Category: Streets
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Do you remember the block from Troost to Forest, from 42nd to 43rd?
Like many blocks of Midtown in 1940, this section of Manheim Park from Troost to Forest between 42nd and 43rd, was a mixture of homes and commercial establishments that served the families who lived there. Along Troost, a typical commercial streetcar corridor, business names changed frequently, and included automobile sales, chicken sales and supplies, grocery…
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Do you remember the blocks of Cherry and Kenwood bounded by Armour and 34th?
This block of Midtown, from Armour to 34th between Cherry and Kenwood, is perhaps best known as the home of the Longan School (now Academie Lafayette) and the Trinity United Methodist Church. But the block was not completely dominated by these institutions. It also offered three homes along Kenwood and four on Cherry, as well…
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Do you remember this block along Southwest Trafficway from 44th to 45th?
A 1930s snapshot of one Midtown block highlights its transformation from a neighborhood of working-class families to a commercial corridor along a major traffic route. As part of our Uncovering History Project, the Midtown KC Post is taking a look at each block in Midtown, including a set of 1940 tax assessment photos which is available for…
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Do you remember this block of Virginia and Paseo from 36th to 37th?
The block of Paseo to Virginia, from 36th to 37th Streets, was a lively neighborhood from 1910 to 1940, home to families that made homes in its solid single-family dwellings as well as its high-end apartment building. This 1909-1950 Sanborn Map shows the block, just north of the Faxon School, filled in with a mixture…
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Do you remember this block from 31st to Linwood, Gillham to Holmes?
This block of Midtown once thrived as a commercial center, with businesses such as pharmacies, restaurants and beauty shops serving the surrounding neighborhoods. Although a recent satellite image shows only a large parking lot at the corner of Thirty-first and Holmes, that location was bustling in earlier days. From the 1920s to the 1940s, 31st…
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Mansions at Armour and Main gradually repurposed, replaced
Today’s historical post looks at the block from Armour to 36th Street, from Main to Walnut, a block that undertook a radical transformation in a few brief decades. From an exclusive enclave of wealthy families like the Armours in the early 1900s, the block became a center of culture around the Conservatory of Music in the…
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1905 Armour Boulevard apartments and workingmen’s cottages now gone
Although his apartment building and small homes along Armour Boulevard no longer stand, W.H. Collins is remembered as a pioneer who left his mark on Midtown Kansas City. Collins’ structures once dominated the block from Armour Boulevard to 36th Street, from Central to Wyandotte, although neither his groundbreaking apartment building or workingmen’s cottages remain today.…
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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…
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Memorial tribute: Pioneer George Sedgewick and his block of Armour and Virginia
A Midtown Memorial Day tribute goes to George Sedgewick, a Kansas City pioneer who lived at Armour and Virginia before his 20 acres were platted as Sedgewick Place. Like many pioneers, Sedgewick wasn’t born here, but he was attracted to the growing railroad hub and potential for Kansas City’s growth. When Sedgewick, born in 1823,…
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Do you remember the Newbern Hotel at Armour and Cherry?
One of the former apartment hotels on Armour Boulevard, the Newbern, celebrated its grand reopening last week. The history of the Newbern tells a tale of the glory days of Armour Boulevard, its decline and its new role as Midtown’s major apartment corridor. MAC Properties, a developer which has renovated several apartments on Armour, spent…