Midtown has more than two dozen unique neighborhoods and several commercial and cultural districts. No two are alike. They are all interesting.
Among the earliest homes in what is now Midtown were those of wealthy Westport settlers built in the mid-1800s. Those homes, such as the lavish Bernard mansion in what is now the Valentine neighborhood, were often replaced to make room for “modern” homes in the early 1900s. Because they sometimes occupied key intersections, many of […]
Corner of 39th and Pennsylvania Was Home to Westport Pioneer Family Read More »
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
Plaza Homes Replaced by “Modern” Apartments as Plaza Developed 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 »
A careful observer of things in Midtown, Diane Capps, noticed the lettering on a window at 313 Westport Road and noticed the name “Little’s Hall” was embedded in the leaded glass. The first floor of the building is now used as an antique store, and the sign for a long-term tenant, the Broadway Hardware Company,
Westport’s Oldest Settlers Fiddled and Danced at Little’s Hall Read More »
Valentine Road between Broadway and Southwest Trafficway has been home to Kansas City pioneers, wealthy widows, churches, and modest apartment dwellers. It may also have been home to the first plus-size clothing shop in Kansas City in 1925. The street was originally called W. 35th Street and was part of the regular Kansas City grid
Valentine Road History: Mansions, Churches – and a Plus-sized Dress Shop Read More »
Midtown Kansas City has several important corners, often where major streets and streetcar lines intersect, including 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 important—and widely forgotten—home belonging to L.A. Allen
Long-Forgotten L.A. Allen Home Stood at Valentine and Broadway 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 »
Contrary to how some folks perceive the past, Midtown families did not always stay in one place for many decades. It was more typical for people to move in and out of homes, whether rented or owned, as family members died, married, or moved to another neighborhood. This was true of the block bounded by
Families Moved In and Out of this Midtown block Read More »
Midtown households in the 1930s were predominantly made up of typical nuclear families: a working father, stay-at-home mother, and several children. But a glimpse at the 1930 makeup of the Valentine neighborhood block from Pennsylvania to Jefferson between 37th and Valentine shows other trends: a proportionally large number of households headed by widows, families that
Valentine Block Was Home of School Board President Read More »
The block of South Hyde Park, bounded by Holmes, Kenwood, 41st, and 42nd, is now mostly single-family bungalows. However, from the 1920s to the 1940s, it also held a grocery store and was home to the Meiners grocery family. Census records illustrate how the block began to fill in during the early 1900s with families
South Hyde Park Block Once Had a Grocery Store Read More »