(originally published 1/30/20) Last week’s post told the history of The Landing, 1897 – 1950(ish). This week, we look at the property in the hands of the J.C. Nichols Company, which purchased it in 1946, but didn’t get around to developing it for quite some time. We concluded the last post with the official companyContinue reading “The Landing Mall: A History of Redevelopment (Part II)”
Tag Archives: Meyer Boulevard
The Landing Mall: A History of Redevelopment (Part I)
(originally published 1/23/20) This is the first of a two-part look at the The Landing Mall, beginning with its history before the center was built. The site spent 50 years supporting a business, taking advantage of a natural setting that has long since been covered in pavement. But its fate would change with the arrivalContinue reading “The Landing Mall: A History of Redevelopment (Part I)”
Kansas City Park Series – #5 (Final): Swope Park – A Park for the Whole City
(originally published 8/29/19) Kansas Citians started asking for city parks around the mid 1870s, which makes sense, considering that this was the beginning of Kansas City’s railroad, stockyard and industrial growth. The city’s population was growing, too, so much so that any sense of open space in Kansas City’s early footprint (today’s downtown and oldContinue reading “Kansas City Park Series – #5 (Final): Swope Park – A Park for the Whole City”
Un-Welcome to the Neighborhood: Brookside’s “Blue Goose”
(originally published in 2017 in the book, One Hundred Years’ Journey: The Greenway Fields Neighborhood,” and in KC Backstories 6/13/19) This version is adapted from the KCB post) I may be one of the few people in midtown that doesn’t have a strong opinion about the “Blue Goose.” To me, it’s just a part ofContinue reading “Un-Welcome to the Neighborhood: Brookside’s “Blue Goose””
Faith and Trust Part I: The Case of the Missing Houses
(originally published 4/25/19) This week’s post is the first of two parts, but was originally a feature in my 2017 book on the history of the Greenway Fields neighborhood – the neighborhood just west of Wornall Road between 61st and 65th Streets. The piece looks at the often-times complicated relationships neighborhoods have with their institutionalContinue reading “Faith and Trust Part I: The Case of the Missing Houses”
Brookside’s St. Patrick’s Day Warm-Up Parade: The Origins of a Tradition
(originally published 3/7/19) The 1980s were a precarious time in Brookside’s life, when securing Brookside’s future would require the tenants to take the lead, to come up with new ideas, to find the energy to get things done, and to refuse to give up or be told no. The merchants association needed more than someoneContinue reading “Brookside’s St. Patrick’s Day Warm-Up Parade: The Origins of a Tradition”
Camp Nichols on Ward Parkway
(originally published 12/6/18) With the 100th anniversary of the first Armistice Day still in our rearview mirror, I wanted to share once more this sketch of a local regiment and the small camp it occupied for a few critical months in 1917. The Third Missouri Infantry Regiment was first organized in 1888, and spent theContinue reading “Camp Nichols on Ward Parkway”
KC Backstories 