Kansas City, Missouri..... "The Little Apple"

[stevensj63]

Kansas City, Missouri..... "The Little Apple"

The city was once called "The Little Apple" and also the "Paris Of The Plains." The Little Apple reference had mostly to do with KC's art-deco skyscrapers, steaks, jazz, gangsters and it’s massive train station. Here are a few photos from my research of KC, "The Little Apple", I hope you enjoy.

[KCKev]

Ahh the good old days. I love looking back in time at our beloved City!

[anniewarbucks]

It is something how a city can change over time.

[KansasCityCraka]

Looks so much better without Bartle Hall and the Loop.

[anniewarbucks]

When did they put the loop in?

[AllThingsKC]

When did they put the loop in?

1960-ish

[Sussudio]

I thought Manhattan, KS was the little apple?

I do like the old photos though. History is so cool! 

[AllThingsKC]

I'm surprised FangKC hasn't posted in this thread yet.

By the way, Fang, do you know anything about Quality Hill Towers (show in the foreground in the picture below)?  Like, what year they opened?  Have they always been apartments, etc?

[FangKC]

Construction began on Quality Hill Apartments in 1950, and they have always been apartments.

http://www.kchistory.org/cdm4/item_view ... OX=1&REC=6



http://www.kchistory.org/cdm4/item_view ... OX=1&REC=5












Here's an image from 1886 of 11th and Summit taken from the 12th Street Viaduct of homes on Quality Hill:



The Keeley Institute at 716 W. 10th on Quality Hill. This would have been next to where the overlook pavilions are today.  The house was in today's Case Park and was once called the University Club.

[moderne]

The bluffs below the park look so strange, bare of foliage as they are.  Now there is a thicket of wild shrubbery that at least in summer hides the garbage left behind by the homeless.

[KCK]

The building density before the highways were built was amazing. Those highways really destroyed a large portion of the urban fabric of the city.

[Highlander]

The building density before the highways were built was amazing. Those highways really destroyed a large portion of the urban fabric of the city.

I suspect it would be possible to walk into any major urban area in the US, without any a priori knowledge of the area, and designate parts of the city as pre and post interstate.

[NOLA]

I love highways and surface parking lots.  I think we need more of them.

[geeman68]

Those pictures were great.  I love seeing the progression of time and its effect on the City scape.  Thanks for sharing!

[warwickland]

I agree, the photos are great! I think "Classic Downtown KCMO" (pre highway) is my favorite urban environment of all time.

[KCK]

I suspect it would be possible to walk into any major urban area in the US, without any a priori knowledge of the area, and designate parts of the city as pre and post interstate.

We can't run the clock back and change things, so we must push on to the future and be greatful for what we still have. Nice trip into the past nonetheless.

[ShowMeKC]

Interesting little fact...

Between 1886 and 1889 (3 or 4 years), $98 million was spent on new buildings in Kansas City because of the building boom at the time. That is equal to $1.8 billion in today's currency.