12th Street, East from Broadway

Ladies with long dresses brushing the walks and large white picture hats are pictured in this 1913 postcard strolling along the sidewalks at 12th and Broadway. Cars of early vintage are parked parallel to the curb along 12th Street (looking east). Hotel Convention is seen on the corner. The 1914 city directory lists Harry F. Trumble and George W. Paddock as its proprietors. A 1915 brochure titled Pen and Sunlight Sketches of Greater Kansas City describes the hostelry which has had a long and honorable career and is located in the heart of one of the busiest districts of the city, convenient to business and recreation of every sort...100 guest rooms, furnishings and fixtures that appeal to the ordinary traveler...hot and cold water, baths, telephone service...new plate glass windows on the ground floor... prices reasonable, guests always assured of a hearty welcome and satisfactory service...convenient for the business man who wants to call upon his wholesaler or for the ladies who have shopping to do in the world famed Petticoat Lane. Today the site of the old hotel is occupied by the north section of H. Roe Bartle Exhibition Hall, which covers two full city blocks. At the left side of the postcard, midway in the block, is the three-storied Edwards Hotel at 310 W. 12th. The hotel, built in 1900, was just west of the Folly Theater. In earlier years the Edwards was the stopping place of stage people, wrestlers and prize fighters. It was owned by John Donegan. ( The hotel later changed hands and became the Missouri Hotel.) The famous Edwards' Grill, in the basement, was where the popular songs Melancholy Baby and Twelfth Street Rag are said to have originated. The building was torn down Dec. 14, 1965. A bar in the new 12th Street Vista International Hotel is called The Twelfth Street Rag. Kansas City Times, February 8, 1985.