Levy Meat Company Family Lived on this Volker Block

Among the earliest homes on this Volker block (36th to 37th, Genessee to Wyoming) was that of pioneer butcher Isaac Levy. He and his family lived at 3615 Genessee in 1910, when only six homes were on the block. In the 1920s, developers began building the apartments that now line the Wyoming Street side of the block.

Isaac Levy and his family were among the earliest residents of this Volker block from 36^thto 37^thbetween Genessee and Wyoming. Levy was a pioneer Kansas City butcher and appears to be the first homeowner on the block. This Tuttle & Pike map from 1907 shows the Levy home in blue, just above a street called “Levy’s Court,” which has long since disappeared. The block also contained five rental homes, seen in pink. The very north end of the block is labeled as belonging to Elizabeth Tiernan, the widow of Peter H. Tiernan, a politician known as “honest Peter Tiernan.” They lived at 35^thand Genessee.

As part of our Uncovering History Project, the Midtown KC Post is examining each block in Midtown. A set of 1940 tax assessment photos is available for many blocks.

Today, the block from W. 36^thto W. 37^thbetween Genessee and Wyoming.

A Tuttle and Pike map of the block in 1907.

Levys Were Butchers and Savvy Real Estate Investors

Old timers in Kansas City told a story about French-born Kansas City pioneer Isaac Levy. In 1859, new to Kansas City, he was on his way to a real estate office to buy the Boly Building at 12^thand Walnut for $1,500 to build a meat market there. But, the legend goes, he ran into a friendly patrolman on the way, and the policeman told him the lot would never be worth anything. Levy reconsidered, and several days later, he bought a 25-foot frontage at 1324 Main for $2,500. That property already had a suitable store and room for the family to live above it.

The Levy butcher shop prospered. Many families visited the store where Levy recorded their purchases in little yellow books.

Over the years, land values went up, but Levy said he would not sell until he could get $25,000 for his $2,500 investment. That happened in the 1880s.

The meat market moved to the city market. Levy’s sons Forrest, Leon, and Harry went into business with their father and eventually took over. In 1924, they moved to the northeast corner of 31^stand Gillham, following the movement of people from downtown to the “south side.”

The block in 1910

The 1910 census found the Levys living at 3615 Genessee, where they had recently moved from their earlier home above the shop. The block was platted as Isaac Levy’s Addition, and a now-closed road called Levy’s Court cut through the middle of the block. Almost all of the residents of the six homes were immigrants or the children of immigrants, mostly with roots in Germany and Sweden. Here’s the census report for that year:

3615 Genessee: Issac Levy, 65, retired; Morris Finklestein, 29, son-in-law, salesman; Tille Finklestein, daughter, 24; son Leon, 34, butcher; son Forrest, 26, butcher; son Harry, 19, butcher; servant Annette Larson, 22, who immigrated from Sweden in 1906.
3629 Genessee: Herbert Waters, 34, a minister of the Roanoke Presbyterian Church; wife Evelyn, 34; son Warren, 3; son Herbert, 1; brother Ward Waters, 25, private theater actor; widowed aunt Emma Whittier, 80.
3633 Genessee: Frank Dekofssky, 34, a scales manufacturing salesman who immigrated from Russia in 1888; wife Rose, 29, also born in Russia; daughter Ellen, 10; son John, 8; daughter Sophia, 6; daughter Ruth, 3.
3637 Gennessee: Michael Eiser, 33, engraver; wife Ida, 33 (both of German parents); son Howard, 7; son Ralph, 5; brother-in-law John Assel, 36; sister-in-law Louise Assel, 38.
3641 Genessee: Herman Steinfels, 55, a cattle company stockman; wife Barbara, 49 (both of German parents); son Alfred, 24, stockman in a cattle company; daughter Della, 19; mother-in-law Sarah Steiner, 75, a widow born in Germany.
3645 Genessee: George Sawyer, 44, a barber; wife Anna, 40, of Swedish parents; son Alverne, 13; son-in-law Jas, 24, a painter for the street railway company; daughter Anna Davis, 19; grandson Robert Davis, 0.