Hoit, Price & Barnes was a prominent Kansas City architectural firm in the early 20th century. It designed several skyscrapers and mansions, including three of the current ten tallest buildings in Kansas City: the Kansas City Power and Light Building, 909 Walnut, and Oak Tower.
History
The history of Hoit, Price & Barnes has its roots in Boston, where Harvard graduates William R. Ware and Henry Van Brunt established the firm of Ware & Van Brunt in 1864. Frank M. Howe joined the firm in 1868. When Ware became the founding chair of the School of Architecture at Columbia University in 1881, the firm became Van Brunt & Howe. They opened a branch office in Kansas City in 1887. Van Brunt died in 1903. In 1904, the Kansas City firm of Howe, Hoit & Cutler was established when Howe partnered with employees Henry F. Hoit and William H. Cutler, both graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In 1901, Van Brunt & Howe received the commission to design the Palace of Varied Industries building at the St. Louis World’s Fair. Cutler was the head draftsman and recommended that they hire Hoit to take charge of the job. Hoit was his former classmate at MIT and was living in Boston at the time.[1] Soon after, Van Brunt retired, creating the firm of Howe, Hoit & Cutler.