Parkview Drugstores Started on this Manheim Park Block

David Smolinsky and his sons opened their first Parkview Pharmacy at 46th and Virginia in 1910. The pharmacy was named for its view of Electric Park, a popular amusement park just to the west. Parkview Pharmacy became a popular gathering place ...

Troostwood Block Offered Shade, Bungalows, and Two-Car Garages

Many homes built in Midtown just after the turn of the 20th century didn’t have garages. But on this Troostwood block built in the 1920s, garages were an advertised feature, even of smaller bungalows, a sign of how dependent residents were ...

On the Edge of Midtown, A Home for Orphan Girls

Where the BMA Tower (One Park Place)  stands today, on a hill at 31st and Southwest Trafficway, Catholic nuns once ran a home for orphans. The St. Joseph Orphan Girls’ Home operated from 1880 until 1960, one of several charitable institutions ...

Levy Meat Company Family Lived on this Volker Block

  Among the earliest homes on this Volker block (36th to 37th, Genessee to Wyoming)  was that of pioneer butcher Isaac Levy. He and his family lived at 3615 Genessee in 1910, when there were only six homes on the block. In the 1920s, developers ...

Hyde Park Block Responded to Changing Residential Trends

  The Alexander Hamilton Apartments, seen in this 1949 Kansas City Star drawing,  were built during the post-war housing crisis. The 70 apartments offered much needed homes in an era where Kansas City residents were being urged to share ...

March 5: Learn About Kessler’s Parks and Boulevards

  News from the Roanoke Park Conservancy Kessler’s Historic Parks and Boulevards: A Green Framework for a Great Kansas City Tuesday March 5, 2019. Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library. Reception: 6:00 pm. Program: 6:30 pm. Noted ...

Old Hyde Park Block Has Seen Many Changes Since Dr. Hunter’s Time

The Main Street edge of this block, like many major streetcar route streets, has long been a commercial block. The top row of pictures shows three of the commercial buildings that once shared the block with two homes. The bottom row shows the ...

Noted Architect Lived on This Roanoke Block of Well-off Families

Architect Olaf Brostrom designed this Roanoke neighborhood residence for himself in 1926. Brostrom was best known for designing churches, for a book on church design, and important buildings like the Armour Bouelvard’s Newbern (Peacock) apartments. ...

One of Kansas City’s Finest Homes Razed in 1912; Replaced by Sunset Hill School

In 1912, Judge A.M. Allen, an early Westport resident who gave him name to the Allen School and the Allen library, had to say goodbye to his much-loved home. “The Old Allen home,” known as the finest in Kansas City, had stood at the northwest ...

Volker Homes Built Around 1910 To Meet The Needs of Immigrants

  Irish immigrant Cornelius Flaherty, his wife Mary and brother-in-law Patrick Fitzgerald lived in this Volker home from around 1920 through the 1940s. Cornelius worked as a foreman at the stockyards and Patrick repaired cars for the Rock ...