Scott Burnett, a longtime resident of the Roanoke neighborhood, is conducting audio interviews with interesting people in Kansas City. So far, he’s talked to the owners of Fric and Frac, a Volker gathering place, and Kerry Browne and John McClain, owners of Browne’s Irish Market, the oldest Irish business outside of Ireland. Follow the conversations here.
Conversations with Scott Burnett Read More »
Kansas City Life Insurance has recently requested demolition permits for four buildings in the Valentine neighborhood. These are in addition to the 23 buildings they tore down and are in the two blocks south of where the previous demolitions occurred. On Feb. 28, the Historic Preservation Commission will hold a hearing on new demolition permits
New Demolitions Proposed in Valentine Neighborhood Read More »
As demolitions of homes in Valentine continue, the mayor is stepping up talk about reducing the burden of privately owned vacant lots on neighborhoods. One idea – taxing vacant lots and buildings to encourage their use. The Kansas City Star reported on the issue on Nov. 25, 2024. “Something like a vacant land tax could
Valentine Demolitions Part of Discussion on Vacant Land Tax Read More »
Updated Dec. 20, 2024 Demolitions continue in the Valentine neighborhood between 33rd and 35th from Pennsylvania to Southwest Trafficway. The Valentine Neighborhood says 23 homes and other structures are being demolished without a plan for what will replace them. According to a recent historical survey of the area, all of these structures would have qualified
Valentine Demolitions Continue Read More »
Photo courtesy KCTV5. The Midtown KC Post is helping to document the loss of 23 homes and other structures between 33rd and 35th Streets from Summit to Pennsylvania that Kansas City Life Insurance is demolishing. On Oct. 28, residents of Valentine and others held a memorial service for the homes that are being lost. The Kansas
Demolitions in Valentine in 2024 Read More »
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
Mansions at Paseo and Armour have been lost Read More »
The history of Midtown Kansas City is full of tales of fortunes made and lost in real estate, but the Plaza Westport neighborhood’s past tells a different kind of story. A real estate developer and builder there, Will Corbin, is remembered for finding a way to help working-class people in Kansas City afford the modern
Builder Helped Working People Buy Homes Read More »
Near the site where a Whole Foods store now stands at 51st and Oak Streets, a Kansas City grain executive named Edwin Shields once lived with his wife in a celebrated house known as Oaklawn. Shields occupied a large tract of land along with neighbor Herbert Hall that, by the time this map was made
Grain magnate Predicted Future of 51st and Oak Read More »
It’s been a while since the Midtown KC Post shared any new stories, but here today is a new one. This block history was inspired by the fact that three buildings on the block – part of the historic but increasingly endangered – Steptoe neighborhood have been demolished. Steptoe is one of the most important places
More Steptoe Homes Lost, Erasing More of Kansas City’s Black History Read More »
When you turn west on 39th Street from Southwest Trafficway these days, you pass a small shopping center and commercial buildings on your right as you drive toward State Line Road. One hundred years ago, that stretch of 39th Street from Summit to Roanoke looked much different. It had recently been developed as the Hamilton Hill
Homes Once Lined 39th Street West of Trafficway Read More »