10th Street, West from Main

In 1908, this was the scene on Tenth street, looking west from Main street. The street car was on the Roanoke line, whose south terminus at that time was Thirty-ninth and Summit streets, where it served the fashionable new Roanoke residential district adjoining Roanoke park. Several horse and buggy rigs are parked on both sides of the street, and only one early model automobile is in sight. The Rothschild & Sons store is in the left foreground, on the southwest corner of Tenth and Main. The United Cigar store is shown in the right foreground. Next, the Valerius Cafe sign indicates the basement restaurant in the 8-story fireproof Victor building. Ned Douthat remembers the eating house as a popular noon gathering place for businessmen. There was a fine stringed orchestra, excellent cuisine and the specialty of the house, navy bean soup. The white Georgia stone columns of the First National Bank can be seen on the right side of the picture. The marquee over the entrance of the Sam C. Shubert theater is in the background, at right. The old Victor building has been razed to make room for the new Ten Main building which occupies nearly a square block. Kansas City Times, December 7, 1968.