Progress!

Take a look at the progress on the Argentine Smelter section!

The smelter is one of the main causes for the growth and development of the then independent town of Argentine. It remains a symbol of the industrial roots of the neighborhood that although not entirely visible today, still remain, hidden in plain sight.

The first wave of American settlement came with the erection of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. Then, in 1880, the Consolidated Kansas City Smelting and Refining Company established its plant in Argentine. Immigrants from near and far came to work on the railroad and at the smelter. Soon, a township developed. At its height in 1898, 1,000 men were employed, and the plant produced one-fifth of the nation's total lead output, along with one-twelfth of all the gold and one-eighth of the silver produced in the country.

The smelter was closed down in 1901 as it became cheaper to outsource ores and minerals. This, along with small recurring floods, caused a financial crisis in Argentine, which would in turn provoke its annexation into Kansas City, Kansas in 1910. The smelter stood until it was removed in 1958. Now an old memory, it came back into discussion when the EPA orchestrated an environmental cleanup of the site in the 1990s due to the then ongoing contamination of local water and soil from remaining heavy metal deposits. The site of the smelter remained vacant until developers opened a Neighborhood Walmart in 2014 as an attempt to tackle the lack of grocery stores in Argentine.

Take a look at how artist Jose Faus restores this historically important section of the Anthology of Argentine Mural! Compare the current photos to those from 27 years ago!