This Week in KC History

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Jones' Reach

October 21, 1945: John Logan Jones, age 86, passed away following complications from a two-week illness. Although he was not the most celebrated of Kansas City's business leaders, Logan Jones, as he was commonly referred to, was…

Decline of the Incline

October 13, 1913: The last operating cable car in Kansas City completed its final trip along 12th Street, ending thirty years of cable car dominance in the city’s public transportation. In the late 1870s, Kansas City hosted a…

Majors' Efforts

October 4, 1814: Alexander Majors was born to a farming family near the town of Franklin, Kentucky. He eventually became one of the most important freight-haulers on the Santa Fe Trail, bringing him considerable fame and fortune…

Wilkins Rising

August 30, 1901: Roy O. Wilkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri. From a modest background, Wilkins would go on to graduate from the University of Minnesota, become the editor of the Kansas City Call newspaper, and lead…

Conventional Wisdom

February 22, 1899: In the 1890s the Kansas City Star campaigned vigorously for the construction of an impressive convention hall that could draw important political events, business conferences, or entertainment to the…

Monumental Undertaking

February 9, 1920: The City Council approved ambitious plans for the construction of Liberty Memorial south of Union Station. The Liberty Memorial Association, which initially consisted of 40 prominent citizens, envisioned a…

His Own Man

February 2, 1940: Senator Harry S. Truman decided to run for reelection despite the possibility that his political career was nearing its end. He faced a tough primary against Lloyd C. Stark, the governor of Missouri who had just…

The Worst Fire in Kansas City History

January 28, 1978: At about 4:00 a.m., a catastrophic fire broke out at the Coates House Hotel on Quality Hill near downtown Kansas City, Missouri. By the time that the fire was controlled around 8:00 a.m., the south part of the…

The Annexation That Wasn't

January 21, 1879: Kansas Senate passed a resolution that approved the annexation of Kansas City, Missouri. The Missouri legislature refused to adopt a corresponding resolution, however, and this attempt to incorporate Kansas City…

Bowled Over

January 15, 1967: The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I. The Chiefs’ presence in the first Super Bowl was fitting because the owner of the Chiefs, Lamar Hunt, was one of the key architects of the…