John B. Wornall, prominent resident of Westport and early Kansas City, is known to most Kansas Citians because of a road that bears his name and for his early home on that road recently opened to the public by the Jackson County Historical Society. In Liberty he is known for his close association with William Jewell College and for Wornall Hall, which was built and named in his honor after his death, which occurred in 1892. Mr. Wornall, a distinguished Baptist churchman, first became a member of the college board of trustees in 1859. He served 25 years as chairman of the board. His son, John B. Wornall II, and later a grandson, John B. Wornall III, attended Jewell. Each served as trustees of the institution. Wornall Hall, a 3-story brick structure of pleasing design, was built four years after the death of the senior Wornall and housed the president's office and science laboratories on the first floor, classrooms on the second and a large auditorium on the third. It was William Jewell's first auditorium. The building was destroyed by fire in 1913, the year the old post card above was mailed from Liberty. Lightning is believed to have been the cause of the fire. Gano Chapel, dedicated in 1926, was built almost over the spot where Wornall Hall had stood, on the brow of the hill. Part of the stone work of Wornall Hall's foundation remained in sight just east of Gano Chapel, and a 30-foot bench of concrete in the shape of a J (for Jewell) was constructed on it to cover the remains of the old foundation. It remains in use today. Kansas City Star, December 9, 1972.
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