The McConahay Building in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
is a two-story
Tapestry Brick building designed by prominent Kansas City architect
Nelle E. Peters in 1922.
From the building's completion (in May 1922) to June 1923 the McConahay building housed
Laugh-O-Gram Films
The Laugh-O-Gram Studio (also called Laugh-O-Gram Studios) was a short-lived film studio located on the second floor of the McConahay Building at 1127 East 31st in Kansas City, Missouri that operated from June 28, 1921 to November 20, 1923.
I ...
,
Walt Disney's first commercial film studio, which occupied a five-room suite of studios on the second floor. Here, he developed the cartoon character
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...
based on resident mice that he trained. He frequently ate at the Forest Inn Cafe in the building's first floor.
The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
[ The application for listing describes the building as "a fine local example of tapestry brick design architecture; exterior facades are of brickwork interspersed with cut stone and/or terra cotta blocks to form geometric designs".
Historical status generally protects buildings from demolition, but it had deteriorated to the point where this had been considered. A local organization, Thank You Walt Disney, Inc., has acquired the building and is in the process of restoring it.
]
References
External links
''Thank You Walt Disney, Inc.''
1922 establishments in Missouri
Commercial buildings completed in 1922
Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Missouri
Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri
National Register of Historic Places in Kansas City, Missouri
Laugh-O-Gram Studio
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