Built in 1942 (Streamline Moderne). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
“The Plaza Theater in Burlington, Kansas, at 404 Neosho St., was built in 1942. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.”
Wikipedia article Plaza Theater (Burlington, Kansas), CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 5 National Register listings published here for Coffey County · listed in 2005 · category: Building · built in 1942, Streamline Moderne.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Plaza Theater between 2015 and 2017, burning about 57 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 345 |
| 18 July 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Coffey County | 353 |
| 8 April 2015 | Debris and open burning | 13 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 168 |
| 31 March 2015 | Debris and open burning | 11 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 143 |
| 31 March 2015 | Smoking | 15 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 136 |
| 26 March 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 120 |
| 17 March 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Kansas Forest Service | 97 |
| 16 March 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Coffey County | 126 |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Plaza Theater: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrowhead Sand Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Venture Quarry No. 5 | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Burlington, the town this property stands in, in 105 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 39 thunderstorm wind, 38 hail, 18 flash flood, 4 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 1998 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $1,000,000 | no account filed |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $100,000 | Storm Spotter in Burlington reports that Rock Creek is overflowing into several homes. |
| June 2007 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $100,000 | Numerous roads under water in Burlington and from Burlington to Waverly. |
| May 2004 | Lightning | Burlington | $63,000 | Lightning struck a house and ignited a fire that destroyed most of the house and its contents. |
| June 2007 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $50,000 | Water two feet deep was flowing across 12th road between Wayside and Shetland. Also, 16th and 17th Rd. between Reaper and Quail is flooded. |
| June 2007 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $40,000 | Several gravel roads in the county with water flowing over them at least 6 inches deep. Every unpaved road southeast of Burlington has at least some water running over them. |
| June 2007 | Flood | Burlington | $40,000 | The intersection of 12th and Shetland road and the intersection of 16th and Quail road were both water covered and impassable. Reports of up to 4.5 inches of rain. |
| March 2004 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $25,000 | no account filed |
| October 1998 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Lightning | Burlington | $15,000 | Lightning struck a house in Burlington and started a fire that did considerable damage to the house. |
| June 2007 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $10,000 | Spotter report that one foot of water was flowing over Xeric Road, outside of the city of Burlington. Several hours later, around 11am CST, one to two feet of water continued to flow over county and gravel roads to the east of Burlington. A bit earlier, at 7:14 am CST, water was reported to be running over 22nd Road. At 7:34 CST, Emmer Road between 24th and 25th Streets water covered and impassible. |
| April 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $10,000 | Strong winds tore apart a metal storage building with parts of it striking electric lines and a pickup truck doing extensive damage to the truck. Brick signs at 2 schools were also blown over. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $5,000 | A Dericho wind storm moved northwest to southeast across northeast and central Kansas producing winds of 50 to 100 mph. The high winds caused widespread and significant damage to nearly every county. Numerous power lines were knocked down, trees uprooted with buildings and roofs damaged or destroyed. The most severe damage and highest winds appeared to occur in a line from near Marysville to Westmoreland/Emmett to Topeka to Lawrence. It was likely the worst "straight line" and most widespread wind storm in at least ten years. The local electrical utility, Kansas Power and Light, estimated damages to their system at $10 to $15 million. |
| April 1993 | Hail | Burlington | $5,000 | Soft hail about the size of golfballs accumulated to a couple of inches. No major damage was reported. However locally heavy rainfall caused temporary flooding of low lying and poor drainage areas. |
| May 1999 | Lightning | Burlington | $3,000 | Lightning struck a residence doing an estimated 3 thousand dollars damage to the chimney, roof and electrical appliances. |
| August 2000 | Lightning | Burlington | $2,000 | Lightning struck a house and ignited a fire that caused minor damage. |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $1,000 | High water covering roadways in west Burlington. |
| April 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $1,000 | A wind gust blew a tractor trailer onto it's side. Highway 75 was partially blocked by the trailer. |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $500 | Ditches, yards, and several roads full of water. |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Burlington | $500 | Street flooding occurring in Burlington. |
| September 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $500 | A 6 inch diameter tree branch fell as a result of thunderstorm winds in Burlington. |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | $500 | no account filed |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | A building in town lost its roof. There was also scattered, significant tree damage elsewhere in Burlington. |
| April 2026 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Several large tree branches down across Burlington. One large limb knocked down on top of power lines. Time was estimated by radar. |
| June 2025 | Flood | Burlington | - | Report of street flooding in Burlington. |
| March 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | From personal weather station. |
| May 2024 | Tornado (EF0) | Burlington | - | Emergency manager provided photos of damage that radar suggests could have been associated with a small tornado embedded with a developing line of storms. |
| October 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Estimated 60 mph gusts. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Report of tree damage blocking roadways and a stop sign blown over in Burlington. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Burlington | - | Nickel sized hail and 50 mph wind gusts reported. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Measured on a personal weather station. |
| August 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Measured on a personal weather station. |
| April 2019 | Flash Flood | Burlington | - | Highway 75 was flooded and closed in southern Burlington. |
| May 2019 | Flash Flood | Burlington | - | Highway 75 is closed in Burlington. Multiple roads in Burlington and in the county are closed. |
| May 2019 | Flash Flood | Burlington | - | Several roads under water including US-75. |
| June 2019 | Flash Flood | Burlington | - | A couple of roadways in Burlington were barricaded due to flash-flooding. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Phone line knocked down at 10th and Alleghanet. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Report of 5 inch diameter tree branch broken off a maple tree. |
| May 2015 | Flash Flood | Burlington | - | Flooding ongoing in Coffey county with roads closed in Burlington. At 16th and Angus water was running over the road. |
| September 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Large limbs and trees down causing power outages. |
| September 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | A few trees blew down. |
| September 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Three trees blew down. |
| September 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Lawn furniture was blown off the deck and small tree limbs were broken. |
| September 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Numerous small tree limbs were broken as a result of strong thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Measured wind gust of 66 mph at wolf creek power plant. |
| April 2009 | Hail | Burlington | - | Lasted for approximately 3 minutes. |
| May 2009 | Tornado (EF0) | Burlington | - | A brief tornado touched down in an open field to the northeast of Burlington, associated with a supercell thunderstorm that moved through east central Kansas the evening of May 13, 2009. No damage was reported. The KMBC (Kansas City news station) helicopter and the public observed and videotaped the tornado. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Trees fell down. |
| June 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Trees are uprooted and power lines are down in Burlington. |
| December 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | La Hacienda restaurant, the Burlington Middle School sign, a grain bin at the intersection of Cross and Cleveland, and play equipment at the Trinity Lutheran Preschool were all damaged by the thunderstorm winds. |
| April 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Spotter in Burlington called in 60mph winds estimate. Second spotter, nearby in Burlington, called in damage report, including shingles having been blown from roof and some tree damage. |
| May 2008 | Hail | Burlington | - | Hail reported at both the sheriff's office in Burlington, and two miles west of Burlington at this time. |
| August 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Burlington | - | Wind speeds estimated to be 70 to 80mph by law enforcement, and relayed to the County Sheriff's office. Streets signs and a couple of trees were reported to have blown over in the southwestern portion of Burlington. An officer also reported a trampoline being blown around, and an overturned swing set in the same part of town. |
| July 2004 | Flash Flood | Burlington | - | Water was reported rushing over a county road north of Burlington. |
| May 2003 | Tornado (F0) | Burlington | - | A tornado touched down over open country 5 miles southwest of Burlington. |
| May 2002 | Flash Flood | Burlington | - | Heavy rains produced street flooding in Burlington. |
| April 1993 | Hail | Burlington | - | Hail fell long enough to cover the ground. |
| April 2019 | Hail | Burlington | - | no account filed |
| April 2019 | Hail | Burlington | - | no account filed |
| May 2018 | Hail | Burlington | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | US Post Office-Burlington | 0.2 miles | 1989 |
 | Burlington Carnegie Free Library | 0.3 miles | 1987 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 05000005 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Coffey County | All 5 listed properties in this county. |
Block