Houses Once Filled in Winstead’s Block

It might be hard to guess that this home was near the corner of 48th and McGee in 1940. Most of the small homes and apartment buildings on the block have now been replaced.
It might be hard to guess that this home was near the corner of 48th and McGee in 1940. Most of the small homes and apartment buildings on the block east of the Plaza have now been replaced.

Modern offices and commercial buildings today dominate the streetscape just east of the Country Club Plaza, where small homes and apartment buildings stood 75 years ago.

The block of the Country Club Plaza (from Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard to Brush Creek, from Grand to McGee) just east of Winstead’s is the subject of today’s look back in history. And it has changed greatly since the photo of the small home was taken in 1940.

The Country Club Plaza had opened in 1923 as a shopping district, but the Plaza Towers and other large buildings in the area had not been built in 1940.  Instead, there were several apartment buildings, and the southern end of the block was made up of small bungalow-style homes.

A 1917-1945 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the homes and apartments on the block.

This photos below show all of the houses that stood on the block.

The rest of the block was made up of apartment buildings, including two long buildings facing Forty-Seventh Street (now known as Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard). Eight additional apartments lined Grand Avenue and McGee Streets.

Historic photos courtesy Kansas City Public Library – Missouri Valley Special Collections.

A 1926 photo of the block taken from the roof of the Sophia Plaza showing proposed street changes. In the background is the E.C. White School.
A 1926 photo of the block taken from the roof of the Sophian Plaza showing proposed street changes. The E.C. White School is on the other side of Brookside Boulevard.

1 thought on “Houses Once Filled in Winstead’s Block”

  1. Kathleen Olsen

    There are a couple of homes on my block in Brookside that (legend has it) were moved from this area when it was redeveloped.
    Is there a way to confirm that they moved these homes to a new area instead of demolishing them?

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