As Midtown grew, its streets and boulevards bloomed with homes and businesses, connecting us to other neighborhoods and other parts of the city.
This section of 39th Street, like many Midtown blocks, was a quiet residential area in the early 1900s. The rising popularity of automobiles and the development of residential housing led to a major transformation in the 1920s as W. 39th Street became a commercial corridor. The story of the block from 39th to Valentine Road between Wyoming and […]
W. 39th Street: A Unique Mix of Business and Residential Buildings Read More »
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 »
When you turn west on 39th Street from Southwest Trafficway these days, you pass a small shopping center and commercial buildings on your right as you drive toward State Line Road. One hundred years ago, that stretch of 39th Street from Summit to Roanoke looked much different. It had recently been developed as the Hamilton Hill
Homes Once Lined 39th Street West of Trafficway 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 »
If location is all-important in real estate, location along two boulevards must be even better. The intersection of Linwood Boulevard and The Paseo (now called Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard) historically attracted elite families who moved into substantial homes before the turn of the 20th century. However, the location also made the block a target
Block of Boulevards Shifts from Residential in 1920s Read More »
A home for orphans that took in hundreds of children between 1880 and 1960 was a well-known part of the Midtown landscape. The St. Joseph Orphan Girls’ home took up the entire block between SouthweTrafficway (then called Summit) and Pennsylvania north of 31st Street (Karnes). Although it was called the Orphan Girls’ Home, the institution did
On the Edge of Midtown, A Home for Orphan Girls Read More »
(This post originally ran on April 23, 2017) When Barbara Bescher bought a lot at the corner of 39th and Main in 1901, the home she built for herself was practically the only thing on the block. But just two decades later, in 1924, the savvy businesswoman sold the property for more than 20 times what
The NE Corner of 39th and Main Holds Layers of History Read More »
The building at the corner of 31st and Main is one of Midtown’s most distinctive, known as the Jeserich or the Tower Building. Around 1900, the corner housed a drug store, and in the 1940 photo above, it was the factory and salesroom of the Kaufman Window Shade Company. It is part of the block
A Historic Building at Thirty-First and Main Read More »
If old houses hold the memories of those who have lived in and visited them, this home at 3959 Warwick would have had more stories to tell than most. The home—now replaced by an apartment building—was the long-time residence of lawyer and prominent philanthropist Sanford Ladd, and in his waning years, it was the frequent
Scores of Schoolchildren, Judges and Bishops Visited this Southmoreland Home Read More »
On a block of Broadway known today as the home of the Uptown Theater, the history of a home-turned-posh residential hotel has nearly faded. The Rochambeau, once the home of Valentine and Roanoke neighborhood “father” A.B.H. McGee, was called one of Kansas City’s finest luxury hotels. However, a fire in the 1930s erased it from
1932 Arson Destroyed Fine Old Broadway Residential Hotel Read More »