As the beginning of the Twentieth Century dawned in the Midwest, in Kansas City, streetcar suburbs came to be.
Early in the Twentieth Century, one streetcar line ran right down Troost Avenue. In the very heart of KC.
In the early-1900’s, one could jump on that Troost Avenue streetcar. Leave the hustle bustle of Kansas City. And arrive at one of Kansas City’s new streetcar suburbs.
Those new streetcar suburbs which were then being built in Paris of the Plains were still located in Kansas City. Yet, Kansas City’s streetcar suburbs did not espouse an urban feel. Manheim Park was one of those early Kansas City streetcar suburbs.
To the north, Manheim Park is bounded by 35th Street. To the west, Manheim Park is bounded by Troost Avenue. Troost Avenue…where one could jump on that Kansas City streetcar – early in the Twentieth Century – and be dropped off in Manheim Park – one of KC’s new streetcar suburbs.
The construction of new homes in Manheim Park took hold very early on in the 1900’s. Drawing upon a general distaste for how new Kansas City homes were then being constructed along, what oftentimes were, run-of-the-mill, plain vanilla roads that ran straight – either east-west or north-south – homes which were being built, in the opinion of early Manheim Park developers, too close to one another, no less. In Manheim Park, things would be somewhat different. In Manheim Park, your drive in to one of those new Manheim Park streetcar suburb homes was going to be…a drive along a new road with a unique contour.
Crooked roads…
To build new homes on any undeveloped land you need roads. And in Manheim Park, those new roads went in. Roads which did not necessarily run east-west. Roads which did not necessarily run north-south.
Those original Manheim Park roads were crooked. Creating a staple – all its own – for Manheim Park: its crooked roads
Kansas City, Kansas’s beginning came to be by way of a merger of towns. A merger of towns which then became KCK neighborhoods.
In 1886 Kansas City, Kansas was formed when the independent settlements of Kansas City, Wyandotte City, Armstrong, Riverview and Armordale combined.
Twenty-four years later, Kansas City annexed Argentine. Argentine was built around smelting and mining plants. Argentine’s plants, benefitting from Argentine’s location alongside the Santa Fe Railroad.
Today’s KCK neighborhood of Argentine borders Rosedale.
Prior to its annexation by Kansas City in 1922, Rosedale had been The Town of Rosedale. Settled in 1872.
Annexed by Kansas City in 1923, Quindaro was originally a free state port alongside the Missouri River. Within the abolitionist movement, Quindaro was once an Underground Railroad station.
There is an interesting, historically significant 10-mile street in Kansas City, Missouri which runs from 4th Street to Bannister. The Kansas City, Missouri street I am referring to here is Troost Avenue.
Among the Kansas City, Missouri neighborhoods which border Troost Avenue are…Beacon Hill, Longfellow, Squier Park, Rockhill and Hyde Park. All are fabulously sought-after KC neighborhoods.
Troost Avenue was named after a doctor – Benoist Troost. Dr. Troost, as well as being a prominent Kansas City physician, had been a civic leader in KC. Troost Avenue.
Troost Avenue was once home to “Millionaire’s Row.” Early in the 20th Century, “Millionaire’s Row” had been a strip of stunning mansions constructed all along Troost Avenue. Those mansions adorned Troost from 31st Street to 34th Street.
Today, Troost Avenue is experiencing keen interest. And a tasteful renaissance of redevelopment. In times past, Troost Avenue experienced a storied history of disinvestment. And decline. Prior to Troost’s renaissance. So what led to Troost’s decline?
Disinvestment. But real estate disinvestment was not the primary catalyst which led to Troost’s mid-20th Century decline. Real estate disinvestment certainly was one catalyst which led to Troost’s decline. But real estate disinvestment was not the primary catalyst which led to Troost’s decline.
Disinvestment in public schools east of Troost was the primary catalyst which led to Troost’s decline.
Starting off in the late ‘60’s, the School Board in Kansas City, Missouri consistently requested increases in education funding for Kansas City, Missouri schools located east of Troost Avenue. For this topic, there were in the range of twenty such education funding requests made by the Kansas City School Board during this time. These were funding requests made throughout 1960’s. Throughout the 1970’s. For twenty years.
The additional funds – if approved – would have gone to Kansas City, Missouri public schools east of Troost Avenue. Funding requests were voted down. The result? White flight.
Families – those having the means, that is…meaning, predominantly white families at that time – moved. Families moved outside of the underfunded Kansas City, Missouri School District. Schools east of Troost were underfunded.
White flight. Neighborhood home values decreased. One prominent Kansas City mayor once referred to Troost Avenue as, “…the demarcation line in a war zone.”
The problem – east of Troost – wasn’t the legal segregation of schools. Nor was the problem – east of Troost – the illegal segregation of schools. The problem – east of Troost – was school funding. Or a lack thereof.
Long before round after round after round after round of failed requests were submitted to secure funding for Kansas City, Missouri public schools east of Troost, those same public schools were in fact desegregated. Yet school desegregation didn’t really solve this problem in Kansas City east of Troost. Because while school desegregation based upon race was the national mandate after Brown v. the Board of Education, decisions made which affected education funding were – and are – made at the local level. And therein was the problem for public schools east of Troost. At that time.
In 1954, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that state-sanctioned segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Prior to this 1954 Supreme Court ruling, in Kansas City, Missouri – east of Troost Avenue – Lincoln High School had once been the only high school providing post-elementary education to Black students. One high school.
In 1955, one year after Brown v. the Board of Education, the Kansas City School Board kind of enacted a “segregation” of public schools, in a different way. This was like a “de-facto segregation.” Not based upon race. But rather, this was a different form of segregation which was based upon attendance zones. Not race.
Yet, do we recall the aforementioned white flight east of Troost? The white flight which took place as round after round of funding requests for schools was voted down? Which led to panic selling? Which led to block busting? As white families relocated out of the Kansas City, Missouri school district?
Kansas City, Missouri public schools east of Troost were not segregated based upon race after the 1954 Supreme Court decision. But yet, in a practical sense, they kinda still were.
The city’s expansion…
Beginning in the 1950’s, and extending onwards through the 1960’s, Kansas City, Missouri – as a city – grew. During this time, Kansas City, Missouri added over 200 square miles to the city’s footprint. Yet, during this same time, what about Kansas City, Missouri public school sizes? What about Kansas City, Missouri public school teacher count? What about Kansas City, Missouri public school classroom sizes? What about Kansas City, Missouri public school classroom capacity?
None of those public school categories grew in a commensurate way – east of Troost, that is – to Kansas City’s population growth. Nor to Kansas City’s expanding public school education requirements. During the city’s expansion in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s – east of Troost – Kansas City, Missouri public schools remained overcrowded. And underfunded. The city’s expansion just made it worse.
In real estate, developers often utilize – and benefit from – tax abatements. On Troost Avenue – and east of Troost – there is a genuine renaissance which has taken hold. It’s long overdue. And it’s welcomed.
Let’s go back for a moment to the topic of Kansas City, Missouri public schools, east of Troost. To the underfunding of public schools, east of Troost. To classroom sizes…
The definition of a tax abatement is, the reduction of, or the exemption from, taxes granted by a government for a specific period, usually to encourage certain activities.
Over one six-year period – between 2017 and 2023 – Kansas City, Missouri public schools lost in excess of $200 million in potential education funding which could have gone (but didn’t go) to Kansas City, Missouri public schools. Funds redirected away from Kansas City, Missouri public schools due to development incentives given out. Development incentives coming from tax abatements.
Public schools in Kansas City, Missouri have accrued nearly $400 million in deferred maintenance. Underfunded.
Those of us who love Kansas City applaud the spectacular redevelopment which is taking place on Troost Avenue. Still, it’s not really a stretch for us to take a moment and think about what led to Troost’s decline. It was the schools.
If the #1 goal is redevelopment and private schools…all good.
While panic selling and block busting were two factors which contributed to neighborhood disruption east of Troost long, long ago, neighborhoods east of Troost will experience no such disruptions this time. As the “Troost pendulum”swings all the way…in the other direction.
What we’ll see is, not decreasing property values east of Troost. We’ll see increasing property values east of Troost.
We won’t see panic selling east of Troost. We’ll see home sellers fetching ever-increasing prices for their homes, east of Troost.
We won’t see blockbusting, east of Troost. We’ll see continued investor interest in homes, east of Troost.
What we’ll also see – east of Troost – is community members being priced out of their neighborhoods. We’ll see gentrification. We’ll see investment. Not disinvestment. We’ll see tax abatements.
We’ll also see hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance which has already been incurred by Kansas City, Missouri public schools.
We’ll see challenges in education. Different education challenges. Not segregation. Not the same challenges as before. But challenges in education east of Troost, nonetheless.
If redevelopment on Troost Avenue is the goal, all good.
If there are other topics to consider, maybe we revisit Kansas City history? Focusing on this topic: public schools east of Troost.
During the latter part of the 19th Century, goods making their way to the Western-most points of an ever-expanding United States would have likely ended up trekking through Paris of the Plains. Through Kansas City. Through Crossroads.
Kansas City was (and is) truly an American Crossroads.
In a fast-industrializing early-20th Century United States, Kansas City – I.e.: Crossroads – connected an industrial Northeast to agricultural centers in the American west. And in the American southwest.
The Santa Fe Trail. Kansas City’s unique location at the confluence of two major rivers – the Kansas River and the Missouri River. And later, as a major railroad hub. A railroad hub which, during its heyday, was second only to Chicago’s railyards in terms of rail traffic, and rail capacity. Each converged in Kansas City. Kansas City became a Crossroads. Due to its geographical location. Due to America’s expansion west. Due to rail. Due to trade patterns. Crossroads…
Lewis and Clark arrived in Crossroads at the onset of the 19th Century. Lewis and Clark arrived in Crossroads at a time when the United States government was keen on opening up the west to American interests. The most effective pathway west at that time? That would have been the Missouri River. Kansas City was built alongside “Big Muddy.” Built alongside the Missouri River.
Switching eras. Fast forwarding in time. Switching methods of transportation. Yet staying on the subject of Crossroads..
In order to facilitate Kansas City’s unique position as an American Crossroads, nearly 100 years after Lewis and Clark arrived with their team of 50 – and 3 boats – by the late-19th Century, the first train depot opened in Kansas City. The year was 1878. And that Crossroads train depot would have been Kansas City’s Union Depot.
Kansas City’s Union Depot became the second union depot which opened in the United States. Indianapolis’s union depot was the first.
By 1945, nearly 700,000 rail passengers stepped foot in Kansas City’s train station. At its height, close to 200 trains pulled into Kansas City every single day. Crossroads.
A Crossroads. A gateway. To an exciting new 19th Century American frontier. A Crossroads for 20th Century American train travelers. A Crossroads for American soldiers during wartime. A Crossroads for American industry. A Crossroads for freight trains. Crossroads.
In the mid-20th Century, rail was the preeminent method of transportation for freight. In the mid-20th Century, rail was the preferred method of transportation for civilian passengers. As an American Crossroads, Kansas City quickly outgrew its original Union Depot.
Desiring – and requiring – additional capacity for their freight trains, the railroads which were collectively utilizing Kansas City’s Union Depot in KC’s industrial West Bottoms made a decision. Their decision? They were going to replace the outdated, ill-sized Union Depot with a new, larger more accommodative train station. Built in a new location. Union Depot was out. A depot in the West Bottoms – as the West Bottoms was prone to floods – was out. The new Kansas City train station would be near Kansas City’s central business district. Not in a floodplain. Built up on the hill.
Kansas City’s Union Station opened to the public in 1914 – a 850,000 square feet major railway hub. Union Station prospered. Rail, at that time, was an integral part of Kansas City’s position as an American Crossroads. Yet, as Union Station – and as rail – cemented Kansas City’s Crossroads status, macro circumstances in the United States changed. Macro circumstances changed the future of Kansas City’s Union Station. Macro circumstances changed the utilization of Kansas City’s Union Station. Macro circumstances changed the fate of Kansas City’s Union Station.
As the 20th Century progressed, the preferred method of transportation in the United States changed. For civilian passengers. For industry.
An emerging airline industry – coupled to travelers’ newfound preference for convenient flights, rather than long train rides – changed how Kansas City functioned as a rail-centric Crossroads. And trucks. Highways.
As flights replaced rail for passengers, trucks and highways replaced rail as the preferred method of transportation for freight. As such, the “DNA” for Crossroads changed.
By the 1970’s, rail traffic through Kansas City’s Union Station dropped. Significantly. From what had been a near-700,000 train passengers walking through Kansas City’s Union Station each year…that number precipitously dropped. Year by year. To, in the early part of the 1970’s, just about 30,000 yearly passengers.
At one time, close to 200 trains pulled into Kansas City’s Union Station everyday. Today? A total of 4 Amtrak trains pull into Union Station, daily.
Through it all, the origin for Kansas City’s status as a Crossroads? I would say, that was never Union Station. It was not the nearly-200 trains which pulled into Kansas City each day. It was not the American GI’s who arrived in Kansas City during the War. The origin for Kansas City’s status as Crossroads? That would be one United States President. The origin for Kansas City’s status as Crossroads would be, in my humble opinion, Thomas Jefferson.
In 1803, the size of the United States doubled. The doubling in size of the United States in 1803 was the result of one $15,000,000 real estate deal. That real estate deal being the Louisiana Purchase.
The Louisiana Purchase added 828,000 square miles to the footprint of the United States. And, once the Louisiana Purchase was enacted, Kansas City’s location went from perfect, to PERFECT.
One year after the Louisiana Purchase, President Thomas Jefferson tapped an old wartime buddy of his. That buddy? Meriweather Lewis. Jefferson’s idea? For Meriweather Lewis to lead an expedition west. For Lewis to explore this vast new territory acquired by the United States through the Louisiana Purchase.
Meriweather Lewis added William Clark to this planned expedition. Six weeks after the Jefferson-directed expedition began, Lewis and Clark arrived at a confluence of two important rivers. The Missouri River. The Kansas River.
Or, as we now know this area to be, six weeks after Lewis and Clark ventured out with 3 boats – and a team of 50 – Lewis and Clark arrived at Crossroads. Lewis and Clark arrived in, what would go on to become…Kansas City.
Kansas City’s stockyards – and the KC cattle business – once dominated a section of Kansas City, Missouri known as the West Bottoms.
The cattle industry had been Kansas City’s first multi-million dollar business. Actually, at one time, Kansas City’s stockyards were a multi-million dollar a day business. At their peak, Kansas City’s stockyards were the second busiest stockyards in the United States. Surpassed only by Chicago’s stockyards.
Long before trains transported cattle to and from the Kansas City stockyards, Kansas City’s West Bottoms were known as the French Bottoms. A place where French trappers and native Americans partook in commerce.
The Santa Fe Trail. Trade with Mexico. Western immigration routes. Steamships transporting goods along the Missouri River… At one time, one way or another, each converged in Kansas City’s West Bottoms. And in a country eager to expand its footprint to the West, Kansas City’s West Bottoms was the hub. As Kansas City became known as “the Gateway to the Southwest.”
In the early Twentieth Century, Kansas City executives oversaw livestock businesses from offices located in the West Bottoms. Today, many of those old offices are lofts. The West Bottoms has become a trendy destination…sought after by young urban professionals. That office space which was once been used by cattle executives? It now houses budding Kansas City entrepreneurs.
There is still manufacturing in the West Bottoms. There are still warehouses. Today, a West Bottoms manufacturing facility – or a West Bottoms warehouse -might just be located on the same block as a restaurant or a haunted house. Near The Beast. Or The Edge of Hell. Or The Chambers of Edgar Allan Poe…
In 1923, the West Bottoms received 3,500,000 hogs, 350,000 calves, 1,000,000 sheep, plus 40,000 horses. That same year, Kansas City’s stockyards set the world record for one day’s receipt of cattle: 60,206 head.
One hundred years later? No cattle.
The live cattle price of $2.88 USD per pound and the lean hog price of $.83 USD per pound? Not too relevant in the West Bottoms in 2024.
High-speed Internet connection? Great restaurants? Those are relevant.
Freight trains still roll through Kansas City’s West Bottoms. Often, transporting millions of gallons of Bakken crude. Railroad tracks run straight through the middle of the West Bottoms. Train engine horns still blare…everyday. At its peak, 16 railroads once converged in the West Bottoms.
Kansas City… Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City, Kansas.
There had been a few different beginnings for what we now know to be Kansas City. The very first one?
In the 1830s, we had the first one – Westport Landing.
Westport Landing was established on a section of 257 acres which would evolve into what would become Kansas City, Missouri.
The 257 acres had been sold by the federal government to a man of French ancestry…Gabriel Prudhomme. This land sale took place in 1831.
Whereas the land Gabriel Prudhomme purchased from the federal government would go on to become Kansas City, Missouri, Westport Landing was the early, pre-Kansas City, Kansas City development.
Westport Landing – strategically set up alongside the heavily-trafficked Santa Fe Trail – was an unincorporated collection of merchants. These were merchants who established their businesses in Westport Landing to provide Santa Fe Trail travelers with supplies.
The merchants were inland. And the Westport Landing merchants figured out they could reduce their costs by receiving supplies by way of the Missouri River. Rather than by land. And they did.
The waterway entry point at which Westport Landing merchants were able to receive supplies shipped to them on the Missouri River was located where what is now Grand Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri intersects with the Missouri River. And it is at this intersection – where Grand Boulevard meets the “Big Muddy” – where we found Westport Landing.
Twenty years later – in 1850 – Westport Landing was incorporated as the Town of Kansas.
Three years after that – in 1853 – the Town of Kansas was reincorporated and renamed. The new name for the Town of Kansas? The City of Kansas. And this renaming – as the City of Kansas – took place eight years before the State of Kansas became the 34th state of the United States. In 1861.
In 1889, the name for the city – the City of Kansas – was changed. Changed to Kansas City. The very, very first Kansas City – that first Kansas City being, Westport – was annexed by Kansas City, Missouri eight years later. In 1897.
All the while, on the other side of the Missouri River – in the new Kansas Territory – small Kansas settlements were forming. And growing. Growing into small Kansas towns.
In 1872, a consortium of small Kansas towns – on the other side of the river – merged. And incorporated. Therein – in 1872 – we have the origin for Kansas City, Kansas.
Wherein the larger Kansas City – and the older Kansas City, too – is the one which is located in Missouri, and not in Kansas, the “Kansas” in Kansas City is not derived from the State of Kansas.
The name of the city – Kansas City, Missouri – was named after a river. Not a state. Not Kansas. That river being…the Kanza River.
The Kanza River would go on to become the Kansas River. The Kansas River provided the name – “Kansas” – for the city – Kansas City, Missouri.
So the city – Kansas City – which originally formed as Westport Landing, which would later go on to become the Town of Kansas, which would later go on to become the City of Kansas, which would later go on to become Kansas City…does not derive its name from its neighbor to the west – the State of Kansas.
Kansas City… Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City, Kansas.
There had been a few different beginnings for what we now know to be Kansas City. The very first one?
In the 1830s, we had the first one – Westport Landing.
Westport Landing was established on a section of 257 acres which would evolve into what would become Kansas City, Missouri.
The 257 acres had been sold by the federal government to a man of French ancestry…Gabriel Prudhomme. This land sale took place in 1831.
Whereas the land Gabriel Prudhomme purchased from the federal government would go on to become Kansas City, Missouri, Westport Landing was the early, pre-Kansas City, Kansas City development.
Westport Landing – strategically set up alongside the heavily-trafficked Santa Fe Trail – was an unincorporated collection of merchants. These were merchants who established their businesses in Westport Landing to provide Santa Fe Trail travelers with supplies.
The merchants were inland. And the Westport Landing merchants figured out they could reduce their costs by receiving supplies by way of the Missouri River. Rather than by land. And they did.
The waterway entry point at which Westport Landing merchants were able to receive supplies shipped to them on the Missouri River was located where what is now Grand Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri intersects with the Missouri River. And it is at this intersection – where Grand Boulevard meets the “Big Muddy” – where we found Westport Landing.
Twenty years later – in 1850 – Westport Landing was incorporated as the Town of Kansas.
Three years after that – in 1853 – the Town of Kansas was reincorporated and renamed. The new name for the Town of Kansas? The City of Kansas. And this renaming – as the City of Kansas – took place eight years before the State of Kansas became the 34th state of the United States. In 1861.
In 1889, the name for the city – the City of Kansas – was changed. Changed to Kansas City. The very, very first Kansas City – that first Kansas City being, Westport – was annexed by Kansas City, Missouri eight years later. In 1897.
All the while, on the other side of the Missouri River – in the new Kansas Territory – small Kansas settlements were forming. And growing. Growing into small Kansas towns.
In 1872, a consortium of small Kansas towns – on the other side of the river – merged. And incorporated. Therein – in 1872 – we have the origin for Kansas City, Kansas.
Wherein the larger Kansas City – and the older Kansas City, too – is the one which is located in Missouri, and not in Kansas, the “Kansas” in Kansas City is not derived from the State of Kansas.
The name of the city – Kansas City, Missouri – was named after a river. Not a state. Not Kansas. That river being…the Kanza River.
The Kanza River would go on to become the Kansas River. The Kansas River provided the name – “Kansas” – for the city – Kansas City, Missouri.
And Kansas
So the city – Kansas City – which originally formed as Westport Landing, which would later go on to become the Town of Kansas, which would later go on to become the City of Kansas, which would later go on to become Kansas City…does not derive its name from its neighbor to the west – the State of Kansas.
Marquette is a charming Kansas town located in McPherson County. Marquette is home to the Kansas Motorcycle Museum.
By 1890, the population of Marquette was 367. Today, Marquette’s population is fewer than 1,000.
Marquette is one of a handful of Kansas municipalities where a future homeowner who chooses to relocate to Marquette could acquire a residential lot for their new home build through Kansas’s homesteading provision.
Residential lots in Marquette’s homesteading program have ranged from between 11,000 to 25,000 square feet.
Lincoln is a quaint Kansas town located in Lincoln County. Lincoln in home to Crispins Drug Store Museum.
Lincoln was settled in 1870. By 1880, Lincoln’s population was 400. In 2020, the population of Lincoln was fewer than 1,500.
In Lincoln, free land (with conditions) has been able to be conveyed to Kansas homesteaders through Lincoln’s homesteading program. The homesteaded land in Lincoln has been able to be conveyed with the condition that the homesteader builds – and lives in – a new single-family home on their homesteaded lot.
Residential lots in Lincoln’s homesteading program have ranged from between 14,000 to 35,000 square feet.
Homesteading in Marquette and Lincoln is accompanied by conditions homesteaders are required to meet.
In Lincoln, a homesteader is required to build – and live in – their new single-family home. Also, a new home built in Lincoln on a homesteaded lot is required to have a minimum of 1,300 square feet of living area.
In the late 1860’s, a young Illinois cattle dealer – Joseph “Cowboy” McCoy – had been scouting out locations. Cowboy McCoy was interested in an area along what became the Kansas Pacific rail line.
Cowboy McCoy was looking for the ideal setting. A destination point. Someplace Texas cattlemen could drive their cattle up north to before being sent on to Abilene, Kansas.
From Abilene, cattle would be shipped east. To Kansas City. Therein lies the origin for Kansas City’s emergence in the early Twentieth Century American cattle business.
A few years after Cowboy McCoy settled in Abilene, Kansas City got their stockyards. Kansas City’s stockyards were located in a section of KC known as the West Bottoms. The birth of KC’s stockyards? 1871.
One: Cowboy McCoy. Two: Abilene. Three: The cattle business and Kansas City. Further writing, focused upon the latter. The two formers…mentioned as historical occurrences, relevant to the latter…
Ten years prior to KC getting their stockyards, Kansas City’s population had been about 4,000. By 1900, KC’s population grew to 160,000. Kansas City’s cattle industry was the driving force behind the city’s population growth.
Kansas City’s stockyards enabled livestock owners to transport their cattle to an exchange. At this newly-formed exchange in Kansas City, cattle could be sold to the highest bidders. Prior to the establishment of KC’s stockyards – and the exchange – livestock owners were only able to sell their cattle at whatever price railroad men offered to pay…limiting earning potential for cattle men. Kansas City’s stockyards – coupled to the establishment of the Kansas City Livestock Exchange – created a market for cattle men. The result? Higher cattle prices.
The Kansas City Livestock Exchange Building was constructed in 1911. At that time, the Kansas City Livestock Exchange Building was the largest livestock exchange building in the world.
The Exchange Building in Kansas City once housed over 400 offices. Telegraph offices. Beauty shops. Cattle tradesmen. Packing house buyers. Banks. All could be found in the Exchange Building in KC early in the 20th Century.
If you strolled through Kansas City’s stockyards early in the 20th Century, you could have found yourself in either Kansas or Missouri. The stockyards straddled both states.
KC’s stockyards were established in Kansas. Along the Kansas River. Two-thirds of KC’s stockyards were located in Kansas. The remainder of KC’s stockyards were located in Missouri.
By 1914, KC’s stockyards consisted of over 200 acres. Sixteen railroads converged in KC’s stockyards. The growth of the KC cattle trade – as well as the growth of the railroad – significantly contributed KC’s population growth. And to the growth of Kansas City’s economy. Kansas City’s first Union Station opened in the stockyards. In 1878.
By 1923, over 2.5 million head of cattle were shipped through KC’s stockyards. Local Kansas City packing houses were purchasing over 1 million heads of cattle per year. Only Chicago – Chicago’s Union Stockyards – was processing more cattle than KC. In fact, a world record was set in those KC Stockyards. In 1923. The record? One day’s receipts of cattle: 60,206 head
The maximum daily capacity of KC’s stockyards grew to nearly 200,000 head of cattle. Creating thousands of jobs. The KC stockyards were taking in cattle from 35 states. Shipping cattle off to 42 states. Plus Canada. Hence, Kansas City’s nickname – Cowtown.
In KC’s West Bottoms, where the stockyards were once located, where the cattle industry once thrived, today, you won’t find any cows.
Today in the West Bottoms, Flaherty and Collins’ Stockyards Place is a beautiful 21st Century Midwest collection of condominiums. Luxury living. A trendy urban lifestyle. A bike trail which runs alongside the Kansas River. No cows.
KC’s stockyards processed their last head of cattle in 1991. In October of 1991, KC’s stockyards were closed for good. No more packing house buyers.
Today, a different form of buyers can be found where the KC stockyards once were. This new form of buyers? They’re Kansas City professionals. KC professionals who are shopping for a new condo. Buyers? Yes. Packing house buyers? No.
The Livestock Exchange in Kansas City was located on Gennessee Street. Just a stone’s throw away from that old exchange on Gennessee Street, today you’ll find Stockyards Place. Luxury living. Walking distance to wineries. To galleries. No cattle pens. No feedlots. No cows.
Nestled cozily in the heart of Red Bank, New Jersey, today, one will find The Galleria. The Galleria Red Bank. A quaint collection of offices, restaurants and boutiques. Found in “New Jersey’s Greenwich Village.” It took 10 years to build that Galleria…early in the Twentieth Century. And it wasn’t called The Galleria, at that time.
Between 1907 and 1917, The Galleria – originally known as The Eisner Building – was constructed with a specific endgame in mind. And that early Twentieth Century endgame for The Eisner Building was not thought up with similar planning to how The Galleria is utilized today.
The Galleria today? It’s a repurposed Red Bank centerpiece. Located where Bridge Avenue meets West Front Street. The original plan for The Galleria? For The Eisner Building? That original plan didn’t include any restaurants. Nor did that original plan include any retail outlets. Rather, that original plan for The Eisner Building was…textiles. A textile factory.
During World War I and World War II, The Eisner Building was a Red Bank stalwart…though not one which espoused trendy retail “DNA.” Rather, during both World Wars, The Eisner Building possessed quite a different industrial “DNA.” It functioned as a supply chain for American military equipment. Flight suits, military uniforms, gas masks. Wartime supplies. This was the original “DNA” for what is today The Galleria. The wartime purpose for The Eisner Building extended on through both World Wars. Manufacturing. Supplies for American soldiers. This was The Galleria – I.e.: then, The Eisner Building – in the early-to-mid Twentieth Century.
Today, there are eight retail outlets located in the once-a-textile-hub Galleria. Today, there are four restaurants located in the once-a-textile-hub Galleria. Buffalo wings, pizza, Thai food, Mexican food. All can be had today at The Galleria. No, you won’t find gas masks there…
Going back thirty years ago to when this transformation in Red Bank first took hold – in the early 1990’s – circumstances for The Galleria were quite different. At that time, The Galleria had not yet been redeveloped.
Today, there are five offices located in the once-a-textile-hub Galleria. That early Twentieth Century factory which long ago produced military uniforms, which once “majored” in textiles? That “DNA” has long since been repurposed. Redeveloped. Now “majoring” in office space. In restaurants. In retail.
In 2024, The Galleria is a 100,000 a square foot rustic multi-purpose retail center. One which owns a classic design. Situated on just about three acres. Complete with its own Farmers Market. A Farmer’s Market which begins each year on Mother’s Day…extending on through November.
While in 2024 The Galleria is most certainly a Monmouth County favorite among shoppers – not soldiers who are in need of supplies – The Galleria also serves as a Monmouth County example for what real estate redevelopment efforts can (and do) look like.
Thinking About Becoming a Real Estate Developer? 