Manheim Park Neighborhood of Kansas City

Manheim Park was created as a "streetcar suburb" of Kansas City during the early twentieth century, with homes designed for middle-class Kansas City residents, including recent immigrants of European origin The neighborhood grew quickly because of the moderately-priced new homes and the neighborhood's proximity to streetcars and buses. However, when restrictive covenants became an accepted real estate practice in the middle twentieth century, Troost Avenue soon became a dividing line with Black residents effectively barred from buying or renting homes west of Troost. As a result, with Troost Avenue (from roughly 39th to 47th street) as its western border, numerous residents of European origin left Manheim Park in search of white-only suburbs and homes that had garages and driveways. In recent years, groups have done work to restore the neighborhood and help the people that make up its community.

Manheim Park, located between Troost and Paseo and 39th to 47th street, emerged as a streetcar suburb around the turn of the twentieth century and enjoyed steady growth through the mid-1920s. Like Hyde Park to its east, the area appealed to aspiring middle-class professionals, but it also attracted immigrants. Manheim provided residents with access to the streetcar line located on Troost and the bus line located on Paseo. Thus, residents of Manheim could enjoy modern homes and park spaces but still enjoy easy passage to the city's business center.

Early advertisements from the first decade of the 1900s mention "modern cottages" finished in oak, with china closets, oak mantels, and nickel plumbing. Because people of the era rarely owned cars, early homes did not have driveways or garages. Most of the homes sat on long, narrow lots and included large front porches. 

Along with Kansas City residents moving southward away from Downtown, many of those buying homes in Manheim during the early 1900s came from Europe. The 1920 census noted that people living in Manheim came from such locations as Scotland, England, Germany, Sweden, and Italy. 

In 1934, the Federal Housing Administration ushered in the era of protecting white-only subdivisions by allowing for restrictive covenants. As a result, Troost Avenue evolved into a border between Black and White neighborhoods, with Whites living east and Blacks west, leading to Troost's decline by the 1970s. The Manheim neighborhood stood just west of Troost, which led to a period of "white flight," notably after World War II. From the 1950s through the 1970s, numerous White Manheim residents left the neighborhood both because Black residents moved in and because newer homes had driveways and garages, a necessary feature for the middle class during the automobile era. 

In recent years, the grassroots organization known as Urban Neighborhood Initiative (UNI) has sought "to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and historical racial inequities caused by decades of neglect and systemic racism by helping to build healthy neighborhoods that enable all children and families to thrive." Part of that mission has included the revival of Manheim Park, which included transforming the vacant Bancroft Elementary School (circa 1904) into a Platinum LEED Certified affordable housing project. Other signs of restoration include working on Manheim Green Park and developing Manheim Gardens, a two-acre urban farm and community garden that offers free growing space to residents and encourages regenerative farming. In addition to the work by UNI and other grassroots organizations, investors are again constructing homes in the area targeting the typical twenty-first-century middle-class homeowner.

"Manheim Park." Urban Neighborhood Initiative (UNI). uni-kc.org. Accessed October 20, 2021. https://uni-kc.org/neighborhoods/manheim-park/.

Do you remember this Manheim Park block, from 39th to 40th between Troost and Forest? Midtown KC Post (blog). midtownkcpost.com. 2016. http://midtownkcpost.com/do-you-remember-this-manheim-park-block-from-39th-to-40th-between-troost-and-forest/. 

"Do you remember the 3800 blocks of Troost and Harrison?." Midtown KC Post (blog). midtownkcpost.com. 2016. http://midtownkcpost.com/do-you-remember-the-3800-blocks-of-troost-and-harrison/.

"Manheim Park block attracted immigrants in 1920s." Midtown KC Post (blog). midtownkcpost.com. July 30, 2019. http://midtownkcpost.com/manheim-park-block-attracted-immigrants-in-1920s/.

Salzman, Eric. "For decades a dividing line, Troost Avenue in Kansas City, Mo., sees new hope." NBC News. October 12. 2018. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/decades-dividing-line-troost-avenue-kansas-city-mo-sees-new-n918851.