Standing almost 300 feet high, Liberty Memorial, 100 West 26 St., has been honoring the millions of fallen soldiers of World War I for almost 100 years. Leaders from around the world, including military officials from Belgium, Great Britain and Italy (as pictured), gathered in Kansas City on November 11, 1926, joining President Calvin Coolidge for the dedication of the memorial.
Now, everyone can visit the WWI museum, or enjoy a quick game of Frisbee on the lawn. Fun fact: The flame atop the memorial that is often seen at night is not fire. Rather, it’s a clever display of steam and lighting to portray the flickering flame that will always remind both locals and visitors the sacrifice of not only our American soldiers, but those of the country’s allies during World War I.
This castle in the middle of Kansas City was once home to the city’s finest imprisoned criminals. The Work House, 2001 Vine St. (also known as Brant’s Castle, named after the prison’s original superintendent), was built in 1897 to relieve overcrowding at nearby prisons. The prison could hold 120 men and women, who were forced to work in the rock quarry located down the hill from the prison during their sentence. This apparently helped them become better citizens. But why a castle? Well, the architects just felt like making something different. Years later, the city ultimately abandoned the building because of various safety hazards. The castle is colorful with graffiti, covered with vines and had grown into a part of Kansas City’s very landscape – until its purchase in 2013, with a rehab plan to create a functional community space.
An historic view of Cliff Drive, northeast Kansas City’s 4.27-mile Scenic Byway, which on weekends is designated for pedestrian use only.
200 million years ago, a large sea, referred to as the Kansas-Nebraska Sea, covered present-day Kansas City and helped create our farmlands, bluffs, hills and rock formations. Small fossils from this time are still visible on the high bluffs of Cliff Drive. History in action, folks!
Photo courtesy of the Historic Kansas City Foundation
The West Bottoms of Kansas City hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to Missouri River. The river flooded the area in 1888, 1903 and 1951. The flood of 1888 was so powerful that it actually changed the river’s course. These floods severely “dampened” the West Bottom’s economy. Before 1903, the area held more than 90 percent of Kansas City’s value, but the flood ended all potential for housing and schools. Luckily, the industrial side of the area, meat-packing and agriculture, continued to thrive until the flood of 1951. Enough was enough. Companies relocated. Almost 20 years later, Kemper Arena at 1800 Genessee St. revamped the West Bottoms, luring several more multi-million dollar businesses to the area.
Kansas City has a piece of New York City in its midst, thanks to the Washington Monument, located near Crown Center in Washington Square Park. In 1922, various foundations formed a fundraiser to recreate the original New York statue of President George Washington for Kansas City. More than 100,000 Kansas City residents donated money for the project. Three years later in 1925, the almost 17-foot statue with a 13-foot pedestal was erected for $30,000, which would be almost $400,000 today. The statue still stands, surrounded by lush landscaping that gives park-goers a moment to reflect on the nation’s history.
Kansas City went from the humble “Cowtown” to a busy city core in 1870 when the first horse-powered streetcars were installed. It wasn’t until almost 40 years later, when electric street cars were installed, that Kansas City developed the reputation as one of the most sophisticated street car systems in America. However, by the 1960s, Kansas City replaced streetcars with busses to keep up with the times. Now, in an attempt to restore a bit of history with some modern flair, the city is installing a new streetcar system. It starts operation in 2015, nearly 150 years after the city’s original street car.
At the turn of the 20th century, it was uncommon for working class citizens to have the luxury of bathing facilities in their own individual homes. The city sought to remedy this within Grove Park (located at 15th and Benton Boulevard), alongside an array of other amenities including baseball diamonds, pergolas and horseshoe-toss areas. Nothing overshadowed the public bath house and wading pool, however. It all began as a simple wading pool in 1911. In 1914, The Grove debuted a snazzy swimming pool, enclosed by four walls – but if one looked to the heavens, they’d find them beneath a ceiling-less sky. Also offered were clean restrooms and showers, tubs for the lucky ladies and even electric hair-dryers could be found in the bath house; the city spared no accommodation. Though the building no longer exists (it was razed in the 1960s), the memory lives on of the good ol’ days, when males and females were forced to use the swimming pool at separate times.
An historic view of Cliff Drive, northeast Kansas City’s 4.27-mile Scenic Byway, which on weekends is designated for pedestrian use only.
200 million years ago, a large sea, referred to as the Kansas-Nebraska Sea, covered present-day Kansas City and helped create our farmlands, bluffs, hills and rock formations. Small fossils from this time are still visible on the high bluffs of Cliff Drive. History in action, folks!
Before the Spanish-style gardens and university-size campus, The Visitation Catholic Church, 5141 Main Street, was nothing but a small, one story place of worship known as the “catacombs.” Built in 1909, the church started out with fewer than 60 families. About 20 years later, the church expanded by adding a small parish school. Now, the church has thousands of parish members and offers a variety of worshipping activities for the community to enjoy.
An historic view of Cliff Drive, northeast Kansas City’s 4.27-mile Scenic Byway, which on weekends is designated for pedestrian use only.
200 million years ago, a large sea, referred to as the Kansas-Nebraska Sea, covered present-day Kansas City and helped create our farmlands, bluffs, hills and rock formations. Small fossils from this time are still visible on the high bluffs of Cliff Drive. History in action, folks!
The North End is oft called “Kansas City’s Melting Pot,” an historically working-class neighborhood adjacent to the meat-packing, stockyard and railroad crux that was the burly West Bottoms. An area of continuously-changing (as well as ever-intertwined) culture, the years have seen an influx of Vietnamese, African-Americans, Irish, Cuban, German and Italian immigrants, just to name a few. For thirty years, the North End was nicknamed “Little Italy” due to its heavy Italian population, mafia ties and flourishing Red Light District, courtesy of City Boss Tom Pendergast. Simultaneously, the North End was home to Kansas City’s first and only Jewish community until the 1930s. A more unfortunate nickname for the neighborhood? The “Dingy North End.” Today, the North End is better known as Columbus Park and evolving into a district of the artistic and creative-minded.
Don’t let the name of this curvy road trick you; this is not a place known for star-struck lovers to stroll through. Interestingly enough, the road was named after an original investor named P.A. Valentine — and he never even lived in the area. Before the majestic lime-stone, country style, 100-year-old mansions, the Valentine neighborhood, cozily tucked between Southwest Trafficway and Broadway, was nothing more than farmland owned by one person: Allen McGee, who was the son of James McGee, one of the founding fathers of Kansas City. In 1827, when the McGee family move to the Kansas City area from Kentucky, McGee predicted that the 160-acre landplot, just an hour north by carriage from Westport (which now takes a fraction of that time), would transform into one of the most sought-after areas to build homes in the city. He was right. By the 1880s, the farmland that once blanketed the area developed into what is now known as the Valentine neighborhood.
After the great flood of 1903 that destroyed Kansas City’s original railroad depot, the city had to start anew. The replacement Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Rd, was completed in 1914. Just three years after opening, the railroad station saw 271 trains a day and almost 80,000 per year. The depot broke its own record in 1945, after WWII’s end, when nearly 680,000 trains (packed with returning U.S. soldiers) came through the station. Kansas City made national headlines prior in 1933 with “Union Station Massacre.” The infamous mobster Frank Nash, who was under protection of the FBI, was shot and killed, along with four police officers, during a massive gang-related shoot-out that was supposedly lead by Adam Richetti. For years, many believed that bullet holes spewed across the front of the building from the shoot-out, but modern forensics proved the theories to be incorrect. Unfortunately, the railroad station lost its popularity in the 1950s when air travel became the main-stream. In 1983, the station closed its doors to the public for 15 years and then reopened in 1999. Now, the Union Station is home to Science City, a variety of restaurants, collections of historical artifacts and traveling museums.
After the great flood of 1903 that destroyed Kansas City’s original railroad depot, the city had to start anew. The replacement Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Rd, was completed in 1914. Just three years after opening, the railroad station saw 271 trains a day and almost 80,000 per year. The depot broke its own record in 1945, after WWII’s end, when nearly 680,000 trains (packed with returning U.S. soldiers) came through the station. Kansas City made national headlines prior in 1933 with “Union Station Massacre.” The infamous mobster Frank Nash, who was under protection of the FBI, was shot and killed, along with four police officers, during a massive gang-related shoot-out that was supposedly lead by Adam Richetti. For years, many believed that bullet holes spewed across the front of the building from the shoot-out, but modern forensics proved the theories to be incorrect. Unfortunately, the railroad station lost its popularity starting in the 1950s when air travel started to become more main-stream. In 1983, the station closed its doors to the public for 15 years and then reopened in 1999. Now, the Union Station is home to Science City, a variety of restaurants, collections of historical artifacts and traveling museums.
After the great flood of 1903 that destroyed Kansas City’s original railroad depot, the city had to start anew. The replacement Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Rd, was completed in 1914. Just three years after opening, the railroad station saw 271 trains a day and almost 80,000 per year. The depot broke its own record in 1945, after WWII’s end, when nearly 680,000 trains (packed with returning U.S. soldiers) came through the station. Kansas City made national headlines prior in 1933 with “Union Station Massacre.” The infamous mobster Frank Nash, who was under protection of the FBI, was shot and killed, along with four police officers, during a massive gang-related shoot-out that was supposedly lead by Adam Richetti. For years, many believed that bullet holes spewed across the front of the building from the shoot-out, but modern forensics proved the theories to be incorrect. Unfortunately, the railroad station lost its popularity starting in the 1950s when air travel started to become more main-stream. In 1983, the station closed its doors to the public for 15 years and then reopened in 1999. Now, the Union Station is home to Science City, a variety of restaurants, collections of historical artifacts and traveling museums.
In the 1860s, the West Bottoms was the up and coming place to be in Kansas City. At one point, more than 90 percent of the city’s value belonged to the West Bottoms, which included the meatpackers and agriculture stockyards. Before the locals knew it, the city needed a new railroad station to keep the area successful. Thus, Union Depot, located on Union Ave., was built. On April 7, 1878, Union Depot opened with high-end offices, clean restrooms, and luxurious woodwork through the building. However, the station was soon lovingly referred to as “Kansas City’s Insane Asylum” due to its Gothic and Victorian design with high arches, towers and extreme details. The locals weren’t too off the mark; the builder of the Union Depot built a real “insane asylum” in Topeka, Kan., years later. Was the builder trying to tell the train-riders something? Probably not, but you never know. The great flood of 1903 all but ruined the Union Depot. Soon the depot closed and a new, more timeless Union Station opened on higher ground in 1914 at 30 W. Pershing Rd.
Kansas City was the go-to city during the great western migration in the early 1900s because of the area’s rich beef and agriculture industries. Thanks to this economic and urban growth, the local city post office hit its limit by 1930. Around this time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the “New Deal” program (from 1933-1938) after the Great Depression that focused on the “Three Rs:” relief, recovery and reform. A portion of the New Deal programs included funding for public-use buildings such as post offices and customs. Kansas City took full advantage of this idea. In 1935, Kansas City received $3.3 million, which would now be more than $56 million, in funding from the U.S. government to build a brand new, state-of-the-art (for the times) post office building located at 811 Grand Ave., which was completed in 1939 and stood proudly for decades.
Kansas City was the go-to city during the great western migration in the early 1900s because of the area’s rich beef and agriculture industries. Thanks to this economic and urban growth, the local city post office hit its limit by 1930. Around this time, President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the “New Deal” program (from 1933-1938) after the Great Depression that focused on the “Three Rs:” relief, recovery and reform. A portion of the New Deal programs included funding for public-use buildings such as post offices and customs. Kansas City took full advantage of this idea. In 1935, Kansas City received $3.3 million, which would now be more than $56 million, in funding from the U.S. government to build a brand new, state-of-the-art (for the times) post office building located at 811 Grand Ave., which was completed in 1939 and stood proudly for decades.
Home to Kansas City’s first fully-equipped and supervised playground, Holmes Park, located between Troost Ave. and Holmes Rd, became a popular place for families to visit in the early 1900s. In order to ensure the safety of children playing in the park, Elenore Canny became the park’s first official park monitor in 1908, but she didn’t have the power to make arrests. In order to give Canny more authority over the park, she eventually became Kansas City’s first female commissioned officer in 1910, and this was back when women weren’t even allowed to vote. It can even be argued the Canny was the first official female officer in the country. The playground included your basic kid-friendly equipment such as slides and swings. For the adults, tennis courts, baseball fields, and bathhouses that included showers, clubrooms and a gym were added in 1910. By 1920, it is said that more than 500 people, both children and adults, visited the park any given day.
The Scout statue located in Penn Valley Park has kept watch over the Kansas City skyline for more than 90 years. However, this 10-foot statue of a Sioux Native American did not always call Kansas City home. In 1910, the famous sculptor Cyrus E. Dallin created “The Scout” for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. This exposition was held in San Francisco to recognize and celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal. There, the statue won a gold medal in the sculpture category. After the exposition, the statue, en route back to Massachusetts (where Dallin created it), made a stop in Kansas City where it was temporarily displayed in Penn Valley Park. Kansas Citians loved the statue so much, they created a campaign called “The Kids of Kansas City” and raised $15,000 (which would now be about $175,000) to purchase the statue. By 1922, The Scout was a permanent fixture.
The Rialto building, located at 9th St. and Grand Ave., was best known as home to more than 100 medical professional offices after its opening in 1887. However, more than 10 years later, the building made headlines for a less-than-savory reason. On December 24, 1909, a small fire started in the building’s basement , going unnoticed for almost three hours as it raged through the building. Thanks to the quick actions of the building’s janitor, J.W. Johnson (who first noticed the fire and acted as a fire-alarm, running to each of the five floors yelling), everyone made it out alive. Sadly, the building hadn’t the same luck. Three large gas explosions halted the fire department’s chances of extinguishing the blaze. The Rialto building was a fire trap with its brick exterior, blocking attempts to get water to the flames feeding on simple wood interior. It was impossible for the fire department to save the Rialto. After the fire finally dissipated, there was nothing left but the ice-crusted outer brick walls.
After the Civil War, Kansas City grew quickly. Like, really fast. In 1870, a mere 25,000 residents populated Kansas City and by 1885, the city touted more than 100,000 people. At this point, Kansas City was simply known as a muddy cow town. August Meyer (1851-1905), president of the newly created Park Board, developed the 1893 Plan for Parks and Boulevards (based on the national “City Beautiful’ movement that brought the European grandeur architecture to the United States). Meyer hired famed landscape architect George E. Kessler to execute this plan. Meyer wanted to mold Kansas City not only into a beautiful city, but also a well-coordinated city with an intricate system of roads that promoted outward growth. Meyer also pushed for public parks, arguing that Chicago and St. Louis had them, and so should Kansas City! Despite steep, unsightly hills and muddy river bluffs, Kessler worked with the flow of the land and created more than 20 miles of winding boulevards that were sprinkled with art installations and which would soon make Kansas City famous. The best known boulevard that sprouted from this project: the Paseo, that started at the fresh, tree-lined bluffs of Cliff Dr. through to the city center. Named after the majestic Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City, the Paseo (definition: walk or promenade) became known as the fashion-forward section of town. Kessler considered the Paseo not only a boulevard, but a parkway. He designed it to intertwine the beauty of nature.
In 1880, Kansas City was a true cow town. It was described as “incredibly ugly and commonplace” by William Rockhill Nelson when he first arrived to the city. He claimed that if he “were to live here, the town must be made over.” Nelson went on to create The Kansas City Star newspaper the same year. He moved into a 20-acre estate near Brush Creek and spent the next 25 years as the newspaper’s publisher – and building Kansas City into more than just a cow town. At the time of his death in 1915, Nelson made it clear that his estate was to be used toward an art museum for the city, “which will contribute to the delectation and enjoyment of the public.” Unbeknownst to Nelson, someone else had an art gallery in mind, too. Mary McAfee Atkins was a schoolteacher who hailed from Kentucky and followed her husband to Kansas City in 1878. When her husband died, she became a world traveler using the estate money he left. During her travels, she developed a love for art and became determined to bring it to Kansas City. Upon her death in 1911, Atkins left the rest of her estate to fund an art museum. Nelson’s and Atkin’s money created what is now known as the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which stands on Nelson’s 20-acre landplot.
The Municipal Auditorium can’t be missed traveling down 13th street from the heart of downtown. Built in 1934 during Harry S. Truman’s “Ten Year Plan,” which brought new construction to downtown Kansas City and improved city streets, the Municipal Auditorium consisted of three main spaces: the Main Arena, the Little Theatre, and the Music Hall. The Music Hall consists of three tiers of 2,400 red velvet seats focused towards a proscenium-style stage. The entrance of the theatre is adorned with a gleaming gold art deco style chandelier true to its 1930s roots. The theatre hosts Broadway shows ranging from Wicked to War Horse, orchestras and ballets, and was home to Kansas City’s Philharmonic. The Music Hall is also home to a 1927 Robert-Morton Theater Pipe Organ (there are only about 30 organs of this type currently installed in the country), which was originally owned by the Midland Theatre.
The Municipal Auditorium, 301 W 13th St., is definitely a landmark for Kansas City. Built in 1934 during Harry S. Truman’s “Ten Year Plan,” which brought new construction to downtown Kansas City and improved city streets, the Municipal Auditorium consisted of three main spaces: the Main Arena, the Little Theater, and the Music Hall. In 1935, Architectural Record named the Municipal Auditorium “one of the 10 best buildings in the world” of the year. The main arena can hold more than 10,000 patrons, and with no pillars obstructing the view, there’s no such thing as a bad seat. Shown in this postcard, thousands of Kansas Citians gathered for the building’s dedication on Oct. 13, 1936. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was even in attendance. Elvis, Eddie Fisher and Scottie Fisher also graced the Main Arena stage in the 1950s. The main arena of the auditorium has a long history of college basketball tournaments, hosting three of the first four NCAA Final Four games in the 1960s. The arena is now home to the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s basketball team, as well as the Kansas City Roller Warriors roller-derby league.
Municipal Auditorium consisted of three main spaces: the Main Arena, the Music Hall and the Little Theater, pictured here. In 1935, Architectural Record named the Municipal Auditorium “one of the 10 best buildings in the world” of the year.
This popular spot for a drive, a carriage ride, bicycling and/or picnicking spanned Gladstone Blvd., the first boulevard in Kansas City, Mo. Tons of dirt, piled strategically to fill the valley around Gladstone Blvd., was seeded and planted with grass, trees and flowers to become The Concourse. The park’s river view and the pleasant atmosphere made it one happenin’ place.
Mt. Washington Park was once the finest and most beautiful amusement park in Missouri. Developed by Willard Winner, the park touted a man-made 20 acre lake for boating and swimming, a bandstand on an island in the middle of the lake, a shooting park and plenty of breathtaking nature to be explored. Unfortunately, due to competition from Fairmount Park (another Kansas City amusement hot spot) the park closed by the turn of the century. The unfinished castle was acquired and completed by Walt Webb in 1898. Webb was the founder of the Missouri Bank & Trust Co., and the castle became his family’s country home.
The Canyon was known as Agnes Avenue Gorge until Agnes became Chestnut in 1895. It is located in the former North Terrace Park, now Kessler Park. The canyon was bridged in 1901 and by the 1920s, North Terrace Park spanned nearly 300 acres.
For over 40 years, Fairmount Park and its lake, complete with a fountain, a beach and a lux two-story bathhouse, drew crowds from near and far. Unfortunate occurrences — fires on park grounds, the Great Depression – closed the park permanently in 1933.
Emery, Bird and Thayer became the king of “Petticoat Lane” – the nickname for the Kansas City shopping district. The company evolved in more ways than one. It began in 1846 as Coates and Bullene, becoming Bullene & Brother, then Bullene, Moore, Emery & Co, settling finally as Emery, Bird and Thayer in a brand new building at 11th Street – having already outgrown two prior locations.
The original building façade touted red brick and pink sandstone; yet another addition was made in 1900 and the building received a fresh coat of cream and gold paint. An impressive row of clocks hung above the first floor elevators showing times in major cities around the world (after Pearl Harbor, the Tokyo clock was removed). Up the elevator one would find Emery, Bird and Thayer’s famous Tea Room, where anyone might have a spot of the drink, and the company even hosted tea parties for the city’s children.
Swope Park’s swinging foot-bridge was completed in 1907. With the park expanding to include ball fields and a golf course, a path was necessary through the impassible underbrush surrounding the Blue River. The steel suspension bridge was renovated in 1994.
In 1896, “Colonel” Thomas Swope (only an honorary title; Swope never actually served in any military force), allocated a grand 1334 acres of his own land to be used for a public park. The park has grown to an impressive 1805 acres as of today – one of the largest throughout the country. Some of the notable installments were the Kansas City Zoo, which opened in 1909, the suspension foot-bridge over the Blue River, built in 1907, and the Swope Park Lagoon. Today the park still houses the zoo, Starlight Theater (installed 1950), fields for multiple types of athletics, the Thomas Swope Memorial Golf Course and a training field for Kansas City’s professional soccer team, Sporting KC.
In 1896, “Colonel” Thomas Swope (only an honorary title; Swope never actually served in any military force), allocated a grand 1334 acres of his own land to be used for a public park. The park has grown to an impressive 1805 acres as of today – one of the largest throughout the country. Some of the notable installments were the Kansas City Zoo, which opened in 1909, the suspension foot-bridge over the Blue River, built in 1907, and beauty spots aplenty, such as gardens, grassy expanses for picnicking, a pretty little restaurant and a tree-lined lake . Today the park still houses the zoo, Starlight Theater (installed 1950), fields for multiple types of athletics, the Thomas Swope Memorial Golf Course and a training field for Kansas City’s professional soccer team, Sporting KC.
This dazzling 20-acre lake nestled in the greenery of Mt. Washington Park, an amusement park in Independence, Mo., just outside of Kansas City. It was used for swimming and boating, and an island in the lake held a bandstand for concerts.
George Kessler, the master behind the design of both the Parks and Boulevards and City Beautiful movements in Kansas City. The Paseo Boulevard was inarguably his most impressive and lovely creation, and largest – the Paseo stretches nearly 19 miles through the city. Inspired (and named for) Mexico’s Paseo de la Reforma, the boulevard was ornamented with pergolas, parks and fountains. It was also home to the incredible Sunken Gardens, alive with the greenest of grass and well-maintained and manicured recessed floral beds.
This postcard was released the same year as Hotel Muehlebach’s opening in 1915, touting the lavish State Suite in all of its’ ivory splendor. The space attracted big names and important people – even United States Presidents at one time or another. Residing on the third floor amongst apartments and a music gallery, the suite faced Baltimore Avenue. Today, the Hotel Muehlebach boasts a Presidential Suite rather than the State one (after Harry S. Truman graced the office), quite as elegant and inviting.
In 1907, the sweet Sisters of Mary were bestowed with the original St. Mary’s Hospital at 28th and Main Streets. They’d already worked with the sick for near a decade before the namesake charity hospital, which held 250 beds in a sanitary brand-new building. The hospital would shortly see additions such as a chapel, a separate space for medical training for new recruits and an entire house devoted to the nurses who worked there. Today, St. Joseph Hospital and St. Mary’s have been merged under Carondelet Health, and St. Mary’s is located in Blue Springs, Mo.
Here an ornate fountains adorns the stone wall along The Spring on Cliff Drive.
It was during the end of the 19th century that Smith Steam Baking Company was established, eventually growing so successful as to require 30 bakeries throughout the United States to keep up with demand. Three of those location remained in Kansas City, one of which we see here on East 17th Street, another at 18th and Cherry Streets. The baking company utilized Linofelt to insulate the bread rooms, Duhrkop’s Patent Baker Ovens, which allowed temperature regulation within the oven levels, and manufactured Dead Shot, an odorless, colorless and safe killer of cockroaches, yet gentle enough to use directly on the flour. In 1926 the company was acquired by the General Baking Co., and remained in operation until 1958.
In 1896, “Colonel” Thomas Swope (only an honorary title; Swope never actually served in any military force), allocated a grand 1334 acres of his own land to be used for a public park. The park has grown to an impressive 1805 acres as of today – one of the largest throughout the country. Some of the notable installments were the Kansas City Zoo, which opened in 1909, the suspension foot-bridge over the Blue River, built in 1907, and the Swope Park Shelter house. Today the park still houses the zoo, Starlight Theater (installed 1950), fields for multiple types of athletics, the Thomas Swope Memorial Golf Course and a training field for Kansas City’s professional soccer team, Sporting KC.
In 1896, “Colonel” Thomas Swope (only an honorary title; Swope never actually served in any military force), allocated a grand 1334 acres of his own land to be used for a public park. The park has grown to an impressive 1805 acres as of today – one of the largest throughout the country. Some of the notable installments were the Kansas City Zoo, which opened in 1909, the suspension foot-bridge over the Blue River, built in 1907, and the Swope Shelter house and gardens. Today the park still houses the zoo, Starlight Theater (installed 1950), fields for multiple types of athletics, the Thomas Swope Memorial Golf Course and a training field for Kansas City’s professional soccer team, Sporting KC.
The Scout statue has been keeping watch over the Kansas City skyline for more than 90 years. However, this 10-foot statue of a Sioux Native American did not always call Kansas City home. In 1910, the famous sculptor Cyrus E. Dallin created “The Scout” for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. This exposition was held in San Francisco to recognize and celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal. There, the statue won a gold medal in the sculpture category. After the exposition, traveling back to Massachusetts (where Dallin created the sculpture) “The Scout” made a stop in Kansas City, where it was temporarily placed on display in Penn Valley Park. Kansas Citians loved the statue so much, they created a campaign called “The Kids of Kansas City” and raised $15,000 to purchase the statue. In 1922, it found a permanent home in Kansas City.
The ancient order of the freemasons came to be in Europe, and it was in 1887 (after a failed attempt in 1884) that the order of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite established itself in Kansas City, Mo. The first meeting was held in the Adoniram Lodge of Perfection on Main Street, a rather mighty name for a space so small and shabby. The Scottish Rite moved several times around the Kansas City area, from 720 Main, to 9th and Walnut Streets, to the temple we see here at 15th and Troost. A more permanent home was found for the Scottish Rite on Linwood Boulevard, where it remains today.
John and Charles Arbuckle of Arbuckle Coffee Co. built the hotel’s original wing in 1888, which crowns the Savoy the oldest running hotel west of the Mississippi. The original owners were the first in the nation to sell roasted coffee in one-pound bags, saving customers the step of roasting green coffee beans themselves. During prohibition, City Boss Tom Pendergast delivered trucks of frozen chickens, their cavities stuffed with bottles of gin, whisky and rum, to The Savoy Grill, Kansas City’s oldest restaurant, established in 1903.
The famed journey of Captain William Bicknell (Santa Fe, N.M.’s founder) is marked in various places throughout the states he traveled, one being right here in Kansas City’s Penn Valley Park. The project began with the Senator Thomas Benton, intending to stake the markers of the Santa Fe Trail. It was in 1905 that the mission made it to Kansas City, and the Santa Fe Trail’s path noted at 30th and Broadway. The plaque was not original to Penn Valley Park, but was relocated to the very spot upon which now towers the Federal Reserve Bank building. The proud marker of such history was uninstalled in 2006.
The dazzling 20-acre Swan Lake nestled in the greenery of Mt. Washington Park, an amusement park in Independence, Mo., just outside of Kansas City. It was used for swimming and boating, and an island in the lake held a bandstand for concerts. Here we see an old footbridge for crossing the lake, and the tree lines and greenery that provided such natural beauty within the park.
In 1935, City Boss Thomas Pendergast’s Ready-Mix Concrete Company laid concrete eight to 10 inches thick and 70 feet wide across the bottom of Brush Creek. The paving of Brush Creek—a 70 foot wide, 10.5-mile stream that spans three counties and runs through Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza—cost the city $1.5 million at the time, endangered over 40 species of fish ranging from golden redhorse, longear sunfish, northern hog sucker, to the Ozark minnow; and diminished the creek’s ability to replenish groundwater reserves. Pendergast claimed at the time that paving Brush Creek would eliminate flooding. Following the ‘77 flooding, an additional flood occurred in 1993, resulting in a new flood control plan in 1999 that cost $1.3 billion. Kansas City’s 150-year-old combined sewer system—one that collects sewage and storm-water runoff in a single pipe system—and Pendergast’s concrete company, over 60 years, turned what was once a healthy creek into more of a polluted drainage ditch full of E.coli.
Roanoke Park is one of many projects of the legendary designer George E. Kessler, the mind behind the beauty of the Parks and Boulevards movement. The movement sought to make Kansas City a lovely place to be. Located in the Midtown area, Roanoke Park is nestled amidst limestone bluffs. It was officially declared a park in 1908; all of the land was funded by the South Highlands Land and Improvement Company. A perfect place for picnicking and sightseeing, the park held/holds ball fields, miles of walking trails and playgrounds for the kiddos. There is also a cave within the park — though it was sealed off in the 1950s. It’s believed that this was a cautionary measure following the disappearances of several young children in Roanoke Park.
Roanoke Park is one of many projects of the legendary designer George E. Kessler, the mind behind the beauty of the Parks and Boulevards movement. The movement sought to make Kansas City a lovely place to be. Located in the Midtown area, Roanoke Park is nestled amidst limestone bluffs. It was officially declared a park in 1908; all of the land was funded by the South Highlands Land and Improvement Company. A perfect place for picnicking and sightseeing, the park held/holds ball fields, miles of walking trails and playgrounds for the kiddos. There is also a cave within the park — though it was sealed off in the 1950s. It’s believed that this was a cautionary measure following the disappearances of several young children in Roanoke Park.
After the great flood of 1903 that destroyed Kansas City’s original railroad depot, the city had to start anew. The replacement Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Rd, was completed in 1914. Just three years after opening, the railroad station saw 271 trains a day and almost 80,000 per year. The depot broke its own record in 1945, after WWII’s end, when nearly 680,000 trains (packed with returning U.S. soldiers) came through the station. Kansas City made national headlines prior in 1933 with “Union Station Massacre.” The infamous mobster Frank Nash, who was under protection of the FBI, was shot and killed, along with four police officers, during a massive gang-related shoot-out that was supposedly lead by Adam Richetti. For years, many believed that bullet holes spewed across the front of the building from the shoot-out, but modern forensics proved the theories to be incorrect. Unfortunately, the railroad station lost its popularity in the 1950s when air travel became the main-stream. In 1983, the station closed its doors to the public for 15 years and then reopened in 1999. Now, the Union Station is home to Science City, a variety of restaurants, collections of historical artifacts and traveling museums.
This haunting bronze work by sculptor Alexander Phimister was gifted to Kansas City’s Penn Valley Park by local Howard Vanderslice. Penn Valley Park stands where once did a ravine, but with the settlement of man the wild land surrounding had been transformed into neighborhoods, homes, a city. The Pioneer Mother represents the old pioneer Santa Fe Trail route through the land, as well as the countless courageous women that walked or rode the path and brought their descendants to our city. The Pioneer Mother Group is inscribed: “Whither thou goest, I will go and wither thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and they God, my God.”
Petticoat Lane was the nickname for Kansas City, Mo.’s Garment District, a lively and prosperous area. At one point, one in seven garments worn throughout the United States was designed, executed, and shipped from Kansas City. Here we see many cars and shoppers lining 11th Street.
George Kessler, the master behind the design of both the Parks and Boulevards and City Beautiful movements in Kansas City. The Paseo Boulevard was inarguably his most impressive and lovely creation, and largest – the Paseo stretches nearly 19 miles through the city. Inspired (and named for) Mexico’s Paseo de la Reforma, the boulevard was ornamented with pergolas (seen here), parks and fountains. It was also home to the incredible Sunken Gardens, alive with the greenest of grass and well-maintained and manicured recessed floral beds.
A crowning achievement of the “City Beautiful” movement in Kansas City, Penn Valley Park remains a massive acreage of an urban park so perfectly integrated into the grid, it’s hard to tell when it begins or ends. The three-acre Washington Lake sits in a valley just off of the interstate, and motorists tend to zoom past folks fishing in the otherwise peaceful waters. The historic Penn Street Ravine has long been a flyover for travelers—in the 19th Century the tree-lined area was a common passageway for pioneers on the Santa Fe Trail. Penn Valley Park, as it was built in 1904, has remained friendly to travelers since, with one section being used in the 1910s as a rest stop for cross-country motorists and in the 1940s as a camp for soldiers on leave. Today, the park houses a theatre, a skate park, and an off-leash dog park—not to mention the Liberty Memorial.
While surrounding skyscrapers dwarf the concrete fortress on 13th Street in downtown Kansas City, Mo, viewed head on, the Municipal Auditorium is as magisterial today as it was in 1899 and again when rebuilt in 1935. That year, Architectural Record named the auditorium “one of the 10 best buildings in the world.” This century, the Princeton Architectural Press included it in their list of 500 notable buildings in America.
The Meyer Monument stands proud in a suiting place along the Paseo Boulevard. Named for August Meyer, the man behind the Parks and Boulevards and City Beautiful movements, Meyer worked closely with the man behind the design, George Kessler. The loveliest and longest project of the movements was Paseo Boulevard, a 19-mile stretch of road decorated with fountains, pergolas and abundant gardens and greenery. Meyer eternally overlooks the beauty he brought forth.
Shown here is one of Kansas City’s many ornate fountains, this one located in the Country Club Plaza district. Kansas City is second in number of fountains only to Rome, and is nicknamed “The City of Fountains.”
Before big-named cinema companies, such as AMC and, of course, the Alamo Drafthouse, owned the theater, the Mainstreet Cinema opened its doors in 1921 as the largest theater at the time in Kansas City, holding about 3,000 seats. It was also the only theater at the time to have a nursery for parents wanting to catch a flick or show, which isn’t a bad idea. Along with the tunnels, the theater’s basement was large enough to hold performing animals such as elephants, and it even had a pool for seals. The tunnels have now been blocked off and the basement is most likely used for storage.
Postcard courtesy of the Historic Kansas City Foundation
This postcard was released the same year as Hotel Muehlebach’s opening in 1915, touting the lavish Main Lobby in all of its’ elegant splendor. The hotel attracted big names and important people – even United States Presidents at one time or another. The Main Lobby certainly made an impressive first impression upon entering the hotel.
In the northwest corner of the expansive Loose Park sits the Kansas City Municipal Rose Garden, a lush courtyard of nearly 3,000 roses. A labor of love by the Kansas City Rose Society, the garden was conceived in 1931 and started with just 120 rose plants. It has been maintained by the group since and only grown: the rose garden hosts an average 250 weddings a year, as well as countless other photogenic moments in the warm months. Devoid of much flora, this postcard captures the less fragrant bathrooms of the west gardens.
The natural crown jewel of the neighborhoods surrounding the Country Club Plaza, playing host to kite-flying families and scenic nuptials on any given warm day, Loose Park had markedly less leisurely beginnings during the Civil War. The land then played host to the Battle of Westport, an 1864 Union victory in the area. The land was privately owned and operated as a golf course for the Kansas City Country Club until 1925. It was purchased by Ella, widow of cracker manufacturing mogul Jacob Loose, to be purposed as a park in his memory. Since then, the addition of the pond, tennis courts, a spray park, and a rose garden have preserved Loose Park as one of the best-loved in the city.
The Linwood School had the humblest of beginnings. With an entire student body of just 25 kiddos, Jackson County’s School #6 at rural Linwood Boulevard and Woodland Avenue was annexed to the Kansas City School District as the land around it was annexed to the city itself in 1890. That year, what would become a 24-classroom building erected its first wing, and by the 1920s, the student population numbered more than 1000.
Standing tall at 217 feet of tubular steel and concrete, the Liberty Memorial is not just a beloved Kansas City landmark, but also a national treasure of tribute to the fallen soldiers of the Great War (the first one). The memorial was conceived in 1920–just two years after the Armistice–by a group of powerful city leaders including J.C. Nichols and R.A. Long. Its dedication ceremony in 1921 was attended by President Calvin Coolidge, accompanied by an assemblage of the Allied Forces’ top military personnel, gathered in one place for the first time. Since that monumental day, the Liberty Memorial and its grounds have gone through periods of neglect and disrepute (in the latter-half of the 20th century it was a popular “cruising” spot for local gay men, eliciting a fair share of phallic jokes). In 2006, the site was repurposed to house the nation’s first and only World War I museum, restoring honor to the powerful landmark and its war.
The soaring 217-feet tall tubular steel and concrete structure of the Liberty Memorial is not just a beloved Kansas City landmark, but also a national treasure of tribute to the fallen soldiers of the Great War (the first one). The memorial was conceived in 1920, just two years after the Armistice, by a group of powerful city leaders (including J.C. Nichols and R.A. Long). The 1921 dedication ceremony audience boasted President Calvin Coolidge and an assemblage of the Allied forces’ top military personnel, gathered together for the first time. Since that monumental day, the Liberty Memorial and its grounds have gone through periods of neglect and disrepute (in the latter-half of the 20th century it was a popular “cruising” spot for local gay men, eliciting a fair share of phallic jokes). In 2006, the site was repurposed to house the nation’s first and only World War I museum, restoring honor to the powerful landmark and its war.
Although George Kessler gets most of the credit for beautifying Kansas City with its beloved boulevards and parks, his vision was furthered in no small part by father-and-son landscape artists Sid and Herbert Hare. While Kessler was working closely with the city in a political capacity in the 1890s, Sid Hare was challenging the idea of what burial grounds should look like in his term as superintendent of Forest Hill Cemetery. Hare saw the potential to be not just a resting place for the dead, but a botanical garden for the breathing visitors. The lake, and other additions to Forest Hill, became trademarks of Hare’s lavish landscape design. He and his son would go on to work closely with J.C. Nichols in the development of the Country Club Plaza and Mission Hills.
A crowning achievement of the “City Beautiful” movement in Kansas City, Penn Valley Park remains a massive acreage of an urban park so perfectly integrated into the grid, it’s hard to tell when it begins or ends. The three-acre Washington Lake sits in a valley just off of the interstate, and motorists tend to zoom past folks fishing in the otherwise peaceful waters. The historic Penn Street Ravine has long been a flyover for travelers—in the 19th Century the tree-lined area was a common passageway for pioneers on the Santa Fe Trail. Penn Valley Park, as it was built in 1904, has remained friendly to travelers since, with one section being used in the 1910s as a rest stop for cross-country motorists and in the 1940s as a camp for soldiers on leave. Today, the park houses a theatre, a skate park, and an off-leash dog park—not to mention the Liberty Memorial.
Though today one could not find Kersey Coates Drive on Google Maps—it was demolished for the construction of I-35—the impetus for its origin remains preserved by surrounding green areas collectively known as West Terrace Park. The park was strategically designed in the early 1890s to beautify the once-luxurious West Bluffs, which had become undesirable when the booming Livestock Exchange took over the West Bottoms below. Packaged in the 1893 Report of the Park and Boulevard Commissioners, the design for West Terrace Park stretched over 30 acres of the downtown area, and included the still-standing Jarboe Park and Mulkey Square. These regal palisades covered the Bluffs, and the street—Kersey Coates Drive—bore the name of the founder of Quality Hill. Residents there today can still enjoy the spectacular views of the less-noisy West Bottoms from Ernie Case Jr. Park.
The jutting point on the Kaw River that now overlooks the Kansas City, Mo. skyline has a long history as a vantage point perfect for imagining a city beyond the water. In 1804, following the Louisiana Purchase, the legendary explorers Lewis & Clark left St. Louis to explore the new territory to the west. Their expedition camped on the land now referred to as Kaw Point—the convergence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers. According to William Clark’s records of this stop, colorful parakeets and buffalos found in the area impressed the explorers. The river’s role in defining the Missouri state boundary in 1821 and Lewis & Clark’s positive assessment of the area assisted in luring the early settlement that would become Kansas City, Mo.
Octave Chanute designed the Kansas City Stockyards, the second largest operatiion in the United States behind Chicago, Ill. Thousands of pens lined the West Bottoms yards, holding thousands upon thousands of cows, pigs, sheep and the like. The Livestock Exchange building nearby was the largest building in the world dedicated solely to the business.
Octave Chanute designed the Kansas City Stockyards, the second largest operatiion in the United States behind Chicago, Ill. Thousands of pens lined the West Bottoms yards, holding thousands upon thousands of cows, pigs, sheep and the like. The Livestock Exchange building nearby was the largest building in the world dedicated solely to the business.
Kansas City cut its teeth on the banks of the Missouri River in the present-day River Market. In its golden days, the River Market was a prosperous river community full of risk takers and visionaries set on hurling themselves into prosperity. It’s not so different today. The river, too, has overtaken Kansas City, awash with devastating floods in 1903, 1911 and 1951. But like the river herself, the city is enduring and ambitious, and always rebuilds, bigger and better. The Missouri River is a beautiful sight to behold, but beware you do not turn your back on her…
With 475 offices housed in its nine stories, the Kansas City Livestock Exchange building stands as a gargantuan reminder of the city’s reputation as a “Cowtown” in the early 20th century. Prominent Kansas City architects Wight & Wight constructed the building in 1910. Serving then-massive stockyards–over 200 acres housed tens of thousands of cattle, hogs, and sheep–the Livestock Exchange building legitimized a Kansas City industry that had effectively aided in the development of the Western United States. The offices supported the stockyards until the last auction in 1991, and now house a variety of business and services.
Photo courtesy of the Historic Kansas City Foundation
J.C. Nichols envisioned Mission Hills as a satellite city neighborhood that would insulate its residents from disorder and provide leisurely lush greenery to emphasize the natural beauty of Kansas City. Planning began in the 1910s, a time of frenzied construction in the urban core, and Nichols meticulously laid out a sort of anti-grid made up of winding lanes and large lots to amplify the beauty of his Mission Hills community. He described this vision as a “garden suburb.” Naturally, emphasis was placed on the landscaping. Three golf courses were built within the neighborhood, and under the guidance of prominent landscape architect George Kessler, Nichols’ team implemented Italian flourishes like Verona columns and marble fountains into the public green areas. This serene sunken garden was sprouted in 1925, following visits to the burgeoning development by leading landscape architects from Japan in the early 1920s.
Before being exiled from their country for religious beliefs, the Jaccard family had risen to a level of nobility. This air of class persisted upon their move to America, where patriarch D.C. Jaccard served as a Swiss diplomat in St. Louis. He opened a jewelry store, which became a booming business that his sons would inherit. Walter and Eugene Jaccard grew the brand to success with Jaccard’s jewelry store at 1034 Main St. in downtown Kansas City, Mo. The Jaccards became a corporation, and a distinctly rare direct diamond importer in the landlocked Midwest . The location is currently the site of a 462-car parking garage.
Named the Inter-City Viaduct because it spans both Kansas City, Mo. and Kansas City, Kan., the double-level bridge was completed in 1907, accommodating both roadway travelers and pedestrians alike. With a steadfast design by the firm Waddell and Redrick, the bridge withstood the 1910 great flood as well as the great flood of 1951 – that time, remaining the only open bridge within either city. In 1969, the Inter-City Viaduct was renamed the Lewis and Clark Viaduct.
The Hotel Baltimore was a crown jewel of Kansas City culture that was built to last. Architect Louis Curtiss used “indestructible” materials of brick and iron, and designed with the elegance of a European charm. When it opened in 1899, the Baltimore was one of the biggest and best hotels in the West, and conspicuously expanded throughout the early 20th Century. By 1939, its opulence was off-putting to upper crest, and it was razed and demolished. The hotel shined briefly and brightly as the purveyor of Midwestern luxury for just 40 years.
After the great flood of 1903 that destroyed Kansas City’s original railroad depot, the city had to start anew. The replacement Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Rd, was completed in 1914, with an immense grand lobby. Just three years after opening, the railroad station saw 271 trains a day and almost 80,000 per year. The depot broke its own record in 1945, after WWII’s end, when nearly 680,000 trains (packed with returning U.S. soldiers) came through the station. Kansas City made national headlines prior in 1933 with “Union Station Massacre.” The infamous mobster Frank Nash, who was under protection of the FBI, was shot and killed, along with four police officers, during a massive gang-related shoot-out that was supposedly lead by Adam Richetti. For years, many believed that bullet holes spewed across the front of the building from the shoot-out, but modern forensics proved the theories to be incorrect. Unfortunately, the railroad station lost its popularity in the 1950s when air travel became the main-stream. In 1983, the station closed its doors to the public for 15 years and then reopened in 1999. Now, the Union Station is home to Science City, a variety of restaurants, collections of historical artifacts and traveling museums.
The Hotel Baltimore was a crown jewel of Kansas City culture that was built to last. Architect Louis Curtiss used “indestructible” materials of brick and iron, and designed with the elegance of a European charm. When it opened in 1899, the Baltimore was one of the biggest and best hotels in the West, and conspicuously expanded throughout the early 20th Century. By 1939, its opulence was off-putting to upper crest, and it was razed and demolished. The hotel shined briefly and brightly as the purveyor of Midwestern luxury for just 40 years.
George Kessler, the master behind the design of both the Parks and Boulevards and City Beautiful movements in Kansas City. The Paseo Boulevard was inarguably his most impressive and lovely creation, and largest – the Paseo stretches nearly 19 miles through the city. Inspired (and named for) Mexico’s Paseo de la Reforma, the boulevard was ornamented with pergolas, parks and fountains (seen here). It was also home to the incredible Sunken Gardens, alive with the greenest of grass and well-maintained and manicured recessed floral beds.
This short-lived amusement park at Independence Ave. and Hardesty opened in 1903, touting a horse track, glass-blowing, pony rides, a merry-go-round and a laughing gallery. Forest Park also featured an ape house, where visitors could enter the large round structure and poke some poor monkeys in cages. It sounds like quite a bit of fun – I’m particularly curious about the laughing gallery – but closed just 9 years later in 1912.
Photo Courtesy of the Historic Kansas City Foundation
At 17th and Prospect Streets, Fairyland amusement park entertained hundreds of thousands of people every year for 50 years. Fairyland opened in 1923 on former farm acreage — 80 acres, as a matter of fact. Shuttered four years after Worlds of Fun opened, Fairyland was home to the Crystal Pool, pictured above, and roller coasters like the Flying Tiger, the Giant Dipper and the Wildcat, the largest steel-constructed coaster in the United States during the park’s heyday. And that’s not all! Patrons could dance in the ballroom, ride the Ferris wheel, visit wild-animal exhibits, hit each other with bumper cars or listen to live music at the bandstand.
In 1896, “Colonel” Thomas Swope (only an honorary title; Swope never actually served in any military force), allocated a grand 1334 acres of his own land to be used for a public park. The park has grown to an impressive 1805 acres as of today – one of the largest throughout the country. Some of the notable installments were the Kansas City Zoo, which opened in 1909, the suspension foot-bridge over the Blue River, built in 1907, and beauty spots aplenty, such as gardens, grassy expanses for picnicking, a pretty little restaurant and a tree-lined lake, all nestled behind the grand entrance. Today the park still houses the zoo, Starlight Theater (installed 1950), fields for multiple types of athletics, the Thomas Swope Memorial Golf Course and a training field for Kansas City’s professional soccer team, Sporting KC.
Kansas City got its “Cowtown” nickname thanks to the booming business of cattle trading in the West Bottoms’ stockyards, which operated from 1871 to 1991. The area had already been the site of trading and stagecoach preparation before the railroads; this industry would create a boom for the centrally located Kansas City trading grounds. The Great Flood of 1951 effectively crippled the stockyards. Still standing is the legendary Golden Ox Restaurant & Lounge, the original spot that gave Kansas City steak its reputation.
Originally located in the East Bottoms, Electric Park was set up next door to its builders’ Heim Brothers Brewery. Ferdinand Jr, Michael and Joseph Heim claimed the title of biggest brewery in the world when they unveiled Electric Park in 1899; with the advantage of proximity it was the only beer brand sold in the amusement park’s beer garden. With little competition and attractions like the Mystic Chute water slide, the park prospered and just a few short years later, outgrew it’s locale. The Heim brothers chose 46th and Paseo for the new spot. Electric Park II opened in 1907, featuring several of the same relocated-rides plus many new enticements: a living fountain, a bandstand, an alligator farm, a pool parlor, a lake (known as The Lagoon) complete with a swimming beach and boathouse, the Electric Swing – all integral parts of what became touted as “Kansas City’s Coney Island.”
Originally located in the East Bottoms, Electric Park was set up next door to its builders’ Heim Brothers Brewery. Ferdinand Jr, Michael and Joseph Heim claimed the title of biggest brewery in the world when they unveiled Electric Park in 1899; with the advantage of proximity it was the only beer brand sold in the amusement park’s beer garden. With little competition and attractions like the Mystic Chute water slide, the park prospered and just a few short years later, outgrew it’s locale. The Heim brothers chose 46th and Paseo for the new spot. Electric Park II opened in 1907, featuring several of the same relocated-rides plus many new enticements: a living fountain, a bandstand, an alligator farm, a pool parlor, a lake (known as The Lagoon) complete with a swimming beach and boathouse, the Electric Swing – all integral parts of what became touted as “Kansas City’s Coney Island.”
Originally located in the East Bottoms, Electric Park was set up next door to its builders’ Heim Brothers Brewery. Ferdinand Jr, Michael and Joseph Heim claimed the title of biggest brewery in the world when they unveiled Electric Park in 1899; with the advantage of proximity it was the only beer brand sold in the amusement park’s beer garden. With little competition and attractions like the Mystic Chute water slide, the park prospered and just a few short years later, outgrew it’s locale. The Heim brothers chose 46th and Paseo for the new spot. Electric Park II opened in 1907, featuring several of the same relocated-rides plus many new enticements: a living fountain, a bandstand, an alligator farm, a pool parlor, a lake (known as The Lagoon) complete with a swimming beach and boathouse, the Electric Swing – all integral parts of what became touted as “Kansas City’s Coney Island.”
Originally located in the East Bottoms, Electric Park was set up next door to its builders’ Heim Brothers Brewery. Ferdinand Jr, Michael and Joseph Heim claimed the title of biggest brewery in the world when they unveiled Electric Park in 1899; with the advantage of proximity it was the only beer brand sold in the amusement park’s beer garden. With little competition and attractions like the Mystic Chute water slide, the park prospered and just a few short years later, outgrew it’s locale. The Heim brothers chose 46th and Paseo for the new spot. Electric Park II opened in 1907, featuring several of the same relocated-rides plus many new enticements: a living fountain, a bandstand, an alligator farm, a pool parlor, a lake (known as The Lagoon) complete with a swimming beach and boathouse, the Electric Swing – all integral parts of what became touted as “Kansas City’s Coney Island.”
An overhead view of Electric Park and the Lagoon. In the background are roller coasters, for which the Heim Brothers’ Electric Park was famed. The Lagoon occupied only the second location (Electric Park II) on the Paseo Blvd.; swift success prompted a move from the original East Bottoms park.
Heim Brothers Brewery owners Ferdinand Jr, Michael and Joseph Heim claimed the title of biggest brewery in the world when they unveiled Electric Park in 1899. At the second Electric Park, the original rides accompanies new attractions like a living fountain, a bandstand, an alligator farm, a pool parlor, a lake (known as The Lagoon) complete with a swimming beach and boathouse. Electric Park was well known for its fine landscaping and beauty, as this postcard displays.
Originally located in the East Bottoms, Electric Park was set up next door to its builders’ Heim Brothers Brewery. Ferdinand Jr, Michael and Joseph Heim claimed the title of biggest brewery in the world when they unveiled Electric Park in 1899. With little competition and attractions like the Mystic Chute water slide, the park prospered and just a few short years later, outgrew its locale. The Heim brothers chose 46th and Paseo for the new spot. Electric Park II opened in 1907, featuring several of the same relocated-rides plus many new enticements: a living fountain, a bandstand, an alligator farm, a pool parlor, a lake (known as The Lagoon) complete with a swimming beach and boathouse and the Electric Swing. Here we see a night scene over the Lagoon, with tens of thousands of blazing lights to lure in visitors.
The Parkview Hotel and Sanitarium was a clinic specializing in gastrointestinal treatment from 1921 to 1924. Dr. A.S. McCleary moved operations to medical getaway Excelsior Springs. The historic brick building, though, built in 1899, has been preserved and protected as part of the Jazz Hill district. It still stands as an apartment building.
From the seedy red light district around 13th and 14th streets in the 1920s to the skyline boom in the 1930s when Tom Pendergast and his Ready-Made Concrete Company kept us afloat during the Depression, to the $850 million creation of the Power & Light District, Kansas City’s downtown continues to reinvent itself.
While surrounding skyscrapers dwarf the concrete fortress on 13th Street in downtown Kansas City, Mo, viewed head on, the Municipal Auditorium is as magisterial today as it was in 1899 and again when rebuilt in 1935. That year, Architectural Record named the auditorium “one of the 10 best buildings in the world.” This century, the Princeton Architectural Press included it in their list of 500 notable buildings in America. In function alone, Municipal Auditorium deserves this distinction. The gargantuan center comprises three spaces: the multipurpose arena—home of sports, circuses, and presidential speeches; the Music Hall for performing arts; and the Little Theatre, a reception room and banquet hall. Over the years its spaces have served Broadway shows like The Lion King, basketball tournaments with the NCAA, and visits from the likes of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He made the original dedication, before a packed crowd in the arena, in October 1936.
In 1896, “Colonel” Thomas Swope (only an honorary title; Swope never actually served in any military force), allocated a grand 1334 acres of his own land to be used for a public park. The park has grown to an impressive 1805 acres as of today – one of the largest throughout the country. Some of the notable installments were the Kansas City Zoo, which opened in 1909, the suspension foot-bridge over the Blue River, built in 1907, and beauty spots aplenty, such as gardens, grassy expanses for picnicking, a pretty little restaurant and a tree-lined lake. Today the park still houses the zoo, Starlight Theater (installed 1950), fields for multiple types of athletics, the Thomas Swope Memorial Golf Course and a training field for Kansas City’s professional soccer team, Sporting KC. This monuent serves to the man who made it all possible – thank you, Colonel Swope!
Originally named the Broadway Hotel, the Coates House Hotel was the finest hotel of its time and was once nicknamed “the hotel of the presidents.” Kersey Coates, namesake of the hotel, arrived in Kansas City in 1854 with a desire to help develop the land that was then mostly pasture. His most significant accomplishments were in the Quality Hill neighborhood wherein the Coates House Hotel was built.
Carnival Park opened in 1907 and closed in 1909. This seems odd for a spot that claimed to have just one rival in its awesome-ness: Coney Island in New York. Indeed, Carnival Park’s amusement array was enviable, if you were lucky enough to have visited in the two-year span it operated. It offered coasters, a Double Whirl Ferris wheel, a moving stairway ride, a living carousel and the biggest damn roller rink this side of the Mississippi.
In a little place in Kansas City (the Kansas side) called Argentine, the last Carnegie library in Kansas City, Kan. as well as Mo. stands proudly. In Andrew Carnegie’s name –the famed and generous philanthropist, among other things – and by his funding, thousands upon thousands of libraries were erected internationally and filled to the brim with books and resources. The original site of this Carnegie Library opened in 1911 , but moved to 2800 Metropolitan by 1917. Today, both the collections and staff have moved branches, and the Metropolitan building belongs to the Kansas City, Kan. school district.
A two-of-its-kind bridge in America, the Armour-Swift-Burlington Bridge was constructed in 1909 to allow rail traffic, as well as vehicle traffic, cross the Missouri River—with only the lower rail deck able to raise and allow steam boat passages. The bridge delighted residents of Clay and Jackson Counties that were sick of waiting on the bank for the ferry boat. The ASB Bridge today serves only trains; the car traffic moved over to the Heart of America Bridge in 1987.
The Blue River runs smooth and calm through Swope Park and the Kansas City Zoo. A swinging foot-bridge was one way to cross it, but boating down the Blue was a serene trip — and much less swing-y. The Kansas City Zoo still offers boating on the ol’ Blue River. The boats though, look quite a bit different, as does the landscape.
The Hotel Baltimore was a crown jewel of Kansas City culture that was built to last. Architect Louis Curtiss used “indestructible” materials of brick and iron, and designed with the elegance of a European charm. When it opened in 1899, the Baltimore was one of the biggest and best hotels in the West, and conspicuously expanded throughout the early 20th Century. By 1939, its opulence was off-putting to upper crest, and it was razed and demolished. The hotel shined briefly and brightly as the purveyor of Midwestern luxury for just 40 years.
Gate City National Bank outgrew itself in the Argyle Building and built and relocated to 1111 Grand Boulevard in 1920, attracting the Women’s Club of Kansas City as tenants for its upper floors. The club, founded by Mrs. James M. Coburn, began with an effort to provide women a place to meet weekly and effect philanthropic, civic and cultural activites in Kansas City. For decades, the club leased the upper floors from the bank.
The powerful ingenuity of the ladies of the Women’s Club led to the development of a “Milk Station” in 1920, which saved 500 babies with 24,895 ounces of donated breastmilk.
Although the building saw years of abandonment followed by a heinous nightclub, Club Chemical–said to have such a “nasty reputation that Kansas City police weren’t even allowed to work there off-duty as security guards”–its distant past as a beacon of feminist and civic duty.
Kansas City didn’t even acquire working electricity until 1882, only 40 years before the opening of the city’s first airport, Richards Field, in 1922. A view of the downtown skyline lit up at night showcases the quickly modernizing decades of the early 20th century.
Admiral Boulevard, named in 1898 for Navy veterans of the Spanish-American War, begins and ends downtown—a more modest span than some of the city’s more hallowed boulevards. Here it still exemplifies the tree-lined leisure that makes Kansas City’s boulevards so charming.
This postcard shows one of many decorative touches that adorned the Paseo in the early 1900s, when the luscious boulevard was born out of the City Beautiful Movement. In the late 19th century, the City Beautiful Movement aimed to beautify North American cities by developing architecture that promoted unity, dignity, and harmony within its urban communities. Early urban planners sought to bring the restorative powers of nature into the cities. Kansas City pioneered this movement with its plan for intertwining its parks and boulevards systems. By the early 20th century, picturesque parks harmoniously linked with systems of parkways and boulevards, made Kansas City the prototype of the City Beautiful Movement. . This cannon still stands at the 12th Street intersection, though the structure in the background is now the William T. Fitzsimons Memorial Fountain. It was erected in 1922 as a memorial to the first American officer to die in the First World War.
This 1908 shot boasts to the assumed recipient just the kind of bustling modernity Kansas City had to offer. If these buildings still stood on 11th Street, they would be terminally dwarfed by a high concentration of Kansas City’s tallest skyscrapers.
In the early 1900s storefronts like these dotted the thriving downtown quarter. J.S. Clark’s hat store was renowned for its window displays. Cephas Hallar was a Civil War veteran who would go on to operate several drug stores throughout the growing suburbs.
This stately stone building was erected in 1902, and stood at the corner of 31st and Troost until 1955. It was then demolished to make room for a JC Penny. That department store also fell victim to the ensuing decades of wear and tear that swept over Troost. Though now, the intersection is home to Operation Breakthrough and the Troost Village Community Association, bringing promise and new life to the old avenue.
Built in 1931, Hotel Phillips offers exquisite examples of art deco, which had just hit the vogue scene. (Now, the hotel is listed in the National Register of Historic places as one of the best examples of art deco in Kansas City.) A grand reception desk with rich, walnut walls, hand-carved pillars, warm tones of gold and red, and muted lighting greet you. Back in its heyday, and even now, the hotel was known to have a European elegance. At its open, the elevators, which moved at the speed of 600 feet per minute, boasted expensive herringbone floors and extensive walnut woodwork.
Photo courtesy of the Historic Kansas City Foundation
Call him what you want: Boss Tom, Goat Man, Puppet Master, Bad-to-tha-Bone Mob Man, Superintendent of the Streets, TJ or Pendergast, but Thomas Pendergast is our Original Gangsta who, through whatever means possible, brought to Kansas City vibrancy, life and a damn good time during Prohibition. Tom Pendergast was born on July 22, 1873 in St. Joseph, Mo. He moved to Kansas City and worked at his brother’s tavern in the West Bottoms in the 1890s. He succeeded his brother in 1910 and took total control of Jackson County. Without Boss Tom, we wouldn’t be the city we are today. In William Reddig’s notable Tom’s Town, Pendergast is described as follows: “a blue-eyed, light-haired heavyweight who stood five-feet-nine inches, weighed in around two hundred pounds and exuded energy from every pore. His head was planted on a short, thick neck, which had the rugged look of an oak tree trunk. The impression of hugeness about him was emphasized by his face. It was a massive face—great jaw, large mouth and nose. He looked both formidable and engaging, for there was a humorous glint in his eyes, a jaunty air in his bearing, and a sentimental quality in his expression along with the dominating impression of savage power. The total effect made him one of the most arresting figures ever observed in Kansas City. He drew attention wherever he went and men remembered him from one look.”
Petticoat Lane was the nickname for Kansas City, Mo.’s Garment District, as can be seen clearly from this postcard, a lively and prosperous area. At one point, one in seven garments worn throughout the United States was designed, executed, and shipped from Kansas City.
Mount Moriah Cemetery is located at 10507 Holmes Road, and has been since its installment in 1922. It was originally intended for the interment of members of the freemason order, complete with a Garden Walk of Memories and a sparkling crystal lake. The Great Temple Mausoleum was a 1926 addition, modeled after the Egyptian Temple of Karnak. Mount Moriah is unique in its “memorial park-style” — you’ll find nothing but flat ground level headstones here, excepting the gardens and designated family areas. Thusly the memorial shaft shown here is all the more striking in its height.
Though the peaceful lake in Troost Park remains afloat today, its surroundings weren’t exactly serene when it first opened in 1889. Troost Park then was one of the city’s first amusement parks. Imagined as a promotion for the Kansas City Cable Car Company, riders were granted free admission when they exited at the 24th Street stop. Before it was first commercialized, the land had been the plantation home of Rev. James Porter and in 1831 a campsite for Joseph Smith and his Mormon followers. The Troost Lake remains a popular fishing site for neighbors, in 2011 producing a “big-ass” goldfish to the delight of resident Olivia Riley. The video of her catching the big fish has attracted over 500,000 YouTube views.
Built as an architectural testament to light and energy, the Kansas City Power & Light building appropriately shines over the night skyline, thanks to a six-story lantern that tops the skyscraper. Completed in 1931 by firm Hoit, Price, and Barnes, the building’s 30 stories of limestone present a powerful example of Art Deco architecture. The building does not shine as brightly from all angles: the west side of the tower remains entirely bare of windows. The reason for this nakedness is largely unanswered, though it is thought to possibly suggest a firewall. Others say that the building was supposed to have a twin, but the money ran out. It’s not the building’s only unsolved mystery: some still insist it served as the inspiration for the iconic tower in the movie Ghostbusters. Once the epicenter of the company’s business and a trademark treasure of modern building design, the words “Power & Light” today more likely recall scenes of debauchery in the downtown entertainment district. But plans to repurpose the primarily unoccupied building include residential lofts, bringing a sense of ownership back to the crown jewel of the Kansas City skyline.
Built as an architectural testament to light and energy, the Kansas City Power & Light building appropriately shines over the night skyline, as seen here, in thanks to a six-story lantern that tops the skyscraper. Completed in 1931 by firm Hoit, Price, and Barnes, the building’s 30 stories of limestone present a powerful example of Art Deco architecture. The building does not shine as brightly from all angles: the west side of the tower remains entirely bare of windows.
The original home to Kansas City’s Federal Reserve Bank stands at 925 Grand, an illustrious reminder of Kansas City’s rise to prominence. The Federal Reserve Bank opened here in 1921, at which point it was the tallest building in Missouri. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City celebrated its centennial in 2013 at its new location off Main Street, though it called 925 Grand home until 2008.
Erected in 1937 as a testament to the strength of Kansas City’s people—as well as to machine boss and concrete company owner Tom Pendergast’s influence—City Hall was an architectural affront to the Great Depression. Designed in tandem with the Jackson County Courthouse by firm Wight & Wight, the buildings now stand as art deco relics of that era. While no longer the tallest building downtown (that title goes to One Kansas City Place), it is still one of the tallest city halls in the country.
Photo courtesy of the Historic Kansas City Foundation
The Bryant Building, now simply known as 1102 Grand, was erected as a high-rise office building in 1930, boasting 26 stories. Designed by architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White in the Art Deco style, the Bryant Building landed itself on the National Register of Historic Places for retaining the intact architectural style and an exemplary one, at that. Today, 1102 Grand is a carrier hotel, or a “colocation,” which PC Magazine describes as “A building that is constructed or rebuilt for datacenters. Also known as a carrier hotel, colocation center or Internet datacenter, telecom hotels typically house hundreds and thousands of Web servers for Web hosting organizations, large enterprises and other service organizations.”
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