The Kansas City Workhouse is an 1897 limestone structure located at 2001 Vine Street in the historic 18th and Vine District of Kansas City, Missouri, originally designed to resemble a medieval castle. Built by architects A. Wallace Love and James Oliver Hog during the Romanesque Revival period for $25,700, the four-story structure was constructed with yellow limestone quarried by inmates who would later be held within its walls. Originally functioning as a city jail for petty offenders, vagrants, and debtors, the workhouse employed prisoners in labor—women sewed uniforms while men worked for the city's public works department. After closing in 1924, the building was repurposed numerous times before being abandoned in 1972. Listed on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places in 2007, the structure stands as a significant remnant of the city's 19th-century justice system and architectural heritage.
