As Midtown grew, its streets and boulevards bloomed with homes and businesses, connecting us to other neighborhoods and other parts of the city.
Much has changed along Armour Boulevard since the early 1900s, but one block, the north side of Armour to 34th Street from Campbell to Charlotte, remains much the same. One of the Armour mansions is no longer there, but the remaining homes of the block look pretty much the same as when they were built. […]
Some of Armour Blvd.’s Mansions Remain Read More »
Many blocks of Midtown look much the same today as they did 100 years ago, but this corner of Armour and Main is wholly changed. In the early 1900s it was a peaceful street lined with new mansions built for wealthy Kansas Citians who were moving south. Today, the mansions on the block are gone,
Armour Boulevard and Main Street, Then and Now Read More »
Their original developer described the 3900 blocks of Troost and Forest as an “ideal residence park where all homes are complete, well-designed, original and artistic.” Most of the homes were built around 1909-1910, and since then, the neighborhood has had its ups and downs, but current residents say Manheim is making a comeback. The block
Manheim Park Called Ideal and Artistic Read More »
Midtown has several distinctive streets: some characterized by their commercial importance, some for their grand residential apartment hotels, and some for their classical turn-of-the-century architecture. Warwick Boulevard, clearly one of Midtown’s most important thoroughfares, played a unique role in Midtown’s development. Few other streets attracted several wealthy and well-known citizens. As they hired prominent architects
Warwick Boulevard Home to Prominent City Leaders Read More »
Every block of Midtown Kansas City has a unique history, and the block between Armour and 36th, McGee and Gillham is steeped in Catholic history and the transformation of Armour Boulevard from a boulevard of mansions to a busy street lined with luxury residential hotels. Sanburn map from 1909-1950 showing the block and surrounding areas
A Grand Home on Armour Boulevard Read More »
It would be easy to drive past Drexel Hall at the corner of Linwood and Baltimore daily without knowing the layers of history within its walls. Beginning with its unusual beginnings as a spur-of-the-moment purchase by a shrewd businesswoman, to its early days of concerts, dances, and suffrage association meetings, to the fiery union rallies
Drexel Hall Built by Shrewd Businesswoman Read More »
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 »
It’s a Jiffy Lube today, but the building at the corner of Linwood and Gillham Plaza once housed Sight Brothers Motor Company, Kansas City’s oldest Chevrolet dealer. Next door to the south, when this photo was taken in 1940, many people attended funerals at the Stine & McClure Chapel, and next door on the west
Business Flourished at Corner of Linwood and Gillham Plaza Read More »
The Kansas City Athenaeum Club said it had sold its 101-year-old building at Linwood and Campbell to the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority DEED Foundation. Both groups describe the transfer of the historic building as a perfect fit for the site , which has a century of history and now has a past and a future involving important women’s
Historic Athenaeum Building Changes Hands Read More »
The site today. Many in Kansas City have memories of an imposing five-story building at the southwest corner of Troost and 31st Street. The corner is a vacant lot and a busy bus stop today, but from 1917 to 1997, it was the site of the Wirthman Building, which housed a drug store, street-level shops,
Troost Corner Served the Neighborhood Read More »