From four-plexes to shirtwaists, Midtown’s unique architecture sets it apart.
A new placard has been installed on a 48th St. building located just west of the Country Club Plaza. How might a new sign, simply denoting “708 W 48th St / COTTESBROOK APARTMENTS,” amount to a newsworthy story? The sign, situated on a (comparatively) sleepy cut-through between the commercial district and Roanoke Parkway, is significant […]
Name Restored to West Plaza, Nelle Peters-Designed Building Read More »
4425 Terrace today, viewed from the west. Captured March 2025. Like most American cities, Kansas City suffered a lull of private home-building throughout the decade of the 1930s. Outside of the impressive public construction projects associated with the Ten-Year Plan, a scant few neighborhoods saw extensive development during this period, and many commercial and industrial
The Emil Rohrer Home: A Landmark of Concrete Construction Read More »
The Kansas City Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Temple is a massive structure that has fascinated those driving along Linwood and the Paseo for years. The Scottish Rite, the largest branch of Freemasonry, still uses the building for meetings and administration. Faced with the ever-soaring cost of maintenance, however, the group hopes a 2019 renovation will
Newly-Renovated Scottish Rite Temple Anchors Historic Linwood and Paseo Block Read More »
May 13, 2019 The Kansas City Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Temple is a massive structure that has fascinated those driving along Linwood and the Paseo for years. Last week, the Temple was opened for a public tour to showcase its renovations. The Scottish Rite, the largest branch of Freemasonry, still uses the building for meetings
Newly-renovated Scottish Rite Temple Anchors Historic Linwood and Paseo Block Read More »
Like most of Midtown, people moved in and out of this South Hyde Park neighborhood from the time its small homes and apartments were built in the early 1900s. Owners and their families occupied some of the small bungalows; others were rented from real estate companies. Today, the block bounded by Holmes, Gillham and 43rd
Small Bungalows, Apartments Made Up South Hyde Park Block Read More »
Before the Walnuts, among Kansas City’s most high-end apartments, were erected in 1929, a large home stood on the same site at Fifty-first and Wornall. The mansion—also known as the Walnuts —became a famous venue for entertaining well-to-do city residents until a developer saw the site’s potential as a luxury residential hotel. Today, block between
Walnuts Apartments Replaced Famous Mansion of the Same Name Read More »
The block between Main and Walnut from 36th to 37th Streets has seen many changes since it attracted its first residents in the late 1800s. Its history reflects the movement of people from the north to the new “south side” around the turn of the century, which brought new homes, businesses, and a church to
Famous “Bachelor Retreat” Once Stood at 36th and Main Read More »
The West Plaza neighborhood is one of Midtown’s historic areas where working-class families owned and rented homes in these photos. This block of Belleview and Jarboe between 45th and 46th is a great example. Residents in these 1940s photos included streetcar and meatpacking workers, a movie theater projectionist, and the owner of a watch repair business.
Small Bungalows Lined Belleview, Jarboe in 1940 Read More »
Midtown’s South Hyde Park area developed rapidly after 1905, spurred by new city water service and the expansion of streetcar lines to newly built middle-class homes. Today’s focus block, from 42nd to 43rd, from Holmes to Charlotte, is composed of modest homes that still look much like they did when built more than 100 years
Bungalows in South Hyde Park Read More »
As Midtown became home to many of Kansas City’s wealthiest families in the early 1900s, they built mansions to house their families. Many of these families later moved on as new districts developed to the south, but they left behind large homes built to last decades, and a number of those homes were repurposed by
Once Exclusive Mansions Became Part of UMKC Read More »