Schools, churches, dance halls, saloons, and other places where Midtown people mixed outside their homes.
While many blocks of Midtown have barely changed since the early 1900s, this block of Armour at the Paseo looks like a different place today. The heyday of the block began just after the turn of the 20th century, when wealthy and successful captains of industry began building along the Paseo. But the prestige of […]
Mansions at Paseo and Armour have been lost 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 »
I can feel the pain of anyone who has to say goodbye to a long-loved home, so I understand how Judge A.M. Allen might have felt in 1912. He and his son had driven their buggy over to the northwest corner of 51st and Wornall to take a last look at Allen’s home of 45 years.
One of Kansas City’s Finest Homes Razed in 1912; Replaced by Sunset Hill School Read More »
Small corner stores with living quarters above are a feature of many neighborhood corners in Midtown, including the southeast corner of 39th and Bell in the Volker neighborhood. This corner shop housed several different drugstores in the early 20th century and has also been used as a neighborhood tavern. These businesses have shared the block between
Corner Drugstore at 39th and Genessee Served the Neighborhood Read More »
A recent historical survey of Westport suggested that the Our Lady of Good Counsel Church on this block of the Valentine neighborhood might be a candidate for the historic register. The church and the rest of the block help tell the story of how churches followed their congregations as residential development moved from downtown to the
A Block Dominated by Churches in Old Westport Read More »
The block of South Hyde Park, bounded by Holmes, Kenwood, 41st, and 42nd, is now mostly single-family bungalows. However, from the 1920s to the 1940s, it also held a grocery store and was home to the Meiners grocery family. Census records illustrate how the block began to fill in during the early 1900s with families
South Hyde Park Block Once Had a Grocery Store Read More »
This block of Midtown, from Armour to 34th between Cherry and Kenwood, is perhaps best known as the home of the Longan School (now Academie Lafayette) and the Trinity United Methodist Church. However, the block was not completely dominated by these institutions. It also offered three homes along Kenwood, four on Cherry, and a luxury
Church, School, Homes Share a Block Read More »
Decades ago, Midtown Kansas City had a grocery store in almost every neighborhood. Before the advent of large chain “supermarkets,” grocery stores were often literally mom-and-pop businesses. They grew up along streetcar lines and within walking distance of Midtown residential areas. This map shows all the groceries within Midtown boundaries in 1949, based on a
Almost Every Neighborhood Had a Grocery Store Read More »
In the 1930s and 40s, this West Plaza neighborhood block had a corner grocery store and was home to young working-class families who moved in and out. A reader turned our attention to the block bounded by Mercier and Holly between 47th and 48th Streets, where, she wrote, she had heard a respected sculptor had once
A Corner Store Served the Neighbourhood Read More »
A hulking white building at 911 E. Linwood was in the news this week, with a developer successfully requesting assistance to overhaul it. The building – formerly a hotel, a nursing home and a government headquarters – is now slated to reopen as market-rate apartments in 2017. According to the Kansas City Star, developer Ted Sleder
A Midtown Hospital for Hemorrhoids Read More »