Today, we call the area around 31st and Oak Street “Martini Corner” in honor of the bars and restaurants that fill it. A look back to the 1940s shows that the buildings in this area have housed a constantly changing array of local businesses that serve Midtown since they were originally built. While not much […]
Martini Corner Has Always Been a Neighborhood Business Center Read More »
Last week, the 3400 block of Broadway was in the news as the city council took action to advance a proposed project on the MGE site at 34th Street. That area has undergone significant changes over the years. Like other major Midtown thoroughfares such as Main Street and Troost Avenue, Broadway began as a residential street
Broadway Saw Major Changes Over the Decades Read More »
When J.C. Nichols developed the Crestwood neighborhood in 1919, it was advertised as a “garden home” district. The neighborhood offered large lots that took advantage of the natural topography and attracted wealthy residents who moved south as the older, more mature parts of Midtown became crowded. These two blocks of Crestwood are a good example
Crestwood Homes Became Part of UMKC Read More »
On the corner of 43rd Street and Tracy, the renovated Bancroft School is bringing new life to the Manheim Park neighborhood. With plans for new infill housing in the area and residents rehabbing older homes, people are rediscovering Manheim, a neighborhood with a lot of history. The Bancroft School has been converted into apartments. It
Bancroft School Area Full of Memories Read More »
The area between 29th and 30th Streets along Gillham Road is popular today, with refurbished apartment buildings, coffee shops, and new construction projects in the works. A resident who lives near the Filling Station – a coffee shop in the triangle between Gillham, 30th, and McGee Street Trafficway – asked what we knew about the area, specifically
Car Dealers Dominated 30th and Gillham Read More »
As time passes, people in Armour Hills and Mission Hills forget what links them to so many other neighborhoods. “After 110 years of existence, the identity of the Country Club District is starting to fade,” said LaDene Morton. She spoke at the Kansas City library at the Plaza last week about her new book, The Country
Book Details History of Country Club District Read More »
As we reported last week, demolition threatens a row of three iconic apartment buildings at the back of the Bloch Cancer Survivors Park on the Plaza. So we’re looking back at the two blocks around the apartments, from W. 47th to W. 48th Streets, from Roanoke Parkway to Jefferson, to get a sense of their
Apartments Replaced Homes in The Plaza Read More »
Seen from above today, this block of Kansas City – Linwood Boulevard to 31st Street – from Campbell to Harrison is fairly deserted. But a hundred years ago, the block was home to a grand hotel, an essential women’s club and a row of businesses along 31st Street. Our historic tour of the block begins with the
Linwood Boulevard Had a Grand Hotel and More Read More »
The businesses that once lined the southeast corner of Armour and Troost are mostly gone now, with the remaining ones boarded up. But in earlier days, the block from Armour south to 36th Street, from Troost to Forest, was a lively part of Armour Boulevard’s apartment hotel district. And the corner of Armour and Forest
A Shootout on Armour Boulevard Read More »
Instead of drinking away their paychecks, developer S.H. Taylor advised working citizens of Kansas City to invest in real estate. In an 1887 advertisement in the Kansas City Star, Taylor listed multiple reasons that buying a home in his Bunker Hill neighborhood was better than frittering money away on cocktails or cigars. According to Taylor,
Developer Said Don’t Waste Money on Cigars – Buy a Home Instead Read More »