When the Raleigh Arms apartments at 3346-50 Gillham first opened in 1909, the owners described the building as modern; in fact, they called it “up to the second.”
In a 1909 advertisement in the Kansas City Star, they touted the address in the fashionable Hyde Park district, close to Westport High School and the Hyde Park school.
Raleigh Arms consists of 18 apartments of 5 rooms each. All finished in mission oak and white enamel with best electric and gas fixtures, including electric dome in the dining room; fireproof safe for valuables; locked outside rooms for ice boxes; large china closets in kitchen; laundry with stationary tubs; stoves and patent hot air dryers; private lockers in basement; awnings, screens, etc. $40.
The building, recently renovated by MAC Properties, is part of the block we’re focusing on this week, just east of Costco and Home Depot. When the block of East 33rd, Gillham, and Gillham Plaza developed around the turn of the century, it contained family homes, neighborhood-level businesses, and a single luxury apartment building.
In a set of 1940 photos (below), Gillham Road housed several local businesses, including the Nu Charm Beautyrket, Shop, Carl’s Ma, and a barbershop. On 33rd Street, the Adelphi Garage still looks much as it did 75 years ago. That street also had an “electric shoe repair shop” in 1940.
As part of our Uncovering History Project, the Midtown KC Post is examining each block in Midtown. A set of 1940 tax assessment photos is available for many blocks.
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