Midtown morphed from quiet streetcar suburbs to bustling commercial areas to boarding houses and then reblossomed.
The northwest corner of Westport Road and Main Street is a crucial Midtown intersection. As such, businesses and institutions have always seen the benefit of locating there, at the intersection of two major streets and in the heart of residential neighborhoods. That has meant that the corner has seen a lot of changes over the […]
Businesses Replaced Homes on Westport and Main Streets Read More »
The Roanoke neighborhood, developed from around 1900 to 1920, has always made a solid effort to keep its single-family homes. While other neighborhoods in Midtown often saw their homes divided as rooming houses and later into multiple apartments, Roanoke’s residents were vigilant in preventing that from happening within their boundaries. 1909-1950 Sanborn Fire Insurance map shows
Roanoke Fought Boarding Houses Read More »
In the 1940s, the entire block behind what was then the Rollins School at 40th and Main was a dense cluster of relatively new apartment buildings. Although most of these buildings on our featured block, 40th to 41st and Warwick to Walnut, are gone today, photos from the 1940s remind us of the popularity of
“Modern Apartments” Built on Warwick Read More »
One of Midtown’s most historical corners is the intersection of Linwood and Troost, where a distinctive terra cotta structure, open on the street level, stands on the northeast corner. The area was once part of a very exclusive section of Kansas City known as Millionaires Row, where families tired of living in the crowded city moved
Changes at Linwood and Troost Read More »
Modern offices and commercial buildings today dominate the streetscape just east of the Country Club Plaza, where small homes and apartment buildings stood 75 years ago. The block of the Country Club Plaza (from Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard to Brush Creek, from Grand to McGee) just east of Winstead’s is the subject of today’s look back
Houses Once Filled in Winstead’s Block Read More »
When the Raleigh Arms apartments at 3346-50 Gillham first opened in 1909, the owners described the building as modern; in fact, they called it “up to the second.” In a 1909 advertisement in the Kansas City Star, they touted the address in the fashionable Hyde Park district, close to Westport High School and the Hyde
An “Up to the Second” Apartment in 1909 Read More »
Last week, the 3400 block of Broadway was in the news as the city council took action to advance a proposed project on the MGE site at 34th Street. That area has undergone significant changes over the years. Like other major Midtown thoroughfares such as Main Street and Troost Avenue, Broadway began as a residential street
Broadway Saw Major Changes Over the Decades Read More »
When J.C. Nichols developed the Crestwood neighborhood in 1919, it was advertised as a “garden home” district. The neighborhood offered large lots that took advantage of the natural topography and attracted wealthy residents who moved south as the older, more mature parts of Midtown became crowded. These two blocks of Crestwood are a good example
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As we reported last week, demolition threatens a row of three iconic apartment buildings at the back of the Bloch Cancer Survivors Park on the Plaza. So we’re looking back at the two blocks around the apartments, from W. 47th to W. 48th Streets, from Roanoke Parkway to Jefferson, to get a sense of their
Apartments Replaced Homes in The Plaza Read More »
Today, we feature the 3900 block of Central in the Heart of Westport neighborhood. Central Street is just one block east of Broadway. Here’s what we know about the block so far. Reader Janet Pickett says she grew up on the block. “I watched the city tear down 8 or 10 houses and build the
How One Westport Block Has Changed Read More »