Before Penn Valley Park was created and before the Valentine, Roanoke, Coleman Highlands, and Old Hyde Park neighborhoods were built, the northwest part of Midtown had a vast public park known as Feld Park.
Dr. Joseph Feld, a native of Germany, was one of the earliest settlers in Kansas City and a significant landowner in this part of town. For many years, Feld was the only homeopathic physician in Kansas City. According to his obituary, “he invested his earnings and clung to them,” especially by taking advantage of the real estate boom of the 1880s.
”At his death, he owned property in almost every quarter of Kansas City, on the East side, on the West side, in the East bottoms, in the West bottoms, a farm in Wyandotte County, about forty acres which is known as Feld Park, considerable land in Westport, and valuable property in East St. Louis,” The Star said Feb. 15, 1897.
Feld’s investments did so well that he quit practicing medicine and founded the German Savings Bank in 1884.
Feld lived at 33rd and Broadway, where he owned forty acres covered with trees and grassy land. The area was still relatively inaccessible and undeveloped, lying just across what is now Broadway Boulevard from where the Redemptorist Fathers had settled.
In 1886, Feld opened his park with an “immense dancing structure which will accommodate 1000 visitors,” a lake that had been widened and deepened for boating, and refreshment stands. The Westport streetcar line passed through the south end of the park.
“It would seem impossible to find a more charming spot to spend leisure time in the pure bracing air away from the city’s noise and dust,” the Star raved.
The park became a popular summer resort, drawing military parades, huge Fourth of July celebrations, and even hot-air balloon ascensions. Theater performances, greased pole climbing, and concerts were also held in Feld Park.
Feld eventually donated the park to the city and was incorporated into Penn Valley Park as the city’s Park and Boulevard System was established.
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