Pinckney Historic Walking Tour

Sunday, October 1st, 3pm to 4:30pm

Originally known as "West Lawrence" or the "West End," the historic Pinckney neighborhood was not separated from Old West Lawrence until highway construction after 1950. The history of this area near the Kansas River dates back to the earliest settlement of Lawrence. One of the first dwellings on the town site was the Achilles Wade cabin. Wade's daughter said that Wade chose the location because of a nearby "spring of clear, cold water pouring out of rock on the bank of the river."

Although the Wade cabin has not survived, several of the historic residences in the neighborhood were constructed during the "town-building" boom after the Kansas Pacific Railroad reached Lawrence in 1864. Other residences were constructed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This walking tour will focus on the history of the area as well as specific buildings in the neighborhood. Today there are two historic districts in the east part of the neighborhood and many historic houses and sites such as the old Lawrence Brick plant and the old Walruff brewery can be found throughout the neighborhood. Famous residents of the historic Pinckney neighborhood include KU Chancellor Frank Snow and G. A. "Dolly" Graeber, the hero of the 1903 Kansas River Flood.

This tour will begin at the Constant Park parking lot on the northeast corner of 6th and Tennessee Street. We will proceed north on Tennessee, west on 4th to Indiana, south to the old West End grocery, then east on the north side of 6th Street returning to the parking lot (approximately 8 blocks).

Dale E. Nimz is an architectural historian and historic preservation consultant. In 2004 he led the team that prepared the feasibility study for the Freedom's Frontier: Bleeding Kansas Heritage Area. Nimz has taught courses at the University of Kansas and Washburn University. He has served on the Lawrence Historic Resources Commission. Nimz has a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in United States and environmental history and an M.A. in historic preservation from George Washington University.

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