Homes Once Lined 39th Street West of Trafficway

When you turn west on 39^th Street from Southwest Trafficway these days, you pass a small shopping center and commercial buildings on your right as you drive toward State Line Road. One hundred years ago, that stretch of 39^th Street from Summit to Roanoke looked much different. It had recently been developed as the Hamilton Hill subdivision, and Kansas City families had moved into a row of homes that fronted the now-commercial strip.

As part of our Uncovering History Project, the Midtown KC Post is looking at each block in Midtown, including a set of 1940 tax assessment photos available for many blocks. (Many people seem confused by the tax assessment photos, including a man holding a sign.)

This week, the north side of 39^th Street from Summit to Roanoke.  

By 1910, the north side of the block was filled in with large homes on substantial lots along with homes with less acreage. The 1910 census gives this picture of those who lived on the north side of 39^th.

 1040 W. 39^th: Hugh Matthews, shop machinist, 43; wife Nora, 42; daughter Mary, 13; son James, 11; son James, 8; servant Celia Meyer, 34.

1010 W. 39^th: Peter E. Hatch, 52, attorney at law; wife Pearl, 40; daughter Gladys, 15; son Wendell, 4; servant Mazell Gardener, 19.

920 W. 39^th: Harvey J. Wells, 63, chief clerk of NYC railroad; wife Ellan, 60; daughter Antoinette, 25; sister-in-law Antoinette Dickison, 50, a public school teacher.

918 W. 39^th: Charles T. Prichard, 62, farmer; wife Rettie, 55; boarder Loyd Bradley, 10.

820 W. 39^th: Eliza E. White, 86. Another household Saddie Neylon, nurse; Nellie Naylon, 35, private teacher.

828 W. 39^th: Albert W. Lindquist, 37, Swedish Church minister; wife Daisy, 33; daughter Linnea, 9; son Carl, 7; son Paul, 4.

820 W. 39^th: Nichols J. Briechel, 48, barber shop; son Earl L. Briechel, 19, office stenographer. Another household: Mrs. Mary E. Eckhard, 35, niece Dorothy, 9.

816 W. 39^th: Daniel Lucitt, 71, retired; wife Bridget, 56; daughter Marguerite, 35; son Daniel, 33, railroad clerk; daughter Blanche, 30, public school teacher; daughter Hattie, 28.

Newspaper records don’t show much about the transformation of the block, but they do give some hints. A gas station was added at the corner of 39^th and Roanoke by 1940. By 1949, one of the smaller homes on the block, a bungalow, was being advertised as an income property. Today, all the homes have been replaced by commercial structures.

The photos below show the homes on the block as they looked in 1940.

Historic photos courtesy Kansas City Public Library/Missouri Valley Special Collections.