Near the site where a Whole Foods store now stands 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 made […]
Grain magnate Predicted Future of 51st and Oak Read More »
Some blocks of Midtown Kansas City offer more insights into history than others. That is true of the block from 50th to 51st between Main and Walnut Streets. Two weeks ago, we offered the story of one house where prohibition agents discovered “one of the finest equipped distilleries ever found in Kansas City.” This week,
Family Once Owned This South Plaza Block Read More »
One of the greatest troves of Midtown history comes from the crime logs, which hold fascinating newspaper accounts of car wrecks, runaway wives, domestic robberies, suicides, murders, and other events. They sometimes offer the best window into a past that was not intentionally preserved. That is true of the South Plaza block from 51st Street
Prohibition Raid Found ‘One of Finest Distilleries’ in South Plaza Read More »
Before the Walnuts, among Kansas City’s most high-end apartments, were erected 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 as a luxury residential hotel. Today, block between
Walnuts Apartments Replaced Famous Mansion of the Same Name Read More »
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 called Oaklawn. Shields occupied a large tract of land along with neighbor Herbert Hall, which was surrounded by residential development by the
Grain Magnate Predicted Future of 51st and Oak Read More »
Modern offices and commercial buildings today dominate the streetscape just east of the Country Club Plaza, where small homes and apartment 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
Houses Once Filled in Winstead’s Block Read More »