A plaque by the door at 13416 Santa Fe Trail Drive calls it the Ann Huseman building. The plaque dates it to the 1870s, and Johnson County property records say 1890. Either way, the Johnson County Post counts it among the oldest commercial buildings still standing in Lenexa. Since September, its shelves have held bread mixes, cheeses, pickled vegetables, pies, and cider from the Louisburg Cider Mill.
That's The Peddler's Daughter, a general store that spent about two decades on Merriam Lane in Kansas City, Kansas, before moving to Old Town Lenexa. It arrived at the right moment. Lenexa's holiday calendar now sends kids, families, and adults 50 and older to the same corner of Santa Fe Trail Drive and Pflumm Road, a block the city first platted in 1869. The traffic signal planned for that corner is still waiting on a railroad review.
The block Lenexa started on
According to the city's own history, Old Town is the original Lenexa: a one-block townsite along Santa Fe Trail Drive, platted by Octave Chanute in 1869. The original plat markers went in in 1996. The street is named for the Santa Fe Trail, but the Lenexa Historical Society places the actual route about a mile southeast. The trail ran through Lenexa from 1821 to 1880, and the railroad replaced it as the 1870s began.
The tracks are what built the block. In May 1906 the Strang Line interurban ran its first train into Lenexa, and it served the town until 1940. Its waiting station now sits in the historical complex at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park. The Legler Barn shares that complex. Adam Legler built it in 1864, it was taken apart in 1972 and rebuilt at the park in 1983, and today it houses the city's history museum and archive.
The railroad still shapes the block today. That's why the last piece of street work on Santa Fe Trail Drive has dragged on, as the final section explains.
Walking the storefronts by address
The commercial stretch is short enough to cover on foot in a few minutes. Here it is from west to east:
- Jerry's Bait Shop, 13412 Santa Fe Trail Drive. The Johnson County Post names it as one of The Peddler's Daughter's neighbors.
- The Peddler's Daughter, 13416 Santa Fe Trail Drive. Owner Tami Gochenour stocks mostly goods sourced from nearby Amish and Mennonite communities, plus candy, pies, and Louisburg Cider Mill cider and craft sodas. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. It's closed Mondays. This space is smaller than the old KCK store, so the garden and prepared-foods sections didn't come along.
- The Krumm Building, 13420 Santa Fe Trail Drive. It was finished in 1910. The historical society says it housed Krumm's Store and Krumm Hall, and over the years a grocery, a VFW, a furniture shop and law offices.
- Maps Coffee, 13440 Santa Fe Trail Drive. The Johnson County Post calls it Maps Coffee & Chocolate.
Krumm's Store and a later grocery once operated two doors down, so a country store selling cheese and cider fits the kind of everyday trade this block was built around. Gochenour told the Post that most of her early customers in Lenexa were longtime regulars who followed the store from KCK, along with some new faces.
The corner building that anchors December
At the east end of the block, at Santa Fe Trail Drive and Pflumm Road, is the Old Town Activity Center. The city held its grand opening and ribbon-cutting on June 10, 2025. After the former Senior Center was razed in late 2024, its programs moved into a new addition called the Haskins Wing, built for adults 50 and older. The west side of the building was fully renovated for camps, early childhood programs and school-age activities.
This is the center's second holiday season, and the city's 2026 holiday roundup, published Nov. 2, starts more of the season here than at any other city building:
- Crafty Kids Workshop, Mondays, Nov. 30 through Dec. 14, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Kids make a handmade holiday gift. $35, registration required.
- Holiday Lights Tour, Dec. 1, 4:30 to 9:45 p.m., leaving from the Activity Center. It's a guided bus tour of holiday displays around Kansas City with music and sing-alongs, for ages 50 and older and their family members 8 and up. $44, registration required.
- Candy Cane Hunt, Dec. 18, 9 to 11 a.m. Kids 6 and younger hunt outside at 9 a.m., then come in for milk and cookies, crafts, stories and music with Mr. Stinky Feet. Free, no registration, and a parent or guardian must attend.
- Kids Night Out, Dec. 18, 5 to 9 p.m. Gym games, ornament making and a holiday movie for kindergartners and older. $25, registration required.
- Jigsaw Puzzle Tournament, Dec. 28.
Dec. 18 is the busiest day on the block. Families can drop by for the morning candy cane hunt and come back for the evening drop-off. The Peddler's Daughter is open that Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., so a stop between the two works well.
Where Old Town fits in the rest of Lenexa's season
Old Town handles the small-scale part of Lenexa's December. The bigger crowds gather at City Center and Sar-Ko-Par, and the dates fit together on one calendar:
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 20, 5–9 p.m. | Sip, Mingle & Jingle, with craft vendors | Lenexa Public Market |
| Nov. 21, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. | Holiday Farmers Market | Lenexa City Hall |
| Dec. 4, 6 p.m. | Sar-Ko Aglow Lighting Ceremony | Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park, 8801 Greenway Lane |
| Dec. 5, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | Holiday Kid Makers Market | Lenexa Public Market |
| Dec. 6, 13 & 20, 12:30–2 p.m. | Santa at the Market | Lenexa Public Market |
| Dec. 12, 6:30 p.m. | City Center Live: Mandolin Orchestra of Kansas City | Lenexa City Hall |
| Dec. 19, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. | Holiday Farmers Market | Lenexa City Hall |
Sar-Ko Aglow is the event most closely tied to Old Town's history. At the Dec. 4 lighting, Mayor Sayers flips the switch, and there's hot cocoa, carolers, and visits with Santa and Mrs. Claus. The lights stay on nightly through Jan. 18, 2027, in the same park where the Legler Barn and the Strang Line waiting station now stand. The Old Town Activity Center and the Legler Barn Museum & Depot are both closed Nov. 11 for Veterans Day.
The intersection still waiting on the railroad
The storefronts and the activity center are ready for the season. Santa Fe Trail Drive is only partly done. The city lists the Santa Fe Trail Drive Improvements Project at $1,094,961 on a 2024–2026 schedule, and the street and trail work is finished. Two pieces remain: a new traffic signal at Santa Fe Trail Drive and Pflumm Road, and ADA ramp upgrades at Pflumm and at Noland. Railroad coordination has delayed both. In the city's Oct. 22, 2026 update, office check plans were set to go to the city once comments from the city and BNSF on the field check were addressed.
That signal will go in at the Activity Center's corner, where the Candy Cane Hunt families and Lights Tour riders will arrive this December. The city itself says the signal and ramps are needed to accommodate continued growth and development in Old Town.
Parking is the next project. The Old Town North Parking Lot Project is budgeted at $2,205,030 on a 2026–2027 schedule, with Hg Consult, Inc. as the contractor. It follows the city's 2016 A New Look at Old Town study, which recommended a second drive connection to the public lot behind and north of the stores, plus a redesign that could add spaces. As of October 2026, final plans were in progress, utility relocations were expected over the winter, and construction was expected in spring 2027. This December, the lot behind the shops is in the same layout it has had for years.
On a December Saturday, a cheese and cider run at The Peddler's Daughter fits in its 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours, and Maps Coffee is a few doors east. The bottle of Louisburg cider on that counter comes from just down K-68 in Miami County.
The cider in that Old Town shop comes from the Miami County farmland we know well. If you've been wondering what your Johnson County home is worth now, or what a few acres closer to the orchard would look like, The Benjamin Team would be glad to sit down with you this season. Request a free consultation and home or land valuation.
