Black Lives Matter Mural Along Historical Troost St.

Troost St. is a major racial and socioeconomic dividing line. The street runs North/South through Kansas City and has much historical significance dating back to the 1800s. It is a symbol of racism towards the first Americans and present people of color. The separation of the lower (mainly people of color) and upper class (mainly white) is largely because of restrictive covenants developed in the early 1900s meant to keep African Americans from moving West of Troost St. One of the main real estate developers using restrictive covenants when creating plats (maps of land divided into lots) was J.C. Nichols. While J.C Nichols was the real estate developer largely responsible for solidifying separate zones for people of color, Troost was a symbol for racism long before he came along.  This location of 63rd St. and Troost St. marks the spot of one of six Black Lives Matter murals in Kansas City MO.

Troost St. runs along a former trail used by the Osage Nation but their trails and land were taken after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. The Osage were forced to surrender all of their homeland and Troost St. serves as a reminder that their land was unfairly stolen. The current name “Troost” comes from Dr. Benoist and Mary Ann Troost. Dr. Benoist was the first family physician in KC and was a Dutch slave owner. A prominent plantation along Troost was the Porter Slave Plantation which stretched from 23rd-31st St and Locust Ave-Vine St. The “Big House” or Porter Home was located at 2709 Tracy. In this same location, the home of Mrs. W. Ewing Hall replaced the “Big House” as her grandfather, Rev. James Porter, started selling lots after the Civil War and became rich. In 1865, the plantation “became “Millionaire’s Row”, between 26th and 32nd streets along Troost” (O’Higgins 2014).

Real Estate developer, J.C. Nichols, began developing the Country Club Plaza (located about a mile West of Troost St) in the early 1900s. When developing neighborhoods around the Country Club Plaza, he included race restrictive covenants (also known as deed restrictions). These covenants which were rarely used prior to Nichols “were the primary mechanism used by the emerging real estate industry to create and maintain racially segregated neighborhoods” (Gotham 2000). “Before 1900, the average Black person in Kansas City tended to live in a heterogeneous and racially sable neighborhood. However, every decade after 1900 witnessed more, and more Blacks living in increasingly homogenous and segregated neighborhoods” (Gotham 2000). As the marketing tactics used by J.C. Nichols drove whites West, Troost St. went from being “Millionaire’s Row” to a racial dividing line as the neighborhoods East of Troost were becoming predominately Black. By 1915, “the effect of the advertising and the cumulative decisions of many upper-income Kansas Citians to move from their homes...along Troost Avenue, or in Hyde Park was becoming clear" (Worley 1993). By “as late as 1975...the social center of the city was located just west of Fifty-ninth Street Terrace at Ward Parkway” (Worley 1993). Because of J.C. Nichols, neighborhoods became segregated and the people living East of Troost St. were intentionally kept from the prosperous opportunities his developments provided.

A map of Kansas City based on descriptions created by the agents of the Federal Government’s Homeowners’ Loan Corporation between 1935 and 1940 shows grades reflecting the “mortgage security” of different residential neighborhoods. Neighborhoods outlined in green were grade A (the best), blue was grade B (still desirable), yellow was grade C (definite declining), and red was grade D (hazardous). Since data from local real estate professionals was used, it was largely because of J.C. Nichols that many areas East of Troost were given far lower grades than many areas West of Troost. The grades were a tool for redlining and show the continued effects J.C. Nichols had on the development of Kansas City. “In the historical redlining map of KCMO, there is a notable east-west division line known as Troost Avenue” (Pereyda 2022). The areas outlined in these maps perpetuated the division created by J.C. Nichols. Even today, “one block east of Troost means an annual average household income that is $20,000 less than a household one block west of Troost, according to University of Missouri-Kansas City Professor Brent Never” (Salzman 2018). 

In 2020, six Black Lives Matter murals were painted on different streets around Kansas City. Local Black artists and volunteers came together to create these murals. They recognize the significance of the BLM movement and aim to advance social justice and racial inequality. One of the artists, Michael Toombs, brought attention to the historic segregation along Troost St. by incorporating a red line in the mural. While Troost may still be a racial and socioeconomic dividing line, there are people actively trying to perpetuate change and call attention to the inequality that still plagues the country. 

Denesha, Julie. “Kansas City Artists and Hundreds of Volunteers Send Powerful Black Lives Matter Message from the Streets.” KCUR 89.3 - NPR in Kansas City, KCUR, 9 Sept. 2020, https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2020-09-09/kansas-city-artists-and-hundreds-of-volunteers-send-powerful-Black-lives-matter-message-from-the-streets. 

Robert K. Nelson, LaDale Winling, Richard Marciano, Nathan Connolly, et al., “Mapping Inequality,” American Panorama, ed. Robert K. Nelson and Edward L. Ayers, accessed October 25, 2022, https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/[YOUR VIEW]. 

Worley, William S. J. C. Nichols and the Shaping of Kansas City Innovation in Planned Residential 

Communities. University of Missouri Press, 2013. 

O'Higgins, Briana. “How Troost Became a Major Divide in Kansas City.” KCUR 89.3 - NPR in Kansas City, KCUR, 31 July 2014, https://www.kcur.org/community/2014-03-27/how-troost-became-a-major-divide-in-kansas-city. 

Reconciliation Services Follow. “Brief History of Troost Avenue.” Share and Discover Knowledge on SlideShare, https://www.slideshare.net/ReconciliationServices/brief-history-of-troost-avenue. 

“What Is It?” The Porter Farmstead Historic Preservation Project, http://porterfarmhistory.com/whatisit/. 

Pereyda, Nayelie. “The Legacy of Redlining and Gentrification: Kansas City, Missouri .” Kansas State University, 2022. 

Gotham, K. (2000). Urban Space, Restrictive Covenants, and the Origins of Racial Residential Segregation in US City, 1900-50. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.

http://www.robblaw.com/PDFs/P378.pdf 

Salzman, E. (2018). or decades a dividing line, Troost Avenue in Kansas City, Mo., sees new hope. NBS News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/decades-dividing-line-troostavenue-kansas-city- mo-sees-new-n918851