This Week in KC History
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…
And That's The Way It Was
November 4, 1916: Walter Cronkite was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. He lived in Kansas City for the first 10 years of his life, returned to Kansas City again at the onset of his journalistic career, and then went on to become one…
The Dean of Women Lawyers
November 8, 1917: Mary Tiera Farrow and 20 other female lawyers formed the Women's Bar Association of Kansas City. Farrow was one of the few women in the United States who successfully practiced law in the early 1900s despite the…
Heeding the Call
May 6, 1919: The first edition of the Kansas City Call was published. It was one of 22 newspapers published by Kansas City’s African American community near the beginning of the 20th century, but the only one that…
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…
Take One
May 23, 1922: When strolling through Disneyland or Walt Disney World, few visitors would remember that Walt Disney first started his animation career in Kansas City, Missouri. Disney pursued that dream as he opened his first…
"The Greatest Display of Skill, Nerve, and Daring"
September 17, 1922: Professional racecar drivers vied for a $30,000 prize in the inaugural race at the Kansas City Speedway. Advertisements declared that the winner would exhibit the "greatest display of skill, nerve, and daring…
Kings of the City
October 6, 1922: The Kansas City Monarchs and the Kansas City Blues baseball teams embarked on a six-game series that would end with the Monarchs being crowned "The New City Champions" by the Kansas City Star. The…
All That Jazz
September 23, 1923: The Bennie Moten Orchestra made its first recording consisting of eight songs. By strict musical standards, the songs themselves were unrefined and not much removed from existing blues music. But the Bennie…
Let There Be Lights
December 25, 1925: A string of Christmas lights hung over the doorway of the Mill Creek Building at the Country Club Plaza for the first time, beginning a tradition that today is one of the most extravagant Christmas light…