originally published April 6, 2015 In the early 1900s, developers such as the Cowherd Brothers were building “modern” middle-class homes across what is now Midtown. One area where development was occurring was today’s Center City neighborhood, from 31st to Armour Boulevard and Troost to the Paseo. Center City’s strategic location made it attractive to people looking […]
Do You Know the History of the Center City Neighborhood? Read More »
It was unusual for black and white families to live on the same block as Midtown Kansas City developed, but that’s just what happened on a few Plaza Westport neighborhood blocks. For example, the block from W. 43rd to W. 43rd Street Terrace (or Steptoe Street) had almost two dozen homes in 1940; about half
A Glimpse of a Racially-Mixed Block of Westport in Early 1900s Read More »
Many of the homes on this Westwood Park block, between Liberty and Terrace from W. 48th to W. 49th, were new in the early 1930s. They offered all the comforts many Midtown families sought, including newspaper ads to rent or sell modest bungalows that boasted fireplaces, garages, and recreation rooms. Today, the block bounded by
Westwood Park Homes Offered Fireplaces, Garages, and Rec Rooms Read More »
Many parts of what is now Midtown Kansas City are called “streetcar suburbs,” and this block of the Squier Park neighborhood from Forest to Tracy between 36th and 37th demonstrates the impact the transit system had upon development. In the late 1800s, today’s Midtown was a mixture of family farms and new subdivisions that had
Streetcar Expansion Spurred Development of This Squier Park Block Read More »
One of the major transformations in Midtown in the mid-1900s was the construction of Southwest Trafficway, a traffic artery meant to carry downtown business people and shoppers to their homes in the suburbs. Although less congested routes were clearly needed at the time, an unintended consequence was the transformation of Summit from a local business
NE Corner of 39th Street and Summit Once Housed Local Shops, Apartments Read More »
In the 1920s, the owners of single-family homes in the Roanoke neighborhood took a stand against the growing number of apartment buildings being erected across the city. Their concern about the development of multifamily housing has been a constant theme throughout Midtown’s history. Today, the block bounded by Valentine and W. 37th, Summit (Southwest Trafficway),
Roanoke Property Owners Took a Stand Against Apartments in 1920s Read More »
Among the earliest homes in what is now Midtown were those of wealthy Westport settlers built in the mid-1800s. Those homes, such as the lavish Bernard mansion in what is now the Valentine neighborhood, were often replaced to make room for “modern” homes in the early 1900s. Because they sometimes occupied key intersections, many of
Corner of 39th and Pennsylvania Was Home to Westport Pioneer Family Read More »
On a block of Broadway known today as the home of the Uptown Theater, the history of a home-turned-posh residential hotel has nearly faded. The Rochambeau, once the home of Valentine and Roanoke neighborhood “father” A.B.H. McGee, was called one of Kansas City’s finest luxury hotels. However, a fire in the 1930s erased it from
1932 Arson Destroyed Fine Old Broadway Residential Hotel Read More »
This block just north of the Plaza started out as a residential area, but as the Plaza developed over the early decades of the 1900s, several of its homes were replaced by “modern” apartments. At least one of the homes may have been moved to make way for multi-family structures, but both single-family residences and
Plaza Homes Replaced by “Modern” Apartments as Plaza Developed Read More »
It is common to find families moving in and out of Midtown neighborhood blocks in the early 1900s, but this Volker area, with many Swedish immigrants, was much more stable. Census records from 1910 to 1940 show several families that stayed on the block the entire time, while others moved in and stayed for two
Swedish Families Settled and Stayed for Decades on This Volker Block Read More »