It’s been a while since the Midtown KC Post shared any new stories, but here today is a new one. This block history was inspired by the fact that three buildings on the block – part of the historic but increasingly endangered – Steptoe neighborhood have been demolished. Steptoe is one of the most important places… Continue reading More Steptoe Homes Lost, Erasing More of Kansas City’s Black History
Category: Lost
UMKC Block Includes Historic Carriage House Slated for Demolition Sept. 24
Before the establishment of what would become UMKC, the block bounded by 51st and 52nd between Rockhill and Holmes was home to one of Kansas City’s most splendid mansions. Walter Dickey, a prominent businessman, chose the site for his 25-room home on the crest of a wooded hill. The Dickey mansion, now used by UMKC as Scofield… Continue reading UMKC Block Includes Historic Carriage House Slated for Demolition Sept. 24
Valentine’s Waverly Way has disappeared
Waverly Way – once a street lined with residences and apartment buildings in a thriving Midtown – has now disappeared. Even its name is gone. The street is now called W. 34th Terrace, sandwiched in between the vacant MGE Building at 34th and Broadway and the Metropolitan Community College Health Sciences Institute just to the south.… Continue reading Valentine’s Waverly Way has disappeared
NE Corner of 39th Street and Summit Once Housed Local Shops, Apartments
One of the major transformations in Midtown in the mid 1900s was the construction of Southwest Trafficway, a traffic artery meant to carry downtown business people and shoppers to their homes in the suburbs. Although less congested routes were clearly needed at the time, an unintended consequences was the transformation of Summit from a local… Continue reading NE Corner of 39th Street and Summit Once Housed Local Shops, Apartments
1932 arson destroyed fine old Broadway residential hotel
On a block of Broadway known today as home of the Uptown Theater, the history of a home-turned-posh-residential-hotel has nearly faded from history. 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 has erased it from most… Continue reading 1932 arson destroyed fine old Broadway residential hotel
Plaza homes replaced by “modern” apartments as Plaza developed
This block just north of the Plaza started out as a residential area, but as the Plaza developed over the early decades of the 1900s, several of its homes were replaced by “modern” apartments. At least one of the homes may have been moved to make way for multi-family structures, but both single-family residences and… Continue reading Plaza homes replaced by “modern” apartments as Plaza developed
Long-forgotten L.A. Allen home stood at Valentine and Broadway
Midtown Kansas City has a number of important corners, often where major streets and streetcar lines came together, and one of those is the intersection of Broadway Boulevard and Valentine Road. The southwest corner is well-known now as the site of the Uptown Theater. But before the Uptown was built in the late 1920s, an… Continue reading Long-forgotten L.A. Allen home stood at Valentine and Broadway
Black, white families, church, businesses shared Westport block in early 1900s
On one block of Westport around 1900, black families lived next to white families, and a church founded by a former slave and his brother stood just down the block from a grocery store in one of the oldest buildings in Kansas City. The block of Westport from Pennsylvania to Mill between 40th and Westport Road has seen… Continue reading Black, white families, church, businesses shared Westport block in early 1900s
Mansions at Paseo and Armour have been lost
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… Continue reading Mansions at Paseo and Armour have been lost
Electric Park was Midtown’s Coney’s Island
On a day this hot a century ago, Midtowners would have hopped on the streetcar and headed south to 46th and the Paseo, where the popular Electric Park with its beach, roller coasters and dancing awaited them. The first Electric Park, a popular destination for Kansas Citians at the turn of the century, was located… Continue reading Electric Park was Midtown’s Coney’s Island