A Moment in Time

"Kansas Stone"

November 1995
By Sue Novak

A monthly series from the Kansas Historical Society

The Docking State Office Building, First Church of Christ Scientist at 1329 Washburn in Topeka, Stoffer Science Building in the campus of Washburn University, Penwell-Gable Funeral Home in Topeka, Shawnee County Courthouse, Holy Name Catholic Church in Topeka, Eisenhower Library in Abilene, and Blake and Fraser Halls at the University of Kansas--as different as these building may look and as varied as their functions, may be, all have something in common. They were constructed by the Topeka firm of J.T. Lardner Cut Stone, which has been supplying cut stone to the Kansas market for more than ninety years.

The company's history harkens back to its founder, James Thomas Lardner, who was born in 1880 in Port Colborne, Ontario, and was the grandson of an Irish immigrant who helped build the Erie Canal. The family moved to Topeka when James was nine months old, and as a young man he worked as a monument cutter with Charles W. Guild. The J.T. Lardner Cut Stone company was founded in the first decade of the century. James died in 1967, but his sons Charles, James, and Joe have continued the tradition with the cut stone and monument businesses. The company has been involved with the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial on the statehouse grounds, and it generously donated limestone to face the abutments of an 1870s bridge that was to be located on the grounds of the Kansas History Center.

To the distinguished list of Kansas structures on which Lardners has worked can now be added the Kansas Historical Society's new Center for Historical Research at 6425 S.W. Sixth Avenue in Topeka. This grand building, adjoining the Kansas Museum of History and part of the Kansas History Center, showcases Cottonwood limestone on its exterior facade and on its interior lobby walls, all of which was quarried from the Lardners' own quarry at Cottonwood Falls. The company always has advocated the use of Kansas limestone, which the workers believe is the best available. Lardners also provided for the research center, at its own expenses, a special honed surface to the stone to reduce potential soiling and moisture penetration.

Kansas limestone, which contains and represents so much of the state's prehistory, is an appropriate material for a complex that is dedicated to Kansas's rich, more recent, history, The Center for Historical Research is able to show off his beautiful cut stone to all patrons who use and enjoy the center's facilities and services. The research center house the society's extensive library, archives, manuscripts, and photograph collections, in addition to its archeology, historic preservation, education/outreach, publications, historic sites, and administrative resources. For more information about the building and the services available from the Kansas Historical Society, contact Rebecca Martin at 785-272-8681, ext.426; TTY 785-272-8683.