Built in 1837 by Captain Joseph Parks, a merchant of Westport and head chief of the Shawnee Indians, who led a company of Shawnees in United States service in the Seminole War in 1837. He was a man of education of mixed white and Indian blood. His grave at Shawnee Kansas is marked with the Masonic emblem.

Albert Gallatin Boone, a grandson of the immortal Daniel, in this building operated an outfitting store for wagon trains, 1854-1859. He was an agent for southern immigration when Westport was headquarters for pro-slavery advocates in the contest for domination of Kansas.