Midtown has more than two dozen unique neighborhoods and several commercial and cultural districts. No two are alike. They are all interesting.
Although many of their homes don’t survive, the turn-of-the-century residents of Armour Boulevard included many civic and business leaders of the early 1900s. It was news in 1902 when E.H.L. Thompson took out a permit to build a home on the northeast corner of Armour and Kenwood, seen here as it had been designed. The house […]
Large Homes Once Stood on Armour Read More »
Census records from the 3700 block of Washington Street in the Valentine neighborhood show a pattern repeated across Kansas City. In the early 1900s, the owners shared these large homes with extended family members and servants. But by 1930, almost every family had given up its servants and had taken in one or several lodgers.
Valentine Was Home to First Female Livestock Exchange Member 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 »
Early maps of this Valentine neighborhood street show that most of it was once owned by Nellie G. Nelson, the daughter of Kansas City pioneer A.B.H. McGee. In 1890, Nellie married William W. Nelson, the son of a prominent family, in one of the most celebrated weddings in Kansas City history of a pioneer fa.
Pioneer Family Owned this Valentine Block Read More »
Like much of Midtown Kansas City, this block of Hyde Park from 38th to 39th from Troost to Harrison became populated in the first decade of the 20th century as the growing population of Kansas City moved south. An earlier map of the block from 1891 shows lots had been divided and laid out in
South Hyde Park Came Alive After 1900 Read More »
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 »
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 »
A recent Google Maps view of the 4300 block of Walnut. One important name stands out in the history of a block of the Southmoreland neighborhood from Warwick Boulevard west to Walnut and from 43rd to 44th, that of architect Albert Turney. Perhaps best known for the design of Kansas City Fire Department Building #2 in 1905, Turney
Architect Saw Value in Southmoreland 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 »
The Swedish Evangelical Mission Church in the Volker neighborhood was once a center of Swedish life in Midtown. In 1940, the church still stood at the corner of 42nd and Terrace Streets. The history of the surrounding block shows the diverse cultures that settled the area, with Swedish and other immigrants moving into the homes
Swedish Immigrants Settle in Volker Read More »