The postcard of the Helmers Manufacturing Company at 908 W. 8th, the Intercity Viaduct with horse-drawn vehicles, and the Missouri River in the background was mailed from Kansas City in 1913. Henry J. Helmers, great-grandfather of some of the present owners, opened his furniture business in Leavenworth, Kan. in 1875. He came to Kansas City early in the century to establish a distribution warehouse. Looking for a location, he chose the site pictured because it was on the Interurban Line to Leavenworth. The viaduct had not been built at that time. The site was that of the Fisher Brothers sawmill of the 1860's. Logs were floated down the Missouri to the mill and cut into lumber. The Helmers factory in Leavenworth was a long three-story building. The same architectural plans were used for the Kansas City structure, by cutting the plan in two and placing one half the building over the other. Plans had to be revised slightly when in 1907 Eastern investors began building the viaduct, and Helmers property was in its path. A corner of the building would have to be nipped off.The furniture factory and the Kansas City warehouse were operated by the same Leavenworth employees, who made the trip back and forth to their homes in Leavenworth by the Interurban Line. After the viaduct was built a stop was made at Helmers and steps were built down to ground level. The viaduct was built as a toll bridge, but was not a financial success. It was sold to the cities, Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., in 1918 for $1,775,000, said to be about half the original cost. Toll gates went down and tolls were removed.In 1969 the name of the viaduct was changed to Lewis and Clark. It has been widened several times, street car tracks removed and the roadway improved for the heavy load of today's traffic. The Helmers Manufacturing Company is presently liquidating furniture operations in Kansas City. Kansas City Times. September 2, 1983
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