John Johnson Politician
John Johnson (1816-1903) was an architect who designed the original Coates House (which subsequently became the hotel that is on the National Register of Historic Places) and was partially destroyed in 1978 in Kansas City's worst fire that killed 20. He served as the third mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. Johnson was born in England and moved to New York City in the 1840s and then to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He moved to Kansas City in 1852 where he platted portions of the soon to be incorporated community of Kansas. He designed Kansas City's first City Hall at 4th and Main (a two-story brick building that included the police department and jail on the first floor). Johnson resigned 35 days after being elected Kansas City's third mayor. He designed the Coates House in 1857. The foundation would be laid but construction would be delayed after the American Civil War. In 1859 it is believed he moved to Wallula in Leavenworth County, Kansas