The Felt Block

The Felt Block. . , The Pony Express Museum is housed in the restored Felt Block built in 1880 by Seneca resident Andrew Felt, who later became Lt. Governor of Kansas. The design is an urbane Italianate style using cast iron fronts with applied columns and window caps - all made at a foundry in Seneca. The central entrance with a triangular pediment and stairs serve second floor offices., As Seneca prospered, brick, stone and iron were the preferred building materials. Seneca's early Main Street had hastily built false-front structures as seen in many western movies, but after the Great Chicago Fire of 1870, most prairie towns discouraged wooden structures in their downtowns., The Felt Block first housed a grocery store and the offices and presses of the Seneca Tribune that was established by Mr. Felt. After 1919 the building housed dry goods businesses; the last was Strathman's Variety which offered an array of merchandise for Seneca's fashion conscious. Strathman's closed in the 1960s yielding to chains such as J.C. Penney (two blocks away) which offered catalog items direct from Chicago and New York.