The 3700 block of Troost and Forest today plays an important role in Kansas City life, as the site of the DeLaSalle Education Center. The same block holds other important history: it was once the home of a man who made his fortune by believing in Kansas City’s future, and later the home of a Catholic […]
From a Deer Park to A School in Manheim Park Read More »
When the holidays roll around in Kansas City, many people head to Pryde’s in Westport, the “hardware store for cooks.” If they look closely among the spatulas, saucepans, and dish towels, shoppers will notice several framed photos of young women in ballet and other dance costumes. They were all students of Miss Helen Thomes, a
Pryde’s Building Was Miss Thome’s Dance Studio Read More »
The Roanoke at 813 W. 39th Street was one of Midtown’s early neighborhood theaters. It also drew large crowds after 1946, when it started showing Mexican movies. The theater, which no longer exists, was just off the corner of 39th and Summit, where Missie B’s operates today. It is part of the block we’re featuring
Theater at 39th and Summit Showed Mexican Movies? Read More »
The site today. Many in Kansas City have memories of an imposing five-story building at the southwest corner of Troost and 31st Street. The corner is a vacant lot and a busy bus stop today, but from 1917 to 1997, it was the site of the Wirthman Building, which housed a drug store, street-level shops,
Troost Corner Served the Neighborhood Read More »
One of Midtown’s most historical corners is the intersection of Linwood and Troost, where a distinctive terra cotta structure, open on the street level, stands on the northeast corner. The area was once part of a very exclusive section of Kansas City known as Millionaires Row, where families tired of living in the crowded city moved
Changes at Linwood and Troost Read More »
The east side of the 3800 block of Broadway is dominated by Walgreens and a couple of popular local bars, the Blarney Stone and Chez Charlie, that we wrote about last week. But there’s a sweet, sad story about the history of the block – once the home of a Kansas City mother who lost her
Changes on the East Side of Broadway Read More »
Modern offices and commercial buildings today dominate the streetscape just east of the Country Club Plaza, where small homes and apartment buildings stood 75 years ago. The block of the Country Club Plaza (from Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard to Brush Creek, from Grand to McGee) just east of Winstead’s is the subject of today’s look back
Houses Once Filled in Winstead’s Block Read More »
(The latest Rockhill Neighborhood Association newsletter contained two articles with some interesting neighborhood history; they’ve given us permission to reprint them. Yesterday, Rockhill resident Todi Hughes profiled Laura Nelson Kirkwood. Today, UMKC Professor Emeritus Robert M. Farnsworth shares a story at the home of I.H. Kirkwood, later the Rockhill Tennis Club, which came to his
President Theodore Roosevelt, Race Relations and the Kirkwood Home Read More »
(The latest Rockhill Neighborhood Association newsletter contained two articles with some interesting neighborhood history, and they’ve given us permission to reprint them. Today, Rockhill resident Todi Hughes profiles Laura Nelson Kirkwood. Tomorrow, the link between President Theodore Roosevelt, race relations and the Kirkwood house in Rockhill.) Reprinted with permission from the Rockhill Neighborhood newsletter by
The Legacy of Laura Nelson Kirkwood Read More »
Decades ago, Midtown Kansas City had a grocery store in almost every neighborhood. Before the advent of large chain “supermarkets,” grocery stores were often literally mom-and-pop businesses. They grew up along streetcar lines and within walking distance of Midtown residential areas. This map shows all the groceries within Midtown boundaries in 1949, based on a
Neighborhood Grocery Stores Were Everywhere Read More »