Tag: Main Street
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Do You Remember the Northeast Corner of Main and Thirty-first?
The building at the corner of 31st and Main is one of Midtown’s most distinctive, known as the Jeserich or the Tower Building. Around 1900, the corner housed a drug store, and in the 1940 photo above, it was the factory and salesroom of the Kaufman Window Shade Company. It is part of the block…
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A President Spent the Night on this Block
The block between 38th and 39th between Main and Baltimore was a key location, in part because of Main Street’s importance as a commercial corridor and also because of the easy access to streetcar lines on both Main and 39th. Development began in 1901, when savvy businesswoman Barbara Bescher bought a lot at the corner…
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West Side of 3800 Block of Main Thrived in Developing Midtown
In the 1930s, while most of their 3800 Main Street block was being saturated with storefronts—the Madrid Theater and a garage that would become the Unicorn Theater—it was still the long-time home of the Dunn family. And they heard a suggestion that they were “losing money in their front yard.” The Dunn’s home at 3820 Main…
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The NE Corner of 39th and Main Holds Layers of History
When Barbara Bescher bought a lot at the corner of 39th and Main in 1901, the home she built for herself was practically the only thing on the block. But just two decades later, in 1924, the savvy businesswoman sold the property for more than 20 times what she paid for it. The property she purchased…
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Midtown Mansion Converted to Business, Moved to Main Street
When Midtown began to develop in the late 1800s, it was a posh residential area where well-to-do Kansas Citians built mansions to escape the crowded downtown. They settled along streets such as Broadway, Troost, and Main. However, by the 1920s, rapid development in the area and the streetcar lines along those major streets caused a rapid…
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Mastin Mansion Once Dominated the Block at Armour and Main
A bank building now sits at the southwest corner of Armour Boulevard and Main Street, offering no hint of the important mansion that once occupied the site. But from the time it was built in 1888 until it was razed in 1927, the Thomas H. Mastin home was one of the best known mansions in…
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A Business Block at 31st and Main
The block between Main Street and Wyandotte, from 31st Street to 31st Terrace, never contained many homes but had several businesses that served Midtown residents. The block featured auto repair shops, an ice company, and a popular softball park. A recent aerial photo of the block. Main Street Storerooms, Signs, and Ambulances From the earliest…
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Mansions at Armour and Main gradually repurposed, replaced
Today’s historical post looks at the block from Armour to 36th Street, from Main to Walnut, a block that undertook a radical transformation in a few brief decades. From an exclusive enclave of wealthy families like the Armours in the early 1900s, the block became a center of culture around the Conservatory of Music in the…
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Businesses Replaced Homes on Westport and Main Streets
The northwest corner of Westport Road and Main Street is a crucial Midtown intersection. As such, businesses and institutions have always seen the benefit of locating there, at the intersection of two major streets and in the heart of residential neighborhoods. That has meant that the corner has seen a lot of changes over the…
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Remembering George Southwell of Main Street, the King of Band Music
The Southwell Building, an art deco masterpiece at 3941 Main and home to Harlings, takes its name from a family that made its mark on Midtown – and across the country. Little remembered today, George Southwell was a composer of band music who played in bandstands in small towns across the country. The Kansas City…