Hanover Heights Neighborhood Historic District

This historic district includes several dozen homes, the majority of which were constructed between 1912 and 1922. Hanover Heights was a separate town until 1911 when it merged with the city of Rosedale. a community that later merged with Kansas City, Kansas in 1921. The historic houses include a variety of Prairie Style homes along with homes that were constructed with driveways and garages, a development that speaks to the rise of the automobile by the 1910s and 1920s, and the resulting changes in home construction for middle-class professionals. By the 2010s, the neighborhood catered to an new technological innovation, serving as a hub for the Google Fiber network as a means of inspiring young entrepreneurs to move to the city and create "start-ups."

Twenty residences, including fifteen bungalows, were constructed between 1912 and 1919 in what is now the historic Hanover Heights Neighborhood. Thirty-eight additional residences appeared during the 1920s, including thirty-one bungalows, although construction slowed considerably after 1922 and came to a halt during The Great Depression; only one bungalow emerged during the 1930s. After World War II, from 1945-to 1960, builders added seven brick and frame ranchers.

William P. Faulker (Falkner) built at least twenty-seven houses in the Hanover Heights Neighborhood between 1914 and 1924, with twenty of them located on Eaton Street. Faulkner designed two Praire Style homes, but he mainly concentrated on building Craftsman bungalows, two of which he occupied (he also worked at home). Many homes included separate driveways and garages, which speaks to the rise of the automobile. Catering to automobile owners and the relatively affordable price, ranging between $3500 and $6850, speaks to the developers' intention to target the middle class. Indeed, Faulkner's home buyers include an insurance agent, school principal, advertising manager, a livestock company hog salesman, a railroad yard foreman, and a linotypist with Western Typesetting. 

By the mid-1920s, Hanover Heights matured into an established residential district. Construction stalled significantly after 1922, the year Kansas City, Kansas, annexed the city of Rosedale, which included Hanover Heights. (Rosedale had annexed Hanover Heights in 1911). Judge Louis Gates proved integral in coordinating the 1922 annexation. Gates' house, a Prairie Style residence designed in 1922-23 by Clarence Shepard, enjoys its own historical distinction due to the work Gates did in the community and Shepard's work as an architect. (One can click on the link below to read more about Gates, Shepard, and the home via TheClioProject entry: "Judge Louis Gates House.")

Several structures that comprised the University of Kansas Medical School arose to the immediate north of the historic district during the 1920s and 1930s, which, along with commercial development, nearly resulted in significantly shrinking the community after World War II. However, Hanover Heights survived. During the 1980s, young, aspiring professionals (sometimes loosely referred to as "yuppies") often purchased the homes intent on rehabilitating them. By 2012, Hanover Heights served as the hub for The Kansas City Startup Village, an entrepreneur-led initiative intent on inspiring entrepreneurs to move into the homes and develop internet or business "start-ups." The tech-giant Google.com offered exceptional internet speeds (Google Fiber) for $70 a month to anyone buying the houses. 

Thus, a neighborhood that included provisions for the automobile in the late 1910s had evolved into an internet-friendly community by the 2010s. Still, the physical homes serve as a reminder of the prevalence of bungalows and Prairie Style homes built for a new middle class of the 1910s and 1920s, before the Great Depression arrived. 

Cyrus Farivar, Cyrus. "Google's blazingly fast Internet goes live in Kansas City.' CNN Business. cnn.com. November 14, 2012. https://www.cnn.com/2012/11/14/tech/web/google-fiber-kansas-city/index.html.

Hagedorn-Krass, Martha. "Registration Form: Hanover Heights Neighborhood Historic District." National Register of Historic Places. nps.gov. 1990. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/e2a717a9-b391-4a13-bef2-32c6471063b2/.

Powers, Mathew. "Judge Louis Gates House." Clio: Your Guide to History. March 16, 2022. https://www.theclio.com/entry/147201.