One of Midtown’s most historical corners is the intersection of Linwood and Troost, where a distinctive terra cotta structure, open on the street level, stands on the northeast corner.
The area was once part of a very exclusive section of Kansas City known as Millionaires Row, where families tired of living in the crowded city moved to get away from the hustle and bustle.
As this 1896-1907 Sanborn Fire Insurance map shows, only a handful of homes dotted Troost in those early days. The Webster Withers family lived just north at the corner of 31st and Troost. The A.G. Sunderland family lived on the corner of Linwood, where the former Firestone building above stands today.
“The Sutherland residence on this tract is a great brownstone home, the first of a chain of mansions built in this country by the late Lamore V. Harkness, multi-millionaire, who made his home in Kansas City from 1888 to 1891 and whose father was a business associate of John D. Rockefeller. The home cost $115,000, the contract for the interior woodwork alone amounting to $30,000,” the Kansas City Star reported in 1920.
A fire destroyed the Sutherland’s two-story barn in 1908. The city water department explained that the district was in the highest part of the city in terms of elevation, so there had always been weak water pressure.
The Sutherland home was briefly used as a hotel before being torn down.
After the turn of the century, Troost became a major commercial corridor, spurred by the popular Troost Avenue streetcar line. The mansions were razed and replaced by large tall commercial buildings that housed an ever-changing array of local businesses and services.
And in 1930, these gentlemen gathered at the opening of the Firestone Building at the corner of Linwood and Troost.
This photo shows a crowd gathered as a fire burns at the Firestone Building. Date unknown.
Historic photos courtesy Kansas City Public Library – Missouri Valley Special Collections.
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