Today’s historical post looks at the block from Armour to 36th Street, from Main to Walnut, a block that undertook a radical transformation in a few brief decades. From an exclusive enclave of wealthy families like the Armours in the early 1900s, the block became a center of culture around the Conservatory of Music in the […]
Mansions at Armour and Main gradually repurposed, replaced Read More »
As Midtown became home to many of Kansas City’s wealthiest families in the early 1900s, they built mansions to house their families. Many of these families later moved on as new districts developed to the south, but they left behind large homes built to last decades, and a number of those homes were repurposed by
Once Exclusive Mansions Became Part of UMKC Read More »
Union Cemetery, the final resting place for many of Kansas City, Westport, and Midtown’s pioneers, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Union Cemetery Historical Society maintains Kansas City’s oldest public cemetery, which is in the historic Union Hill neighborhood, established in 1857, and one of the oldest neighborhoods in Midtown.
Union Cemetery Receives National Designation Read More »
Although his apartment building and small homes along Armour Boulevard no longer stand, W.H. Collins is remembered as a pioneer who left his mark on Midtown Kansas City. Collins’ structures once dominated the block from Armour Boulevard to 36th Street, from Central to Wyandotte, although neither his groundbreaking apartment building or workingmen’s cottages remain today.
Armour Boulevard Apartments, Workingmen’s Cottages, Now Gone 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 the industry started building along the Paseo. However, the prestige
Mansions at Paseo and Armour Have Been Lost Read More »
This block between 30th and 31st from Cherry to Holmes is in an area that is returning to life. Home to the Maker Village, the new Cherry Pit Collective, and the Superior Linen Company, it was once mainly residential but is almost completely commercial today. This week, the block from 30th to 31st and from
31st and Cherry Morphed from Residential to Commercial Read More »
Although many of their homes don’t survive, the turn-of-the-century residents of Armour Boulevard included many civic and business leaders of the early 1900s. It was news in 1902 when E.H.L. Thompson took out a permit to build a home on the northeast corner of Armour and Kenwood, seen here as it had been designed. The house
Large Homes Once Stood on Armour Read More »
Census records from the 3700 block of Washington Street in the Valentine neighborhood show a pattern repeated across Kansas City. In the early 1900s, the owners shared these large homes with extended family members and servants. But by 1930, almost every family had given up its servants and had taken in one or several lodgers.
Valentine Was Home to First Female Livestock Exchange Member Read More »
A Midtown Memorial Day tribute goes to George Sedgewick, a Kansas City pioneer who lived at Armour and Virginia before his 20 acres were platted as Sedgewick Place. Like many pioneers, Sedgewick wasn’t born here but was attracted to the growing railroad hub and potential for Kansas City’s growth. When Sedgewick, born in 1823, was
Pioneer George Sedgewick and his Block of Armour and Virginia Read More »
In the 1930s and 40s, this West Plaza neighborhood block had a corner grocery store and was home to young working-class families who moved in and out. A reader turned our attention to the block bounded by Mercier and Holly between 47th and 48th Streets, where, she wrote, she had heard a respected sculptor had once
A Corner Store Served the Neighbourhood Read More »