Gambling

This installment of “What’s Your KCQ," a partnership between The Star and the Kansas City Public Library, is a story of gambling, gangsters, and geography. Reader William Renegar wanted to know, “Was there once a gambling establishment on Southwest Boulevard on the state line that was part in Kansas and part in Missouri?” There’s a story in his family about a relative, Fred Renegar, who supposedly ran a saloon on the state line before he was killed by the mob over an unsettled debt. His murder was never solved. William Renegar wondered if there was any truth to it. Our findings indicate: Yes, it’s all true. Today, the state line runs through the intersection of Southwest Boulevard and 31st Street, cutting through the QuikTrip to the south of the intersection. But things looked a little different a century ago, when 31st Street didn’t extend to Southwest Boulevard. It hit Bell Street, which led to the boulevard and its plethora of lumber yards, construction companies, garages, a brewery, and oil companies and other industrial concerns – along with the occasional restaurant, lunch counter, and saloon or tavern.