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Longview
Farm was the country estate of Kansas City lumber baron
and philanthropist, R.A. Long (left top) (1850–1934).
Long’s city home was Corinthian Hall,
now the Kansas City Museum. He
also built the city’s first skyscraper, the R.A. Long Building, at 10th
& Grand as headquarters for his Long-Bell Lumber Co. As a
leading philanthropist, Long spearheaded the drive to build the Liberty Memorial after World War I.
Longview Mansion and 50 other farm
structures were constructed in just 18 months between 1913 and June 1, 1914. More
than 50 Belgian craftsmen and 200 Sicilian stonemasons were among the
2,000 workers employed to turn 1,780 raw acres into “The World’s Most
Beautiful Farm.”
Long’s
daughter, Loula (left bottom) (1881–1971)
and her husband Robert Pryor Combs lived at Longview. For
65 years she competed in and won international horse shows in New York, Canada and England. She
became known as the Queen of the American Royal and is in the Madison
Square Garden Hall of Fame.
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