Midtown was built by immigrants, Catholics, Jews, formerly enslaved people, and those who came from all over the United States. Dumped into one big melting pot.
When residents began moving into this Manheim Park block (from Troost to Forest between E. 43rd and E. 44th) in the early 1900s, many were new immigrants to this country. The 1920 census shows people who had recently come from Scotland, England, Germany, Sweden, and Italy settling into homes alongside others born in the United […]
Manheim Park Block Attracted Immigrants in 1920s Read More »
Much of the history we read celebrates outstanding architecture, elite families, and unusual lives. But it is equally interesting to study blocks like this one in West Plaza, between 45th and 46th Street from Fairmount to Wyoming. Perhaps its most unusual event was a gas explosion in 1962 that destroyed eleven houses in the neighborhood (more about
West Plaza Block: Immigrants, Births, Deaths, Weddings, Soldiers 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 »
Most of the homes we now occupy in Midtown were built in a relatively short period – from 1900 to about 1920. While some of Kansas City’s wealthiest families had moved south in the 1880s, the majority of homes were constructed to meet a rapidly-growing population after the turn of the century. For example, the
Volker Homes Built Around 1910 To Meet The Needs of Immigrants Read More »
As Kansas City neighborhoods filled up with residents after the turn of the 20th century, this block, like many others in Midtown, became home to many immigrants. In 1910, the residents of the area from Summit to Jefferson between 34th to 35th Streets came from Russia, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Canada, mixing in with other families who
In 1910, a Block of Immigrant Families in Valentine Read More »
It was unusual for black and white families to live on the same block as Midtown Kansas City developed, but that’s just what happened on a few Plaza Westport neighborhood blocks. For example, the block from W. 43rd to W. 43rd Street Terrace (or Steptoe Street) had almost two dozen homes in 1940; about half
A Glimpse of a Racially-Mixed Block of Westport in Early 1900s Read More »
It is common to find families moving in and out of Midtown neighborhood blocks in the early 1900s, but this Volker area, with many Swedish immigrants, was much more stable. Census records from 1910 to 1940 show several families that stayed on the block the entire time, while others moved in and stayed for two
Swedish Families Settled and Stayed for Decades on This Volker Block Read More »
Laborers, most of them immigrants or the children of immigrants, were the first residents to occupy the block of the Volker neighborhood between Holly and Mercier from W. 40th to W. 41st. Some worked at the stockyards, but most were employed in Kansas City’s thriving railroad industry. Reader Andrew Findlay, who lives on the block,
This Volker Block Was Home to Hard-Working Laborers Read More »
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
Black, White Families, Church, Businesses shared Westport block in Early 1900s Read More »
Working-class families from Sweden, Missouri, and Kansas lived on this West Plaza block in 1940. Residents had a variety of jobs: salesman, flour mill hand, marble cutter, machinist in a canning factory, upholsterer, piano tuner, landscaper, bookkeeper, radio serviceman, railroad freight clerk, and barber. The area developed around 1907 when newspaper ads hawked lots in
Swedish Families Settled in West Plaza Read More »