WHY IS OLD HYDE PARK SOMETIMES CALLED HANOVER PLACE?
How come Old Hyde Park gets listed on maps and in news stories as Hanover Place?
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Mary Whiteside, Citizen Entrepeneur
Anyone who has combed through reams of Jackson County property records knows that many of Kansas City’s early subdivisions bear the family name of prior owners–often those who, before the advent of development pressures from an expanding city center, had occupied the land themselves. One can all too easily assume, looking in the rearview from
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Volker Developer Fred Bonfils Lived a Colorful Life
This photo shows 4118 Mercier in 1940. When the developer of Bonfils Place in the Volker neighborhood died, the Kansas City Journal called him “one of the most colorful survivors of the Old West.” Fred Bonfils, who gave the subdivision his name, started a lottery in Kansas to buy property in Kansas City and helped
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Name Restored to West Plaza, Nelle Peters-Designed Building
A new placard has been installed on a 48th St. building located just west of the Country Club Plaza. How might a new sign, simply denoting “708 W 48th St / COTTESBROOK APARTMENTS,” amount to a newsworthy story? The sign, situated on a (comparatively) sleepy cut-through between the commercial district and Roanoke Parkway, is significant
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The Emil Rohrer Home: A Landmark of Concrete Construction
4425 Terrace today, viewed from the west. Captured March 2025. Like most American cities, Kansas City suffered a lull of private home-building throughout the decade of the 1930s. Outside of the impressive public construction projects associated with the Ten-Year Plan, a scant few neighborhoods saw extensive development during this period, and many commercial and industrial
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Conversations with Scott Burnett
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.
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New Demolitions Proposed in Valentine Neighborhood
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
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Valentine Demolitions Part of Discussion on Vacant Land Tax
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
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Valentine Demolitions Continue
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
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Demolitions in Valentine in 2024
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
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