Neighborhoods

Midtown has more than two dozen unique neighborhoods and several commercial and cultural districts. No two are alike. They are all interesting.

The Legacy of Laura Nelson Kirkwood

(The latest Rockhill Neighborhood Association newsletter contained two articles with some interesting neighborhood history, and they’ve given us permission to reprint them. Today, Rockhill resident Todi Hughes profiles Laura Nelson Kirkwood. Tomorrow, the link between President Theodore Roosevelt, race relations and the Kirkwood house in Rockhill.) Reprinted with permission from the Rockhill Neighborhood newsletter by […]

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Remembering George Southwell of Main Street, the King of Band Music

The Southwell Building, an art deco masterpiece at 3941 Main and home to Harlings, takes its name from a family that made its mark on Midtown – and across the country. Little remembered today, George Southwell was a composer of band music who played in bandstands in small towns across the country. The Kansas City

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Book Details History of Country Club District

As time passes, people in Armour Hills and Mission Hills forget what links them to so many other neighborhoods. “After 110 years of existence, the identity of the Country Club District is starting to fade,” said LaDene Morton. She spoke at the Kansas City library at the Plaza last week about her new book, The Country

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Developer Said Don’t Waste Money on Cigars – Buy a Home Instead

Instead of drinking away their paychecks, developer S.H. Taylor advised working citizens of Kansas City to invest in real estate. In an 1887 advertisement in the Kansas City Star, Taylor listed multiple reasons that buying a home in his Bunker Hill neighborhood was better than frittering money away on cocktails or cigars. According to Taylor,

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