R.A. Long Building

Long-Bell Lumber Co., Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, UMB Bank, banking services

 

 

Built in 1906 to serve the needs of the growing Long-Bell Lumber Company, R.A. Long envisioned the tower as a statement skyscraper to enhance the developing Kansas City skyline.  The nationally successful Long had an astute sensibility for the built environment, and his vision allowed for the first steel-structured skyscraper in Kansas City.  This decision eerily predated the financial demise of the Long-Bell Lumber Company in the 1920s, as the architectural industry moved in droves to steel materials.  The building’s mix of modern structural design and a classically styled façade had staying power, serving as the first home to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City briefly from 1914 to 1921, and in this century, a home for UMB Bank.