Photography

Town of Kansas

Yearca.1935
Classification painting
Dimensions96" x 69"
Credits New Deal Art Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
  • Commissioned under the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), this mural, Town of Kansas, depicts a scene at the Missouri riverfront of Kansas City in 1850. In 1889, the Town of Kansas was officially renamed Kansas City, Missouri. This mural, along with Watt's Mill, was housed in the 1859 Jail, Marshal's Home & Museum - a site of the Jackson County Historical Society - until 1996 when it was sent to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) in Washington, D.C. for conservation treatment. The GSA's Fine Arts Program, directly responsible for PWAP works of art, funded the stabilization, conservation and subsequent return of the murals to their original geographic vicinity. Installed in 1999, the paintings serve as a reminder of Kansas City's cultural heritage.