Lion Block

Built in 1887 (Italianate architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

From the record

“The Lion Block, at 216 West Main in Ness City, Kansas in Ness County, Kansas, was built in 1887 and includes, in its parapet wall, a lion carved by stonemason Henry Tilley, for which the building is named. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.”
Wikipedia article Lion Block, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 7 National Register listings published here for Ness County · listed in 2008 · category: Building · built in 1887, Italianate architecture.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 216 West Main, Ness City, 67560
When was it listed? October 2008
Category. building
Township. Center township
When was it built? 1887
Architectural style. Italianate architecture
National Register reference number. 08000986 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Storms near this property

60 of 185 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ness City, the town this property stands in, in 185 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 95 hail, 69 thunderstorm wind, 11 heavy rain, 7 tornado. 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
June 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	$1,400,000	no account filed
May 1996	Hail	Ness City	$1,200,000	no account filed
May 1996	Tornado (F1)	Ness City	$50,000	no account filed
April 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	$15,000	Damage was done to an irrigation sprinkler. A horse barn was lifted and blown over 25 foot high power line.
July 1996	Hail	Ness City	$10,000	no account filed
July 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	$7,000	no account filed
May 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	$4,000	no account filed
May 1996	Lightning	Ness City	$1,000	no account filed
October 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	A public report of a 60 mph wind gust.
September 2021	Heavy Rain	Ness City	-	Rainfall of 2.90 inches was observed.
July 2020	Flash Flood	Ness City	-	Water was flowing across Road R.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Several limbs were broken by the high wind estimated to be 60 MPH.
April 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Winds were estimated to be 75 MPH.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Winds were estimated to be near 65 MPH.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Winds were estimated to be at least 70 MPH.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	A semi was blown over by the high wind.
June 2017	Hail	Ness City	-	The hail was mostly quarter sized.
May 2016	Tornado (EF0)	Ness City	-	This tornado was observed southwest of Ness City but it moved east and may have produced some tree damage. The survey crew could not reach the area of possible tree damage with limited or no access.
May 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Winds were estimated to be 80 MPH.
May 2016	Tornado (EF0)	Ness City	-	This apparently weak tornado moved south-southeast.
July 2015	Hail	Ness City	-	Winds were also 50 to 55 MPH as the hail was falling.
May 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
September 2014	Hail	Ness City	-	The hail covered the ground.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
June 2014	Flash Flood	Ness City	-	Flooding was reported throughout the city.
March 2013	Hail	Ness City	-	Most of the hail was smaller in size.
May 2013	Hail	Ness City	-	The hail was soft.
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
May 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	A large tree was blown down and power poles snapped in Ness City.
June 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	The winds were estimated to be at least 60 MPH.
September 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Large hale bales were blown off a semi trailer on highway 283.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Winds were estimated to be 60 MPH.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Winds were estimated to be 65 MPH.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Law enforcement estimated the wind at 70 mph.
August 2009	Hail	Ness City	-	The hail was accompanied by 60 mph winds.
June 2009	Hail	Ness City	-	The Sheriffs office reported quarter sized hail covering Highway 283 for a 3/4 mile long stretch.
August 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	There was also pea to penny sized hail.
October 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	The wind was measured at a KSNW weatherlab site.
July 2007	Heavy Rain	Ness City	-	There was an unconfirmed report of 10 inches of rainfall overnight.
August 2007	Heavy Rain	Ness City	-	Rainfall of 2.75 occurred in one hour. The tributary of the South Fork of the Walnut near the observers house was running full and strong.
August 2006	Heavy Rain	Ness City	-	4.80 inches of rain fell overnight. At a location 7w and 3n of Ness City the Walnut Creek was flowing where it had been dry for a "long" time.
August 2006	Heavy Rain	Ness City	-	3.00 inches of rain fell overnight.
August 2006	Heavy Rain	Ness City	-	6.00 inches of rain fell overnight. However this amount was estimated since the gauge overflowed.
August 2006	Heavy Rain	Ness City	-	3.75 inches of rain fell overnight.
July 2006	Heavy Rain	Ness City	-	Three inches of rain fell in a short time.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Two dead trees were blown down. A live 9 inch diameter tree branch was broken. Half inch diameter hail also occurred with the wind.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Two to three inch diameter tree branches broken.
June 2005	Tornado (F0)	Ness City	-	The funnel itself did not make contact but the debris cloud was visible during the tornadoes existence.
June 2005	Tornado (F0)	Ness City	-	This was another separate tornado with brief contact with the ground.
May 2004	Heavy Rain	Ness City	-	Watershed ponds filled up and were overrunning.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Numerous large tree limbs were blown down.
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Ten inch diameter tree limbs were blown down
August 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Two large cottonwood trees were blown over.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Four to six inch diameter tree branches were blown down.
July 2000	Tornado (F0)	Ness City	-	Lasted 30 seconds.
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Two inch branches broken.
May 1999	Hail	Ness City	-	Also had 79 mph wind which broke the equipment and the hail broke out windows.
June 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Measured by wind equipment.
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Ness City	-	Four inch tree limbs down.

Every storm recorded in Ness County

Map coverage status

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.

Listed places nearby

1 within 8 miles

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
	Ness County Bank	0.1 miles	1972

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 08000986 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Ness County	All 7 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.