18th and Vine Expanded Driving Tour

Entries on This Tour

1. Parade Park Maintenance Building Historical Marker

This historical marker shares the history of one of the oldest remaining buildings in the area. Constructed in 1912 and filling one corner of the recreation area known as the Parade, this stone structure was completed after the initial commercial and residential development of the area. The building housed numerous parts of Kansas City's new Parks Department, including horses and horse care facilities, horse-drawn equipment used to maintain the park, and a machine/repair shop, as well as storage, toilet facilities, and a garage for vehicles. The initial structure formed a rectangle, with a wall extending out from the west end of the building and a third wing extending from the end of the north wing, forming a rectangular courtyard. Though only the north and west wings of the building remain today, the building continues to serve the Kansas City area as the location for the Black Archives of Mid-America, which moved from a historic fire station nearby to the previously-unoccupied building in 2012. Though Parade Park has changed significantly due to the construction of the Gregg/Klice Community Center and the Kansas City MLB Urban Youth Academy, the Parade Park Maintenance Building continues to serve as an anchor for the area.

2. Parade Park Homes

Located to the east of the Parade recreation area in 18th and Vine, the neighborhood known as Parade Park Homes has been a staple of the area for several decades. Built as part of an urban renewal project in the early 1960s, Parade Park was unique from its inception. According to a 2022 KCUR article, Parade Park was "a rare instance in which an urban renewal project — a popular redevelopment tool in the 1960’s — enhanced a Black neighborhood instead of destroying it." The area was home to a historically Black neighborhood known as Attucks before being razed by developers in the 1950's, displacing the people that lived there. Though the land was initially earmarked for industrial development, a housing development was opened in 1962. The development was unique in its organization, functioning as a co-op, not a landlord-tenant setup as was more common at the time. Unfortunately as time went on, infighting among management led to deterioration of the area, which has in turn led to redevelopment prospects that some find unfavorable. Now, Parade Park stands at a crossroads, caught between a historic past and an uncertain future.

3. Watkins Brothers Funeral Home

Located here for many years, Watkins Brothers Funeral Home has been a longtime staple of the Black community in Kansas City. Founded by Theron B. Watkins and his brother J.T. in 1908, the funeral home served as the launching point for multiple community figures to begin lifetimes of activism. Founder Theron B. Watkins served on various boards, and was know as a powerful public speaker. In 1922, he ran a highly successful and broadly supported campaign for the office of Eighth Ward Representative, though he was ultimately not elected. His stepson, Bruce R. Watkins was also a highly influential member of his community and one of the most powerful voices behind the foundation and early success of the Black political organization known as Freedom, Inc. Working with notables such as Leon Jordan, Bruce Watkins helped to usher in landmark voter registration numbers and supported numerous successful candidates for municipal, state, and federal offices. The younger Watkins also served two terms on the City Council, two terms as a Circuit Clerk in Jackson County, and mounted a mayoral campaign in 1979. This location was home to Watkins Brothers for many years which now operates out of a new building on Emmanuel Cleaver Boulevard while this building is home to Golden Gate Funeral and Cremation Services.

4. Holy Name Catholic Church (Demolished)

Though only an empty lot remains of the once-prominent church, Holy Name Catholic Church was a major fixture of the area for many decades. Founded in January of 1886, the church originally served a mixture of white- and blue-collar white families. In the early 1900s, Black families began to move into the area, creating tension with white residents and changing the demographic of the congregation. In 1948, after the previous restrictive housing covenants were ruled illegal, more African-American families moved into the area as the white residents drained out to the suburbs. By the 1960s, the congregation was mostly African-American. The church played an important role in the development of the April 1968 riots that spread throughout Kansas City following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unfortunately, the building was demolished in 2011, after sitting empty for several years, though elements of the stone were incorporated into to façade of Saint Peter's Parish. Despite its ignominious end, the history of Holy Name Catholic Church offers valuable insight into the history of the area, as well as providing an important dimension of the unrest that shook Kansas City in April of 1968.

5. KPRS Radio Station Studios (1952-1992)

Now broadcasting out of the Andrew "Skip" Carter Building in South Kansas City, MO, the radio station currently known as HOT 103 JAMZ! began life as KPRS in a studio at this location at 23rd and Benton. Founded in 1952 by Andrew "Skip" Carter with the support of former Kansas governor Alf Landon, KPRS was the first Black-run radio station west of the Mississippi. Carter was the second African American to secure a license from the FCC. Originally broadcasting on 1590 AM, the station expanded in 1963 to simultaneously broadcast on 103.3 FM, where it remains to this day. The AM section of the station now broadcasts as KPRT-AM. After Andrew Carter and his wife Mildred moved to Florida in 1972 for health concerns, KPRS became automated, one of the first radio stations in the United States to do so. Live programming returned in 1987 when grandson Michael Carter was appointed president of the KPRS Broadcasting Corporation. Andrew Carter passed away in 1988, though Mildred Carter continued as CEO and Chairperson until her passing. The company moved its facilities to the Andrew "Skip" Carter Building in 1992, and the company was renamed Carter Broadcast Group the following year. In 1996, Andrew Carter was posthumously inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. Carter Broadcast Group remains the oldest Black-owned and family-operated radio broadcast company in the United States owing to mergers and consolidations of other stations.

6. Leon Jordan's Green Duck Club (1955-2015)

Situated on the corner of 26th and Prospect, this historic building was one of the centers of social life in Kansas City's Black communities and a gathering place that hosted meetings and political events. Founded in the late 1950s, the Green Duck Club was operated by Leon Mercer Jordan, an activist and one of the men behind the highly influential Black political organization known as Freedom, Inc. The Green Duck Club served as a meeting place for organizers during this time, and it was a staple of social life for many people living in the area. Following the tragic murder of Leon Jordan while he was closing the club on the morning of July 15, 1970, the club closed. The organization remained a social and political center under Jimmy Townsend until he was murdered at his nearby home in December of 2015. Though the club has remained closed since Townsend's death, the impact that the Green Duck Club has had on Kansas City politics, social life, and Black culture remains historically significant.

7. Municipal Stadium (Muehlebach Field)

Kansas City's Muehlebach Field was built at this location in 1923 at a cost of $400,000 to the George Muehlebach Brewing Company. The stadium was built for the Kansas City Blues of Major League Baseball's American Association. The ballpark was also home to the Kansas City Monarchs, the longest-operating and arguably the most successful franchise in Negro League history. From 1923 to 1955, the stadium housed the Monarchs and also featured four Colored World Series. In addition, the stadium was home to three NFL teams throughout its history. The stadium changed its name to Municipal Stadium in 1955 when it became home to the Kansas City Athletics, a team that was part of Major League Baseball's American League between 1955 and 1967. The Athletics left Kansas City for Oakland in 1968 but Municipal Stadium once again hosted Major League baseball when Kansas City and Seattle secured expansion teams in 1969. The Kansas City Royals called Municipal Stadium home for two years, moving to Royals Stadium (known as Kaufmann Stadium today) in 1971. Municipal Stadium also hosted home games of the Kansas City Chiefs between 1963 and the creation of Arrowhead Stadium in 1971. Today, the ballpark is gone and the area is home to several private residences, but there is a small park known as Monarch Plaze that recognizes the history of the field.

8. Wheatley-Provident Hospital

Wheatley-Provident Hospital opened in 1918 as Kansas City's first hospital for African American residents in the era of segregation. Construction of this building occurred in 1902 for St. Joseph's Parochial School before its conversion to a hospital that became one of the cornerstones of the city's Black Communities. The hospital's origins also date back to 1902, the year when J. Edward Perry established a hospital and training school for nurses. Known as the Perry Sanitarium in 1910, that institution provided a place for training and employing doctors and nurses in addition to providing the first place where people of color could reliably receive healthcare in an era when hospitals largely barred access to African Americans, sometimes even denying or delaying service in cases where life-saving medical intervention was needed. With the support of Kansas City organizations and philanthropists, Dr. Perry moved his organization to this building which served as the home of Wheatley-Provident hospital from 1918 until 1972. After the 1970s, the building was used as a haunted house before eventually falling into disrepair. A group recently purchased the building to save it from the wrecking ball and they hope to restore the building and return it to service to the community. As a result, the brick building survives as a lasting reminder not only of segregation and exclusion, but also the vital role of Black institutions that served the people of Kansas City.

9. St. Monica Catholic Church

Situated in a building off the west side of The Paseo, Saint Monica Catholic Church has been serving Catholics in the 18th and Vine area since its founding in 1910. A year earlier, Bishop John J. Hogan and Fr. Cyprian Sauer had come to the conclusion that the Black community in Kansas City, MO was criminally underserved, and sought to open a mission in the area. A year later, the St. Monica Mission for Colored Catholics was opened, with financial support from Bernard Corrigan and St. Katherine Drexel. St. Monica became the first Catholic church in Kansas City to cater specifically to the African-American population, including educational facilities for children. Unfortunately, according to the African-American History Trail of Kansas City, the buildings quickly became dilapidated, though fundraising led by Dr. Thomas E. Purcell allowed the church to be rededicated in 1913. The expanded campus included a convent, housing for priests, and additional school facilities in the basement and the first floor. Throughout the decades, the facilities and services have waxed and waned in tune with the needs of the community. In 1940, the church was renamed to St. Joseph Parish, operating under that name until a 1995 merger with the Church of the Risen Christ saw the congregation renamed to Saint Monica Catholic Church. Today, Saint Monica Catholic Church continues to provide ministry and services to its congregation and the community at large.

10. St. Stephen Baptist Church and Reverend John Wesley Williams Statue

Currently located in a building on the northwest corner of Truman Road and The Paseo, St. Stephen Baptist Church has long been a fixture of the Black community in Kansas City. Founded in 1903, St. Stephen Baptist Church was created by Reverend James Wesley Hurst on a street corner in the neighborhood of Belvidere Hollow. Since its inception, the congregation has weathered fires, changes in leadership, and multiple changes of venue before arriving at its current location. After a 1938 fire consumed the previous location, the congregation purchased and remodeled a dance hall on the northwest corner of The Paseo and Truman Road, where they have remained since 1945. In 1957, Martin Luther King Jr. made the first of his six visits to Kansas City by addressing a crowd of around 750 people at this church. Across the street from the building, on an island in the middle of The Paseo, there is a statue of notable Baptist and civil rights leader Reverend John Wesley Williams, who served as pastor of St. Stephen from 1944 to 1983. Though the church has continued to experience ups and downs in recent years, the efforts of Reverend Williams and others throughout the history of the church have made sure that St. Stephen will remain a landmark of the 18th and Vine Area.

11. Sarah Rector's Mansion

Sarah Rector was born into poverty in 1902, the grandchild of slaves. In 1911, oil was struck on land she owned, making her a millionaire at only 10 years old. Her fame spread internationally, and she was touted as the “Richest Black Girl in America” by newspapers. She purchased a mansion in 1921 at the corner of 12th and Euclid Streets, which still stands today. She was a lifelong resident of Kansas City, and plans are underway to restore the mansion to its former glory.

12. Gates Bar-B-Q (12th and Brooklyn Location)

Founded in 1946 by George W. Gates as "Gates' Famous Old Kentucky Bar-B-Q," Gates' Bar-B-Q is widely regarded as a Kansas City institution. The restaurant's original location was within what is now the 18th and Vine neighborhood. With the growing popularity of their food and barbeque sauce, the company acquired this location which is located near the company's headquarters. This location features a statue of the company's "Struttin' Man" logo, and similar to all Gates locations, guests should expect an enthusiastic "HI, MAY I HELP YOU" greeting from staff when they enter the service line. Gates has seen many iterations over its nearly 70-year history. The first location was opened at 19th and Vine, before moving several times and opening numerous other locations. Now boasting five restaurants across the Kansas City metro area, Gates' Bar-B-Q is a pillar of the culinary and social fabric of Kansas City.

13. Arthur Bryant's BBQ

The history of Arthur Bryant's is closely connected to the larger history of Kansas City. One of the oldest and most influential restaurants in establishing the unique flavor of Kansas City barbeque, Arthur Bryant’s dates back to 1908 when Henry Perry began serving barbecued meats from a cart in Kansas City's Garment District. In the decades that followed, Charlie and Arthur Bryant learned the craft while working for Perry. In 1949, Arthur Bryant established this restaurant which quickly established a strong reputation among diverse groups of Kansas City residents. The restaurant's fame spread following a 1972 article by food critic Calvin Trillin that declared Arthur Bryant's "the single best restaurant in the world." In the decades that followed, American Presidents, politicians, civil rights leaders, actors, and athletes from all around the United States and the world have made a pilgrimage to experience what some consider to be the best BBQ ribs in the world.

14. Zhou B Art Center; Attucks School

Constructed in 1905 and expanded in 1922, this historic school in Kansas City's 18th and Vine District has been an important institution in the community. The school was named for Crispus Attucks, a formerly-enslaved man who was killed in the Boston Massacre in 1770. According to a 1928 article in the Kansas City Call, the city's original Attucks School was established in 1880 in a building at 18th and Euclid. The school later moved to this stately building which was designed by Charles Smith and built in two stages, with the first section being completed in 1905 and an addition being completed in 1922. The building served as a grade school through the 1960s. The building was repurposed by the school district following plans aimed at integration and access, and it was vacant for many years starting in the early 2000s. In the fall of 2022, new ground was broken at the site to prepare for the building to be renovated into the Zhou B. Art Center of Kansas City, a $20 million dollar project that was completed in 2024 and converted the space into art studios, galleries, and event spaces that have brought new life to a century-old fixture of the area.

15. Lincoln Electric Park (1915-1919)

A group of local African American investors established Lincoln Electric Park in 1915 and the park operated for four or five years. During that time, this small amusement park offered a respite from the discrimination that prevented African Americans from enjoying Electric Park, Kansas city's other amusement park at 46th and the Paseo. Lincoln Electric Park was centered around a large pavilion and bandstand that offered a variety of events and entertainments, and also included a Ferris wheel, pool, and merry-go-round. On August 14, 1916, the park was home to one of the first and only public showings of Lincoln Motion Picture Company's signature film, "Realization of a Negro's Ambition." The film was a response by the Black-owned film company to the "Birth of a Nation," which presented former slaves as unworthy of full citizenship or equal rights.

16. Lincoln College Preparatory Academy (High School)

Established in 1865, Lincoln College Preparatory Academy was the first Kansas City school established for African Americans in the era of segregation and continues to serve as a high school and center of the community. Originally housed in a church located at 10th & McGee Street and proceeding the establishment of the Kansas City School District by two years, Lincoln Prep was the only Kansas City school for Black students and served as an elementary school for the first 13 years of its existence. The high school was established in 1878 and had three different locations before its current address on Woodland Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. Through the Civil War, the Civil Rights movement, and desegregation, Lincoln Prep, also known as "the castle on the hill", has served as an educational institution for Kansas City youth.

17. Fire Station No. 11

With a stone exterior to match the likes of the Vine Street Workhouse and the Parade Park Maintenance Building, the former Fire Station Number 11 at 2033 Vine St. fits right in with the historical buildings of the area, and has played host to several other important groups throughout the years. Built in 1931 during the Works Progress Administration, the building housed a historically Black fire brigade that served the area until the department was consolidated in 1977. The building was quickly taken over by Horace M. Peterson III. Using a grant from Department of Housing and Urban Development, he established 2033 Vine St. as the first brick and mortar location of the Black Archives of Mid-America. As time went on, the collections housed at the building expanded, eventually prompting the archive to leave the Fire Station and move to their current location at 1722 E 17th Terrace, in what was formerly the Parade Park Maintenance Building. Now, the building houses the Vine Street Studio Art Gallery, one of the many organizations behind the growth that is currently taking place in the area.

18. Kansas City Workhouse

The Kansas City workhouse is an 1897 limestone structure that resembles a castle. The workhouse was designed by local architects A. Wallace Love and James Oliver Hog, and since the Romanesque revival style was in style at the end of the 19th century, the architects chose the medieval castle design. Although it may look like it was built for royalty, the four-story Kansas City Workhouse was originally a city jail for petty offenders, vagrants, and debtors. As such, this historic workhouse put its prisoners to work. Women sewed prison uniforms while the men labored for the city’s public works department. Prisoners even quarried the limestone used for the workhouse’s construction. By 1924, the workhouse closed and the castle served many purposes until the building was abandoned in 1972.

19. Location of Henry Perry’s Barbecue; History of Kansas City BBQ

Henry Perry is widely regarded as the "Father of Kansas City BBQ," and this was the location of the last restaurant he operated. Given the long and storied tradition of barbecue in this city, the fact that leading restaurants from Gates to Arthur Bryant's draw their roots to Perry's shop here at 19th and Highland is a tribute not only to Perry's craft, but his influence on the next generation of cooks and restaurant operators. The practice of barbequing meats in the city can be traced all the way back to the era after the Civil War when Southern migrants came to the city looking for work. The massive Kansas City Stockyards provided huge quantities of affordable meat to the area’s residents. Henry Perry began selling barbecue wrapped in a newspaper from a cart in 1907. A few years later, he opened Perry’s Barbecue, the city’s first barbecue restaurant. Encouraged by his success, more entrepreneurs opened their own restaurants, which were frequently concentrated around the African-American community of the 18th and Vine District. Perry operated a restaurant at 17th and Lydia, about three blocks northwest before moving to 1514 East 19th Street and operating his final restaurant at 1900 Highland Avenue. Today, Kansas City is well-known for its delicious barbecue from about 100 different vendors, including Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque and Gates Bar-B-Q, who both trace their methods to Perry. The city also hosts the American Royal, the largest annual barbecue competition in the world.

20. Mutual Musicians' Foundation Building

In 1917, twenty-five African American musicians joined together to form Musicians Protective Union Local No. 627. The support offered by the new union enabled many of them to turn their music into full-time careers by helping secure fair contracts and working conditions, and allowing them to put down roots in Kansas City instead of working as itinerant musicians. In 1929, the union was officially incorporated and purchased an apartment building at 1823 Highland Avenue, which the union converted into its headquarters. The union thrived, in 1958 creating the Mutual Musicians Foundation to manage the building and other union assets. Though Local 627 was forced to merge with the white musicians union, Local 34, in 1970, the Mutual Musicians Foundation remains a social club and living museum, a testament to Kansas City's rich musical history and the power of labor organizing.

21. Rochester Hotel

The Rochester was built by the George M. Bliss Construction Company in 1919-1930. Along with the Street Hotel, it was one of the only hotels where visiting African Americans could find accommodations during the 1930s and 1940s. Unlike the Street Hotel, the Rochester has survived the urban redevelopment projects that razed large swaths of the 18th & Vine district in the second hald of the twentieth century. Because it is adjacent to the Mutual Musicians Foundation, this is the place where jazz artists such as Count Basie, Jimmy Rushing, and many others would have stayed during visits to the city. The hotel also provided accommodations for visiting teams for the Negro League. Before becoming a hotel, the building was a 24-unit apartment complex serving a working-class clientele; today, the building has resumed this initial function, now containing 8 apartment units.

22. Boone Theater | National Guard Armory

A theatre, bar, restaurant, turned armory and meeting place for military veterans, the now-dilapidated three-story building at 1701-1703 E 18th St. has been known many names within the past century. In 1924, the building was constructed under the name the “New Rialto”. The theater was renamed the “Boone Theater” in 1929 after the famous Black child piano progeny from Missouri, John W. “Blind” Boone. In 1949, the building was remodeled and opened as “Scott’s Theatre Bar”. Only a few years later, the restaurant closed and its day as an entertainment venue was over. In the mid-1960s, the building was used as a meeting place for local veterans. In 1979, the Mutual Musicians Foundation purchased the building for $1, but its condition has since slowly degraded. More recently, the building is a focal point of the 18th & Vine District Jazz Redevelopment plan and will soon be renovated as a vital part of 18th & Vine’s past, present, and future.

23. Mrs. Fannie Meek's Mortuary (1937-1955)

Perhaps an unintentional ode to its former owner, the bright pink facade of 1707 E 18th St can be recognized as the first home of Mrs. Fannie Meek’s Mortuary in Kansas City. Mrs. Meek was a prominent figure in local culture and was noted as the “only Licensed Lady Embalmer in Greater Kansas City” when she opened her business in 1937. She went on to participate in many local civic and church events, even sponsoring an American Legion Junior Baseball team for boys 12-18 years old. After losing her building in the 18th & Vine district in 1955 due to redevelopment efforts, Mrs. Meek moved her mortuary to 19th and Park. Abandoning the tradition of dark, drab colors typically used in mortuary design, Mrs. Meek embraced a woodrose color scheme with her new building. The exterior of the building, the cars, and coaches driven around town were all bursting with the warmth of a pink design. The color pink around Kansas City soon became a trademark of Mrs. Meek’s mortuary. Mrs. Meek passed away on July 30, 1979 at the age of 81.

24. The Kansas City Call

The Call is a prominent African American weekly newspaper founded in Kansas City, Missouri in 1919 by Chester A. Franklin. Franklin took his newspaper from a small 4-page weekly to one of the leading African American weeklies in the nation, covering a mix of local and national events and playing an instrumental role in pushing for civil rights campaigns in Kansas City. However, Franklin's position on race was fundamentally conservative, and the ideal of racial uplift characterized his politics and the paper's attitude toward African American progress. Roy Wilkins, one of The Call's leading journalists, would go on to become the Executive Secretary of the NAACP, a position he would hold until 1977. The Call is published every Friday.

25. The American Jazz Walk of Fame, Kansas City

The American Jazz Walk of Fame was established on August 23, 2014 when the tradition of honoring jazz artists began under the influence of Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II. Every year, a committee of musicians selected one or more musicians and dedicated a medallion in their honor in the sidewalk in front of the American Jazz Museum and the historic Gem Theater. Over the years, these medallions have formed a "Walk of Fame" within the heart of the 18th & Vine Jazz District. The medallion dedication ceremony has become an annual event, with celebrated jazz musicians performing in nearby venues to honor new inductees.

26. Gem Theater

Built in 1912, the Gem Theater, originally named the Star Theater, served Kansas City's African American population as a “silent movie palace” (VisitKC). It was renamed the Gem Theater in 1913 and soon became an “established fixture” in the 18th & Vine district. Eventually, the theater switched from movies to live performances before falling into disrepair after the 1960s. However, unlike many other architectural landmarks of 18th & Vine's jazz age, the Gem Theater escaped the razing that took place in the 1970s and 1980s as part of urban development projects. In the 1990s, the theater was renovated in a process that removed much of the original interior to make space for a modern performance venue.

27. Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Located near the founding site of the Negro Leagues, this museum preserves and shares the history of African Americans in baseball from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement when MLB teams and Southern minor league teams began to hire Black players, coaches, and front office personnel. The museum includes a replica of Kansas City's Muehlebach Stadium with statues of the game's greatest players. Visitors begin their tour with a documentary film narrated by actor James Earl Jones that shares the general history of Black baseball and the Negro Leagues. The museum then follows a timeline, created by historian and co-founder Larry Lester, that places the history of the Negro Leagues within the larger narrative of American history. Other founders included Phil Dixon, Buck O'Neil, Alfred Surratt, Sr., Bob Motley and Horace Peterson. Static exhibits include original equipment, jerseys, photographs, and several interactive displays. The museum concludes with exhibits about the hiring of Black coaches and managers, and a gift shop that includes replica jerseys, books, pennants, and posters.

28. The American Jazz Museum

Since opening in 1997, the American Jazz Museum has offered a blend of traditional museum experiences centered on artifacts and interpretation along with performances and educational programs. The museum is located in the 18th and Vine Historic District, and its exhibits and programs are centered on the historical and artistic contributions of the musicians who lived and worked in this part of Kansas City. The museum includes interactive exhibits and educational programs that are connected to the Blue Room, a working jazz club with nightly performances that are open to all. The Museum also operates the neighboring Gem Theater, a historic 500-seat performing arts center. In addition, staff work closely with area music educators and Mutual Musicians Foundation, a union that dates back to 1917. As a Smithsonian Affiliate, the American Jazz Museum also presents music-related exhibits from the Smithsonian Institute.

29. The Blue Room

A modern landmark within the historic 18th & Vine district, The Blue Room Jazz Club is connected to the American Jazz Museum and showcases some of the most significant jazz musicians. A museum by day and hopping jazz club at night, the Blue Room blends music and entertainment with history and is a favorite for many residents of the Kansas City metro area. Established by Reuben and Ella Street as part of the Street Hotel (or "Street's," as it was known) in the early 1920s, the Blue Room became one of the most important venues in the geography of Kansas City jazz. The original Blue Room and the hotel that housed it were located just a few steps west of the current Blue Room. That historic building was razed in the 1980s and is now home to Soiree and several other businesses.

30. Lincoln Building

Constructed in 1921, this building was home to numerous African American professionals as well as retail and entertainment spaces throughout the 20th century. The building's name is a reference to the Lincoln Furniture Company which originally occupied much of the first floor along with the Lincoln Dance Hall which was located on the third floor and hosted many of the nation's leading jazz bands. In the decades that followed, the building housed the offices of the Kansas City Monarchs along with other Black-owned businesses which included many dentists, attorneys, and other professionals. Following an extensive renovation project that began in the late 1970s, the building has served as home to several community and civil rights organizations as well as restaurant and retail space.

31. Cherry Blossom Club

In 1933, the old Eblon Theater was remodeled into a nightclub and opened as The Cherry Blossom Club. Located at 1822 Vine Street this club was one of Kansas City's most popular destinations for Jazz. The club was also where many influential jazz musicians made a name for themselves, including the great Count Basie and Bennie Moten.

32. Eblon Theater

Located at 1822 Vine Street, the Eblon Theater was Kansas City's first African American owned and operated theater. 1The club was constructed in 1922 with a Spanish colonial facade and seating for up to 1,000 patrons1. The Theater opened in 1923 as a venue for vaudeville and motion pictures. In 1933 the Eblon Theater closed and the Cherry Blossom club opened up in its place.1

33. The Roberts Building

Though it currently sits empty, the building on the northwest corner of 19th and Vine has a long history as an economic staple of the 18th and Vine area. Constructed in 1923, the building was initially owned by a realtor named John T. Sears. Soon after construction was complete, entrepreneur Homer B. Roberts purchased the building from Sears for around $70,000. In the building, Roberts established a highly successful car dealership, as well as housing several other Black-owned businesses and providing jobs to African-American people in the area. Beyond the car dealership, Homer Roberts was a major community figure throughout much of his life, starting multiple businesses and serving in the Army during both World Wars. According to an article in the Kansas City Call, Roberts later worked for the Pentagon, facilitating public relations between Black publications and the military.

34. Paseo YMCA/ Buck O'Neil Education and Research Center

Completed in 1914, the Paseo YMCA building was and is a major landmark of the Black community in Kansas City. Hosting a multitude of clubs, leagues, and activities, the YMCA provided the community with amenities that were otherwise denied due to segregation. This building was also the site of the creation of the Negro National Baseball League in 1920. Led by Rube Foster, the league became the first long-term and commercially viable association of baseball teams in the era of segregation. Unfortunately, declining attendance in the 1960s and 70s forced the YMCA to close, though the building itself remained. Since the early 2000s, restoration efforts for this former YMCA building have been closely tied to efforts by the neighboring Negro League Baseball Museum to utilize the building as a research center dedicated to the Negro Leagues and named in honor of Buck O'Neil.

35. Street Hotel (1923-1960)

Though the building itself is no longer there, the legacy of 18th and Vine's Street Hotel is one of the most enduring parts of the district. Opening in the early 1920s, the Street Hotel began life in 1903, as a restaurant opened by Reuben and Della Street at 18th and Troost. After several successful years of business, the couple decided to expand. They moved the restaurant to a building at the corner of 18th and the Paseo, which they first leased before purchasing the building for $67,000. The Streets ran the Hotel, which included the Blue Room Cocktail Lounge and Restaurant, for several decades, hosting numerous musicians and public figures, including Jackie Robinson, who played for the Kansas City Monarchs at the time. The Streets also became important figures in Kansas City at this time, playing host to numerous African-American action groups and participating in the overall growth of the 18th and Vine area. Unfortunately, the 1953 death of Della Street prompted her husband to sell the hotel the following year. The hotel would be sold again when the new owner defaulted on the mortgage, prompting the building to be sold at auction in 1960. Though it has since been razed to make room for new development, the legacy of the Street Hotel has left an indelible mark on 18th and Vine, as well as the greater Kansas City area.

36. Gateway Sign

In 2010, almost a century after the Jazz Age took off in Kansas City—thanks to the hotels, clubs, and other establishments of neighborhoods like 18th & Vine, which served an African American clientele—this sign was erected on top of a former hotel. The sign was meant to both celebrate and help reinvigorate the area after decades of low investment, and its design harkens back to a time when neon signs would have shone from many of the district's buildings. The 18th & Vine neighborhood, in addition to the clubs, hotels, and restaurants most obviously celebrated by the rollicking sign, was also home to a growing number of Black professionals who built their businesses and careers in a vibrant community within a segregated city.

37. Charlie Parker Memorial

This eighteen foot statue commemorates the life and career of Charlie Parker, one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century. Parker grew up in Kansas City and played at many Vine Street nightclubs before pursuing a musical career in New York and California. He is widely considered to be one of the creators of bebop. The statue features Parker's head tilted downward, eye shut, and lips pursed as if he were playing the saxophone. At the base of the status, an inscription reads "Bird Lives" a reference to Parker's nickname and his long-lasting legacy.

38. Gregg/Klice Community Center

In the heart of the 18th & Vine District and across from Parade Park, the Gregg-Klice community center has provided recreational options to the housing communities surrounding it since 1955 when it was named the Gregg Center. In 1996 that building was torn down and the current Gregg-Klice community center was built to honor the legacy of activists John H Gregg and Arrington ‘Bubble’ Klice.

39. Black Archives of Mid-America

Established as a community museum and archive in 1974 under the leadership of Horace Peterson III, the Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City offers a host of programs throughout the year in addition to several galleries and event spaces. The archives closed temporarily in 2006 due to financial problems, but a community fundraising drive and support from the Kaufmann foundation allowed it to not only re-open, but also expand into its present location in the old Parade Park Maintenance Building. The Archive's permanent exhibit on the first floor, "With My Eyes No Longer Blind" is named in honor of a Langston Hughes poem, "I Look at the World." This exhibit traces the story of African Americans in Kansas City and the surrounding region. The organization also offers a research facility for historians and genealogists and a recording studio for oral histories, educational videos, and other media.

This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.

18th and Vine Expanded Driving Tour

Created by Black Archives of Mid-America on March 7th 2023, 6:58:35 pm.

Get a QR Code for this tour

Description

In addition to visiting many of the same locations as the 18th and Vine Walking Tour, this expanded version includes locations and historical sites outside of the central 18th and Vine District. These sites include historic buildings such as the Bruce R. Watkins Funeral Home, the Sarah Rector mansion, and several historic churches, providing insight into the Black culture and history of Kansas City. Furthermore, this tour includes several of Kansas City's most renowned barbeque locations, giving visitors the opportunity to experience an authentic taste of the Kansas City barbeque tradition that originated in this area. As with the walking tour, this tour begins and concludes at the Black Archives of Mid-America, which includes several exhibits related to the history and accomplishments of people who lived and worked in this neighborhood.

Entries on This Tour

18th and Vine Expanded Driving Tour

Description

Share