Modern Archeology

[DeadendLafayette]

Interesting story i came across on ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7178402

Not necessarily related to KC, but definitely Modeern ARcheology.....New York City's Lost Tunnel.  check it out.

Ps....you also might recognize the moderator...a former Kansas Citian.

I don't see how that guy can resist chipping through that wall whether the authorities give him permission or not. I'd be down there with a hammer and a chisel...

[KCFutbol]

I don't see how that guy can resist chipping through that wall whether the authorities give him permission or not. I'd be down there with a hammer and a chisel...

They could at least drill a small hole and feed in a fiber optic camera to see what's in there.

[mlind]

Sunken Garden, 11th & Minnesota, KCK:



All that remains- from the air:



Looking west:



These steps once led down:



Looks like an old Roman ruin:

Here is a short article about Big Eleven's history.  You need to scroll down.

http://tinyurl.com/dyae4n

[grovester]

what a waste.  kck would have an unmistakable allure if those things had survived.

[Stockton]

I was just thinking that if the sunken garden still existed it would be alluring to people looking for a place to smoke crack!

[grovester]

distinct possibility

[DeadendLafayette]

I love this stuff and I love exploring KCK, so please keep it coming.

Are there any remnants of this railroad right of way left? I realized that the area between Quindaro/Brown and Parallel is one that I've missed most of during my explorations, so I'm especially curious about finding interesting spots here.

Found some more streetcar tracks, or at least the ghost of them. The post in the Kansas Suburbs forum had me checking out Northeast Junior High from on high, and just down the street I spotted this:

Apparently the tracks ran up 5th and angled off just before Troup, ran along side the wedge shaped building,
and crossed Parallel right about at the "P". Here's where they crossed Parallel. North side:

South side:


I don't have any idea why the tracks curved there rather than going straight up 5th to Quindaro.

[staubio]

Fascinating, as always. I wonder how the property ownership has ended up now that these right-of-ways are long abandoned. I'm guessing that wedge building still has a zero lot line triangle parcel as a remnant of being there.

I've recently embarked on finding and documenting all kinds of disused staircases in the city. I'll have to post some photos soon.

[PumpkinStalker]

Fascinating, as always. I wonder how the property ownership has ended up now that these right-of-ways are long abandoned. I'm guessing that wedge building still has a zero lot line triangle parcel as a remnant of being there.

I've recently embarked on finding and documenting all kinds of disused staircases in the city. I'll have to post some photos soon.

I like the sounds of the staircase project. The remnants of stairs going down from a section of Cliff Drive alway fascinated me.

[DeadendLafayette]

Fascinating, as always. I wonder how the property ownership has ended up now that these right-of-ways are long abandoned. I'm guessing that wedge building still has a zero lot line triangle parcel as a remnant of being there.

I've recently embarked on finding and documenting all kinds of disused staircases in the city. I'll have to post some photos soon.

I'm looking forward to the staircase project. There are lots of them in KCK, pointing to where houses once stood.

[staubio]

Here are a few previews. These are all from my bike ride in KCK yesterday.

[staubio]

Here is a quick overview of the small area where all of these goodies can be found

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8& ... 4aae8182be

[PumpkinStalker]

That's great staubio, thanks for sharing.  I think modern ruins are fantastic, and the photographing of stairs is a great idea.  The super long one is awesome!

[mlind]

I love this sort of thing.  Are the staircases from long-gone houses/buildings or from abandoned paths or both?

[LenexatoKCMO]

I would assume the automobile would be responsible for many of these paths going defunct - the more people get used to driving short distances, the less they will be willing to use a stair-heavy path to get from A to B on foot. 

[staubio]

I share Lenexa's theory. I'm guessing these were to connect folks living up the sharp bluffs from Argentine to the jobs down on the river and the rail yard. There are a few of them, all of them left to rot.

Other than the first and last stairs, these were all just municipal walking paths. They just connected sidewalks. I have no idea what the first one is.

The last stair might be a remnant of a house. I can't really tell.

[mlind]

Old paths were shortcuts to help people get to work, streetcars, etc.  There are groups in Berkeley/Oakland CA (where I now live) that are restoring them. 

If you google 'urban exploring' you will find lots of sites with really cool pictures of all sorts of abandoned things.  Warning-you may feel the urge to start doing it yourself.  I found one site with very interesting pictures of the towns around Chernobyl - they take tourists there now!

In high school (in the early 60's), there was a large white modern house on the Missouri side of State Line that was empty.  We found an open door and used to go in to look around. I wonder if it is still there. 

One of my favorite things used to be exploring old mining ghost towns in Colorado and California.  Of course, now due to the housing collapse, we have ghost suburbs. 

[staubio]

Streetcars are probably another big reason why these were here. Ruby had a line and all of these staircases would have connected to it. Good call.

[staubio]

By the way, if any of you can point me to other interesting staircases or closed intact roads for this series, that'd be awesome. I'm headed for the stairs along Cliff Drive next.

[LenexatoKCMO]

Are there any still intact around the quality hill/west bottoms bluffs?  Case Park perhaps?