Tag: South Plaza

Walnuts apartments replaced famous mansion of the same name

Before the Walnuts, Kansas City’s most high-end apartments, were erected beginning in 1929, a large home  stood on the same site at Fifty-first and Wornall.  The mansion – also known as the Walnuts ­– became a famous venue for entertaining well-to-do city residents until a developer saw the site’s potential for as a luxury residential hotel.… Continue reading Walnuts apartments replaced famous mansion of the same name

Grain magnate predicted the future of 51st and Oak

The Central United Methodist Church and the Young Matrons Clubhouse replaced two homes that had once stood on the west side of Oak Street between 51st and 52nd. The church moved to this new location in 1939 and the recently-moved Young Matrons Clubhouse opened the same year. The block is currently under development as a Whole Foods store, UMKC offices, apartments and parking.

Near the site where a Whole Foods store will soon stand at 51st and Oak Streets, a Kansas City grain executive named Edwin Shields once lived with his wife in a celebrated house known as Oaklawn. Shields occupied a large tract of land along with neighbor Herbert Hall that, by the time this map was… Continue reading Grain magnate predicted the future of 51st and Oak

Do you remember the area east of Winstead’s on Cleaver Boulevard?

It might be hard to guess that this home was near the corner of 48th and McGee in 1940. Most of the small homes and apartment buildings on the block have now been replaced.

Modern offices and commercial buildings today dominate the streetscape just east of the Country Club Plaza where small homes and apartments buildings stood 75 years ago. The block of the Country Club Plaza (from Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard to Brush Creek, from Grand to McGee) just east of Winstead’s, is the subject of today’s look back… Continue reading Do you remember the area east of Winstead’s on Cleaver Boulevard?