The Hotel Savoy at 219 W. Ninth Street was erected in two sections, the first in 1888, and the west section, where the grill is located, in 1903. The promotional postcard pictures the hostelry as it appeared early in the automobile age.The Savoy Grill is still in operation, making it Kansas City's oldest restaurant. In the early days, the grill was for men only; women ate in the hotel dining room. Twelve murals line the walls of the grill. They were painted by Edward Holslag early in his career, and portray the pioneers' departure from Westport Landing and the hazardous trek south and west along the Santa Fe Trail.The first mural, near the restaurant's stained glass window at the entrance, shows steamboats arriving at the Missouri River levee, small dwellings and stores and a hotel, with the rugged bluffs (later the site of Downtown Kansas City) in the background. Each mural tells a vivid story of the arduous journey, with the last one the arrival in Santa Fe. During his career the artist painted murals in banks, theaters and public buildings across the country. The First National Bank of St. Joseph, Mo., has a Holslag mural, as does the Congress Hotel in Chicago. Recently the Savoy murals were cleaned and restored by Anton Rajer. Kansas City Times. March 16, 1984
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