Newly-Renovated Scottish Rite Temple Anchors Historic Linwood and Paseo Block

1 Comment / Buildings and Architecture, Great Streets / By

The Kansas City Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Temple is a massive structure that has fascinated those driving along Linwood and the Paseo for years. The Scottish Rite, the largest branch of Freemasonry, still uses the building for meetings and administration. Faced with the ever-soaring cost of maintenance, however, the group hopes a 2019 renovation will […]

Newly-Renovated Scottish Rite Temple Anchors Historic Linwood and Paseo Block Read More »

A 1920s Block Filled with Streetcar Workers

3 Comments / Neighborhoods, People / By

In the early 1900s, the residents of a rapidly expanding Midtown worked at various jobs: they were salesmen, teachers, real estate developers, packing house employees, bookkeepers, and business owners. However, on one block, 47th to 48th between Charlotte and Campbell, one type of work predominated –  local streetcar jobs.  “Street railway” workers made up the majority

A 1920s Block Filled with Streetcar Workers Read More »

Middle, Upper Class Families Were First Residents of Crestwood Block

4 Comments / Neighborhoods, People / By

Like the rest of the J.C. Nichols-developed subdivision, this block of the Crestwood neighborhood (E. 54th to E. 55th from Cherry to Holmes) attracted middle- and upper-middle-class residents after development began in 1919. According to the National Register of Historic Places nomination, the homes reflect various historically based revival styles popular in America after World

Middle, Upper Class Families Were First Residents of Crestwood Block Read More »

Prohibition Raid Found ‘One of Finest Distilleries’ in South Plaza

2 Comments / Neighborhoods / By

One of the greatest troves of Midtown history comes from the crime logs, which hold fascinating newspaper accounts of car wrecks, runaway wives, domestic robberies, suicides, murders, and other events.  They sometimes offer the best window into a past that was not intentionally preserved. That is true of the South Plaza block from 51st  Street

Prohibition Raid Found ‘One of Finest Distilleries’ in South Plaza Read More »

Black, White families, Shared Westport Block in Early 1900s

Leave a Comment / Neighborhoods / By

On one block of Westport around 1900, black families lived next to white families, and a church founded by a former slave and his brother stood just down the block from a grocery store in one of the oldest buildings in Kansas City. The block of Westport from Pennsylvania to Mill between 40th and Westport Road has seen

Black, White families, Shared Westport Block in Early 1900s Read More »

How One Family Came to this Rockhill Block

3 Comments / Neighborhoods / By

As well-to-do Kansas Citians moved south in the 1920s, several settled on a newly-developed block of the Rockhill neighborhood, from roughly Rockhill Terrace south to 45th Street. One of these new families, Alfred and Grace Schauffler, moved in around 1928, joining their well-off neighbors as commercial and civic leaders. All of the Rockhill neighborhood originally

How One Family Came to this Rockhill Block Read More »

Westwood Park Block Attracted Families in Early 1920s

Leave a Comment / Neighborhoods / By

Doctors, dentists and lawyers were among the first residents of the Westwood Park block from 50th to West 50th Terrace between Wyoming and Westwood Terrace. They settled in the neighborhood next to salesmen, bank presidents and undertakers in the 1920s as the development of Midtown moved south. The block is part of what is known today

Westwood Park Block Attracted Families in Early 1920s Read More »