Mary Jo Draper

Morley Family, Midtown Builders and Architects: Tales of Passion and Tragedy (Part 1)

Leave a Comment / All Posts / By

(Part 1) People searching for the history of their homes hope to find a good story, and here’s a great, if rather tragic, one for the folks in Midtown.  It’s the story of  Washington Irving Morley, an architect who designed a number of homes in Midtown in the early 1900s. In the Valentine neighborhood, for example, Morley’s […]

Morley Family, Midtown Builders and Architects: Tales of Passion and Tragedy (Part 1) Read More »

Morley Family, Midtown Builders and Architects: Tales of Passion and Tragedy (Part 2)

Leave a Comment / All Posts, Buildings and Architecture, People / By

In Part 1 of this post, we met the athletic and successful Morley family. Father P.J. Morley built a number of houses in Midtown. His son, Washington Irving Morley, became a popular architect, designing 15 homes in the Valentine neighborhood.  But things would turn bad for Irv Morley. What went wrong, according to Morley’s own

Morley Family, Midtown Builders and Architects: Tales of Passion and Tragedy (Part 2) Read More »

Volker Developer Fred Bonfils Lived a Colorful Life

1 Comment / All Posts, Buildings and Architecture / By

This photo shows 4118 Mercier in 1940. When the developer of Bonfils Place in the Volker neighborhood died, the Kansas City Journal called him “one of the most colorful survivors of the Old West.” Fred Bonfils, who gave the subdivision his name, started a lottery in Kansas to buy property in Kansas City and helped

Volker Developer Fred Bonfils Lived a Colorful Life Read More »

Conversations with Scott Burnett

Leave a Comment / Essential Character / By

Scott Burnett, a longtime resident of the Roanoke neighborhood,  is conducting audio interviews with interesting people in Kansas City.  So far, he’s talked to the owners of Fric and Frac, a Volker gathering place, and Kerry Browne and John McClain, owners of Browne’s Irish Market, the oldest Irish business outside of Ireland. Follow the conversations here.

Conversations with Scott Burnett Read More »

New Demolitions Proposed in Valentine Neighborhood

Leave a Comment / Neighborhoods / By

Kansas City Life Insurance has recently requested demolition permits for four buildings in the Valentine neighborhood. These are in addition to the 23 buildings they tore down and are in the two blocks south of where the previous demolitions occurred.  On Feb. 28, the Historic Preservation Commission will hold a hearing on new demolition permits

New Demolitions Proposed in Valentine Neighborhood Read More »

Valentine Demolitions Part of Discussion on Vacant Land Tax

Leave a Comment / All Posts / By

As demolitions of homes in Valentine continue, the mayor is stepping up talk about reducing the burden of privately owned vacant lots on neighborhoods. One idea – taxing vacant lots and buildings to encourage their use. The Kansas City Star reported on the issue on Nov. 25, 2024. “Something like a vacant land tax could

Valentine Demolitions Part of Discussion on Vacant Land Tax Read More »