Muehlebach Hotel

Muehlebach Hotel garage with its landmark sign looking down Baltimore toward the Kansas City Power and Light Building and the Liberty Memorial. The sign and garage were added in the 1950s.

The Muehlebach Hotel is a hotel in Downtown Kansas City that was visited by every President from Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan.

It was the White House headquarters for Harry S. Truman during his frequent visits to his home in nearby Independence, Missouri.

Truman stayed in Independence but conducted business in the Presidential suite in the penthouse. Truman predicted his upset victory to staffers at the hotel during election night 1948 (although he spent the night out of the media spotlight at the Elms Hotel in Excelsior Springs, Missouri).

Truman signed the Truman Doctrine legislation aid for Turkey and Greece at the hotel on May 22, 1947.

During the 1976 Republican National Convention both Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan made pitches for delegates at the hotel.

During the 1928 Republican National Convention held across the street at Convention Hall Herbert Hoover frequented the hotel.

Among its other celebrity guests were Babe Ruth, the Beatles and Elvis Presley.

The original building was built in built in 1915 and it was 12 stories. It was designed by Holabird & Roche and was 144 feet (44m) high and owned by George E. Muehlebach who also founded Muehlebach Beer and built Muehlebach Field. It achieved its greatest prominennce under ownership of Barney Allis. In 1952 a 17-story west annex was added. A parking lot was also added. For a while it was part of the Radisson Hotels chain and was shuttered through the 1980s and 1990s. In 1996 Marriott Hotels bought the hotel imploding the annex for a new modern tower connecting it via a skybridge to its highrise across the street. Marriott preserved the original lobby.

External links

• Truman Library history
• Emporis History
• Kansas City Public Library resources

Coordinates: 39.09941° N 94.58488° W

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