Built when well-off residents of Kansas City were moving south of the Plaza and located right next to Loose Park, it is no surprise that this Countryside neighborhood block was built by prominent architects and attracted prominent families. The block from Wornall to Wyandotte between W. 54rd Street and W. 53rd Terrace is part of the Simpson-Yeomans/Country Side Historic District. It is on both the national and local historic registers. It includes three homes designed by Alice Jackson, a female architect working at a time when most of those in her profession were men.
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.
Today, the Countryside block from Wornall to Wyandotte between 53rd Street and 53rd Terrace).
A recent Google map of the block.
A 1917 Sanborn Fire Insurance map of the block.
Historic District Retains Original Flavor
Simpson-Yeomans/Countryside Historic District, generally located between West 51st Terrace and West 54th Street, from Wyandotte to Wornall Road, “has retained its integrity, and it provides an undisturbed glimpse of an earlier era of Kansas City’s residential neighborhoods,” according to the National Register nomination.
Today’s block lies within the district. The earliest homes on this block were built between 1914 and 1917. The first to be completed was the home of Robert E. McDonnell, one of the founders of the Burns and McDonnell engineering firm. Owens and Payson built his home at 200 W. 53rd Terrace in 1914.
The following year, 1915, saw the addition of three homes. Widow Minnie Robertson and her widowed cousin June Barber moved into their new residence at 221 W. 53rd Street. Next door, Willard Hovey’s family took possession of a house designed by Shepard & Belcher. On the other side of Robertson, at 235 W. 53rd, lawyer and prominent Republican leader Reginald Brewster moved in with his family.
Early Female Architect Adds Her Stamp
Few women were trained as architects during this building period, but that didn’t stop Alice Jackson. She was born in a suburb of Chicago in 1863 and showed an early interest in designing and building. She then married a man in the lumber business and built several homes in Nebraska City, Nebraska. Later, she and her husband moved to Kansas City, where she designed twenty homes. Three are on this block, at 221 W. 53rd, 201 W. 53rd, and 248 W. 53rd Terrace.
The photos below show the rest of the homes on the block as they looked in 1940.
Historic photos courtesy Kansas City Public Library/Missouri Valley Special Collections.