August Meyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
August R. Meyer (August 20, 1851–December 1, 1905) was a U.S. civil engineer, founding organizer of Leadville, Colorado and as first president of the Kansas City, Missouri Parks Board was to develop the city's City Beautiful park and boulevard system.
Meyer was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1875 he started an ore-crushing mill at Alma, Colorado and was strike it rich in the Colorado Silver Boom. He and other investors including Horace Austin Warner Tabor were to found Leadville and Fairplay, Colorado.[1] His home in Leadville Healy House is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a museum.
In 1881 he moved to Kansas City. He established the Kansas City Smelting and Refining Company in the Armourdale section of Kansas City, Kansas which was taken over by the Guggenheim-owned American Smelting and Refining Company. He was to be on the board of the Guggenheim smelting company. He would later be president of United Zinc Company.[2]
In 1887 he began pushing for a new park system in Kansas City. In 1892 Kansas City Mayor Ben Holmes appointed him to the city's first park board and he became president. They were to hire George Kessler to come up with the system.
Meyer's home entitled "Marburg" was a three-story, 35-room Germanic castle on eight and one-half acres. After his death, Howard Vanderslice bought the house and estate and donated it to become the Kansas City Art Institute (where after a Wight and Wight addition) it is the school's administration building). It is now called Vanderslice Hall and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Meyer Boulevard in Kansas City is named for him. A Daniel Chester French sculpture to him is at 10th and The Paseo and was dedicated in 1909. The Paseo, one of the designed boulevards is modeled on the Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City.[3]
