KANSAS CITY’S CITY MARKET

Designed & conceptualized by The Kansas City Public Library CREDITS

TEXT Dr. Ronald Miriani, Park University

CONCEPTUALIZATION AND DESIGN Department of Public Affairs, The Kansas City Public Library

IMAGES Missouri Valley Special Collections, The Kansas City Public Library The Kansas City Star Steamboat Arabia Museum

PROJECT SPONSORS City Market Friends of the City Market The Kansas City Public Library

2 A History at the 1830s-Present Heart of Kansas City 5

1830s-1870s The Steamboat Era 6

1870s-1920s The Coming of the Railroads 9

1920s-1940s The Interwar Era 12

1940s-1950s The First Redevelopment 15

1950s-1970s Years of Decline and Renewal 18

1980s-Present City Market Revived 21 4 A HISTORY AT THE HEART OF KANSAS CITY

resent-day City Market traces more than a stone’s throw from flowed with cattle and grain, River its formal beginnings to 1857. the confluence of the Missouri and Market provided space for warehouses PIn that year near its current Kansas rivers, it was the center for a and brokerage firms. It was the home location, the pioneering residents brisk trade, a place where farmers, base for small manufacturers and was of what would become Kansas settlers, westward-bound emigrants, the starting point for various Kansas City celebrated the erection of the and riverboat crews bargained over City enterprises, some of which are first shed expressly built to house foodstuffs, wood, textiles, tools, and still in existence, such as The Kansas commercial activities. other manufactured goods. City Star and St. Luke’s Hospital. The neighborhood was also known for its This modest structure confirmed the In time many of the items sold in the hotels, restaurants, and entertainment growing importance of an informal City Market would arrive by road, rail, options – both legal and otherwise marketplace that had already been and air. Agricultural products would – that included circuses, theaters, in existence for several years. Little come from throughout the world, not gambling halls, bars, and bordellos. just nearby counties. But the rhythm of the market would remain much As early as 1900, some observers the same as it had always been. noted the River Market to be in a state of decline. Indeed, for much of the While the City Market has twentieth century, the neighborhood changed little in its basic functions, was considered by many to be less the surrounding River Market than desirable. That judgment neighborhood has changed greatly over began to change in the 1980s when time. When steamboats were replaced a combination of public and private by trains, and the West Bottoms investment saved this area from what seemed to be terminal decay.

Top left: World War II-era rally This booklet explains the 150-year saga Left: Gillis Opera House at 5th and Walnut, of City Market and the surrounding circa early 1900s River Market area – a history at the Opposite page: heart of Kansas City. 1871 map of Kansas City, Missouri, and Wyandotte City, Kansas

5 1830s-1870s

6 THE STEAMBOAT ERA

he development of City complicated in those days, and it was naming it for the Kansa Indians Market and the surrounding not until 1846 that litigation over who resided immediately to the west TRiver Market neighborhood this sale was resolved. McCoy and in what was then Indian Territory. began in 1834 when John C. McCoy his fellow land company partners The Town Company also set aside discovered a rock landing on the then platted the “Town of Kansas,” the land between 4th and 5th streets Missouri River at what is now the and Walnut and Main streets for a foot of Grand Avenue. public square. This parcel comprises a portion of today’s City Market. McCoy, a businessman and real estate speculator, had just platted the town of The timing for establishing the Westport, Missouri, four miles to the new settlement was excellent. An south. He surmised correctly that this expansionist United States had natural landing would direct riverboat embraced the spirit of “Manifest trade away from the rival town of Destiny.” Texas was admitted to the Independence and toward his town Union, a treaty with Great Britain of Westport, which McCoy hoped yielded the present-day states of would become the eastern terminus Oregon and Washington, and war of the Santa Fe Trail. For many years with Mexico led to the annexation thereafter, this initial primacy of of California and the present-day Westport was reflected by the fact that Southwest. The Town of Kansas was McCoy’s Missouri River outpost – the ideally positioned to become the precursor to present-day Kansas City – outfitter for wagon trains heading was known as Westport Landing. west on the Oregon Trail and the California Trail, the latter of which In 1838 McCoy joined a company became a favorite route of the “Forty- of men who purchased the farm Top: Kansas City, looking south across Niners” following the discovery of of Gabriel Prudhomme, which the Missouri River, circa 1855 gold near Sacramento. The little town encompassed the whole of the Above: John C. McCoy became even busier in 1854 upon the present-day River Market area. Real creation of the territories of Kansas Intro page: General Order No. 11 estate transactions could be extremely by George Caleb Bingham and Nebraska.

7 To accommodate all of the travelers, gained through bond issues in the tradesmen, drifters, and potential late 1850s provided for leveling settlers of the West, over 300 these bluffs. The height of the area steamboats a year plied the Missouri surrounding City Market did, at least, River by the 1850s. One of them keep the neighborhood safe from the was the Arabia, which sank before floods that washed away the original reaching Parkville in 1856. A visit to French settlements along the river the Steamboat Arabia Museum here and in the present-day West Bottoms at City Market, provides tremendous area. insight into the lifestyles of the people who settled the West in the 1850s. After reaching a population exceeding 4,500 by the early 1860s, Without doubt, each of these boats Kansas City nearly collapsed under was met by Jackson County farmers the stress of the Civil War. A low- who had surplus poultry, meat and intensity Missouri-Kansas border dairy products, besides seasonal fruits, war had been underway since the vegetables, and grains. And, without mid-1850s, but following William doubt, the farmers purchased goods Clarke Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence resembling those now displayed in in August 1863, Union General the Steamboat Arabia Museum. Thomas Ewing issued Order No. 11, which banished all Southern In 1857, the city leased the west sympathizers from western Missouri portion of this land to the Scheibel and temporarily brought Kansas Brothers, who constructed the first City’s growth to a standstill. market building. Photographs show, however, that most of the marketing and sales took place directly from farm Top right: Rooftop view of Kansas City looking east from wagons surrounding the town square. 3rd and Main, circa 1870 On the east portion of the square, the Center right: Market Square at 4th and town built a modest brick city hall. Walnut, circa 1870

Bottom right: The Steamboat Arabia by A huge problem for the emerging city Gary Lucy was the bluffs that rose up to 100 feet just south of the Missouri floodplain and levee. Where there were breaks in the bluffs the town builders penciled in streets like Market (Grand), Main, Delaware, and Broadway. Financing

8 1870s-1920s

9 THE COMING OF THE RAILROADS

he Hannibal Bridge, the brought thousands of people into of the great agricultural emporiums first railway span across the the West Bottoms daily, and most of the United States, if not the world. TMissouri River, was completed of them found their way up to what Grain and cattle firms employed in 1869. Almost overnight it made had been merely a market but was thousands. Kansas City a leading gateway to now a vigorous “downtown,” with the West and Southwest. Within hotels, restaurants, shops, and Wholesale became more important just a few years, the city hosted 13 entertainment of all sorts, much of than retail, though local farmers railroad companies. The population it illegal. from places like Lenexa, Parkville, of Kansas City exploded, exceeding Grandview, and rural Wyandotte 200,000 by 1909 and sprawling south The City Market, which had been County and their individual customers to 79th Street. largely a farmers’ market became one from throughout metropolitan Kansas City never stopped coming. From Kansas and beyond, cattle were brought for slaughter, and In 1888 Kansas City constructed grain, especially winter wheat, an elegant brick market building was brought for milling. Kansas with 56 stalls along Walnut near 5th City’s Union Depot, built in 1878, Street. Immediately to the west of this structure, Kansas City also built an ornate Gothic-style City Hall. Articles in The Kansas City Star pointed out that the market stalls were soon inadequate as refrigerated rail cars carrying food Top: “Battle Row” on Main products from Colorado, Mexico, and Street, 1885 even South America greatly expanded Left: Hannibal Bridge what was available in the wholesale Intro page: Union Depot in and retail markets of Kansas City. West Bottoms, 1890 In 1910 the city accommodated the new demand by purchasing the land between 3rd and 4th streets, doubling the size of City Market.

10 Right: City Market, circa 1913

Nearly all of the buildings of the Below: Interior hallway entrance to the house of present-day River Market area that prostitution at 300 Wyandotte owned and operated by Annie Chambers from we still prize were constructed in the 1870s to the 1920s this period. Most structures were of practical brick, often featuring a tall first story with large glass windows to attract retail customers. Upper stories were used for storage, or were rented to working-class residents. The most notable architectural detail was (and still is) the painted wrought and molded iron, used primarily to frame doorways and windows. commerce to Kansas City’s “new” From horse-drawn public trans- downtown south of 7th Street. The portation, the area embraced cable At this time, it is said that there narrow streets and buildings of the cars by 1880, and then streetcars were 40 gambling dens and an equal City Market area would not allow by 1900, linking the City Market number of bawdy houses within expansion of businesses that had area with the growing commercial walking distance of City Market. started here, such as The Kansas and residential developments to Annie Chambers established the City Star and St. Luke’s Hospital. the south and east. However, horse- most lavish and more enduring of Nonetheless, City Market held on drawn produce wagons retailing local these bordellos in 1872. Legendary to most of its wholesale and retail farm crops to housewives remained a figures like Frank and Jesse James, grocery business because it was so daily presence at City Market until Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, well supported by railroads and cold well into the 1920s. and “Wild Bill” Hickok were seen storage (refrigeration) facilities, and frequently here in the 1870s, but because its costs were low. Another The blocks surrounding City Market these were merely the most famous significant wholesaling activity that were also the center for Kansas visitors among a host of other remained in the City Market area City’s booming vice trade. Much of transients and local residents. was the hardware business. Two large this illegal activity took place on a companies – Townley and Richards portion of Main Street, often called The hospitality and entertainment & Conover – shipped wholesale “Battle Row,” that, ironically, was just businesses of the City Market area hardware items from Kansas across the street from City Hall and were hit hard by the flood of 1903. City throughout the Southwest. police headquarters. Gambling and Although City Market itself was In addition, the William Volker prostitution violated Missouri law, not inundated by flood waters, the Company carried on a major trade of course, but the entrepreneurs who devastation to the West Bottoms in home furnishings. were engaged in these businesses were and Union Depot became a factor let off with meager monthly fines. in the ongoing relocation of retail

11 1920s-1940s

12 THE INTERWAR ERA

uring the period between packaging, and refrigerated trucks all and to local wholesalers. On an World War I and World helped to bring produce to the market annual basis, 30,000 rail cars of DWar II, Kansas City became faster and in better condition. produce came through Kansas City, one of the most popular travel only a third of which was purchased destinations in America, thanks Farmers, some from as far away as for local distribution. in part to the vice industries that Colorado, would show up at 4 A.M. thrived under the rule of “Boss” when the market bell rang, disposing Although the neighborhood district Tom Pendergast. of an infinite variety of fruits, around the City Market was in vegetables, poultry, and plants to decline at this time, many of the area’s Although the City Market area Kansas City’s independent grocers traditional legitimate businesses had been famous as a location for like Wolferman’s and Muehlbach continued to prosper. U.S. Cold gambling, prostitution, and the Storage, a national company, built consumption of alcohol, by the 1920s the largest refrigeration facility in these activities were more likely to Kansas City devoted principally to be found downtown and in the the preservation of produce. Chase African American neighborhoods Bag Company built a plant for the on Vine Street east of The Paseo. production of burlap bags necessary The later vicinity was also where to the produce market. The last bank black musicians created Kansas building to go into the City Market City’s unique style in jazz and black area, Merchants Bank, was erected. entrepreneurs developed the city’s Additionally, two iconic businesses signature style barbecue. of the City Market were started in this era: the Pisciotta family built a Things changed slowly, however, in wholesale company that carried fruits the City Market area. The wholesale and vegetables in trucks painted market remained more important with a memorable logo until the year than the retail business, which was 2000. And Henry Wertheim started slipping away to neighborhood Above: Annie Chambers in her later years Planters, which originally served the grocery stores in the suburbs. needs of farmers. Intro page: Men eating at the Helping Hand Improved highways, improved Institute, 523 Grand, circa 1930s

13 Still, the area deteriorated. Kansas William Volker and others raised City’s Ten Year Plan of 1931 called for $85,000 for a new large building on the transfer of city and county offices Grand that included a kitchen, an to 12th and Oak Sts., downtown, auditorium for lectures, a library, and a move that further signaled sleeping accommodations for 500. It the neighborhood’s decreasing was a poor man’s YMCA. During the significance as a center of public life. Great Depression in the 1930s, the By the end of the decade, there was Institute served as many as 50,000 little reason for ordinary people to men each year. Other less elegant visit this area, and suburbanites did nearby buildings were turned into not consider it a safe place. “flophouses.”

Homeless people had always Emblematic of the great change frequented the City Market area. that struck the neighborhood was Often, they were poor men who had the decision by Annie Chambers to hopped trains from the rural south accept Christianity and her bequest bound for what they hoped would of her former grand bawdy house to be a life of prosperity in Kansas City. the City Union Mission. Poverty had One attempt to aid these men was settled in. the Helping Hand Institute, which opened in 1894 in a former bar on Main Street. During World War I,

Top right: U.S. Cold Storage Building, circa 1930

Middle right: East side of Walnut between 5th and 6th, 1940

Bottom right: Harmony Lunch Restaurant, 4th and Grand, 1941

14 1940s-1950s

15 THE FIRST REDEVELOPMENT

anuary 1940 saw a totally new companies spent at least a million as they are now in the middle of the City Market. dollars building a perishable foods square. The rest of the market, facing J terminal that brought the produce Main and 3rd streets, was earmarked As compensation for the market up to date. for wholesale. The plan called for deterioration this area had suffered an administration building on the since the First World War, the Following the plan, everything in the northeast corner of 3rd and Main. It Ten Year Plan of 1931 provided old City Market area was bulldozed, would have rest rooms, a restaurant, $500,000 for improvements in the along with the old city hall, police offices, and a belfry to accommodate City Market. Like any good plan, station and fire station. Architect the old market bell. Perhaps for lack the city’s bond money was merely Fred Gunn applied a moderate Art of money it was never constructed. seed capital to encourage additional Deco design for a large group of new investment. The federal Works utilitarian buildings. A small retail Since people were now driving to Progress Administration of the New market would face south along 5th the City Market instead of taking Deal made a contribution, private Street while three “pavilions” for the streetcars, a large lot west of Main investors added more, and railroad sale of farm products were laid out Street was set aside for parking.

Above: River Market area looking north toward Missouri River, circa 1940

Right: Nighttime rally during World War II

Intro page: City Market retail buildings facing 5th Street, circa 1945

16 The new buildings were sanitary. Museum is now located, to extend did the number of shoppers. There When an old building went down, the market. The Kansas City Star were regularly scheduled jazz dances newspapers advertised that citizens reported in 1941 that the wholesale at night, taking advantage of an should bring their “rat dogs” to market did $25 million in business extensive system of street lights that enjoy a chase as the dogs hunted the annually and was responsible for created what the newspapers called rats. These events usually drew huge 1,000 jobs. The City Market had “a white way.” During the war years, crowds. the advantage of being within the many rallies were held, even at night, vicinity of the stockyards in the West in the market square, reminiscent of The re-built City Market was an Bottoms, where the cattle business the old days. Nonetheless, the City exciting commercial success. Within reached a peak during the Second Market was still surrounded by a a few years it could not meet the World War. dying River Market neighborhood. demand for retail and wholesale markets, and the City purchased The new City Market was also a the property between Grand and popular success…for a time. The Walnut, where the Steamboat Arabia number of stalls doubled and so

Left: Man examining fruit at City Market vendor stall with produce, circa late 1940s

Below: Rooftop view of City Market looking south- east from 3rd and Main, circa 1940

17 1950s-1970s

18 YEARS OF DECLINE AND RENEWAL

ity Market continued to a Was it worth a trip to City Market Meanwhile, City Market’s wholesale fairly quiet but steady beat in to save a few dollars on groceries? business also faded as large national Cthe immediate post-war era. Were there not other ways to be grocery chains like A & P and Kroger There was little new construction. entertained? developed their own wholesale The Broadway Bridge replaced the purchasing systems. Railroads were Hannibal in 1956, which might As other ethnic groups fled the city, used less as truck transportation rose have brought more visitors from Sicilians claimed what seemed to be in significance and rail centers like the growing Northland, but the a monopoly of the produce business Kansas City became less important. construction of the I-35 loop and in Kansas City. Most Sicilian families the reconstruction and extension of had come to Kansas City between In 1958, Kansas City replaced its last the Intercity Viaduct made getting 1890 and 1930. Large families of remaining streetcars with buses, and into City Market even more difficult Sicilians formed a tight community public transportation into and out than it had been before. in the Kansas City’s north end, of the River Market neighborhood numbering perhaps 12,000 by the faded. City Market lost the cool “White flight” from the urban 1940s. Jobs in the City Market may not cachet it had taken on in the1940s core was a major national trend in have paid much, but it was agreeable and ceased being a popular Kansas City and throughout the work and convenient to home. destination. Even the Helping Hand country. The suburban movement Institute closed and the City Union reduced congestion in downtown Mission moved out. as well as in the old neighborhoods, but this put the regular City Market By the 1970s, the River Market customers at a greater distance from neighborhood surrounding City it. Visiting City Market became a Market had become one of Kansas special weekend activity. And nearly City’s least desirable areas. Light every home now had a refrigerator, manufacturing and transportation which made the frequent purchasing service companies were taking of fresh fruits and vegetables advantage of the low rents, but the unnecessary. Perhaps as important citizens of Kansas City were coming Top: Outdoor City Market stalls, was the growing wealth and circa 1960 to City Market mainly on Saturday education of Americans generally. mornings. Intro page: City Market circa 1970s

19 Then a change occurred, part of an Quay (pronounced “Key”) Association. With personal safety becoming a urban redevelopment revolution that Their goal was to restore the exterior paramount concern, the River Quay was sweeping the United States. Many of the old buildings and rent them to ceased to be a popular attraction. Americans rebelled against modernism individuals who would create an arts, But for those who experienced the and the mass manufactured goods for entertainment, and shopping district. River Quay at its peak, the era is sale at the department store chains. Trozzolo, a religious man, wanted the remembered fondly. district to be family friendly. Nostalgia for America as it used-to-be, for a slower pace of life, for smaller Initially, the River Quay was a great buildings, for craftsmanship, took success. The frequent festivals and hold among many people. Old was happy visitors, however, created a in. Aging brick buildings needing problem. The River Market had never repair found investors and renters. been designed for auto traffic and its Young craftsman found markets for attendant parking. Shops, restaurants, their textiles, glassware, metalwork, and bars drew too many people, too woodwork, and paintings. Antique many autos, for the area to hold. stores became attractive to shoppers. The lure of the River Quay also In Kansas City the movement coalesced attracted some of the wrong kind of around Marion Trozzolo, who had investors. The Mafia, coming from the started a business engaged in applying same neighborhoods as the Sicilian the Teflon coating to frying pans in fruit vendors of the City Market, the old Board of Trade building at moved in. While many Kansas Citians 5th and Delaware. A man of vision, didn’t notice this new presence, the Trozzolo in 1972 secured the support arrival of organized crime brought of other property owners, especially strip joints, prostitution, drugs, along Delaware, to create the River gambling – and in 1976 – all-out war between rivals ostensibly seeking control over parking. For two years, there were a series of murders, fires, and bombings.

Left: Promotional postcard for River Quay, circa 1970s

Top right: Entrance to City Market at 5th and Walnut, 1978

Middle right: Advertisement for River Quay on south side of building near 14th and Main, circa 1970s

Bottom right: Remains of two River Quay bars after a suspicious explosion, 1977. Courtesy of The Kansas City Star.

20 1980s-Present

21 CITY MARKET REVIVED

fter the collapse of the Mel Mallin, a local businessman who utilities. The goal was to provide for River Quay concept, yet had seen the success of the SoHo offices and retail on the first floor of Aanother idea for reviving the district in New York, where unused most buildings with loft apartments City Market area was put forward: warehouses had been transformed and condos above. Could Kansas Citians, who had into spacious loft apartments, been in flight from the urban core believed something similar could A critical step toward this idea for two generations, be persuaded take root in the River Market had already occurred when the to embrace the city again, to live neighborhood. During the River neighborhood was placed on the in apartments and condos, close to Quay period, some property owners National Register of Historic Places downtown where so many people had started restoring the exteriors of in 1978. Following this move, the still worked? The neighborhood was buildings while leaving interiors free city offered broad tax incentives attractive because of its inexpensive for renovation at some later date. for developers, and grants from properties, but also because of its Mallin would continue exterior nineteenth-century architecture and restoration, while tearing out the craftsmanship, the appeal of which interior walls of the old warehouses had been clearly demonstrated in and factories, presenting potential the River Quay era. renters with a lot of open space, high ceilings, large windows, and new

Right: West side of the City Market square on a busy Saturday. Image cour- tesy George Denniston.

Far right: Completion of the City Market glass walkways in the east building. Im- age courtesy Piper-Wind Architects.

Intro page: Broadway Bridge. Image courtesy Dr. Ronald Miriani, Park University

22 various federal and state agencies poured in. As much as $100 million of public money may have been spent on infrastructure, which included parking garages and street improvements. Working under the umbrella of the Planned Industrial Expansion Authority, developers gained condemnation rights—a radical departure from the past. Fearing a return of the Mafia, new zoning restrictions made it unlawful to operate a bar not part of a restaurant.

The investment has been fruitful. Above: Farmers’ Market under the pavilion. Im- City Market has also benefited from age courtesy George Denniston. The number of residential units in the redevelopment of such nearby the River Market will soon reach Right: Completion of the City Market glass walkways in the east building. Image neighborhoods as River Market, 1,000, and total investment, mostly courtesy Mike Sinclair. Quality Hill, and downtown, and by private, since the River Quay era improvements along the riverfront may reach a billion dollars. such as the Richard Berkley the most obvious of which is the Riverfront Park. Small businesses, including many installation of glass doors that protect cozy individually owned restaurants, vendors and customers alike from Once again, City Market is giving have moved into quarters provided Kansas City’s unpredictable climate, downtown a soul and a vibrancy that for them. Some businesses are not making City Market a year-long defines urban life. Once again, area small. The most important of these destination. With as much parking farmers fill City Market with locally is the Steamboat Arabia Museum, as the public needs, improvement grown produce. And once again, which draws on average 2,000 in the quality of the produce, and adults who themselves have fond people per week to look at artifacts more intriguing places to get a meal memories of the place are bringing of the earliest history of Kansas City or beverage, shoppers are returning their children to City Market, and and the Missouri River. A major in increasing numbers. The eclectic young people are coming here for recent coup was persuading HOK, retail and wholesale businesses in concerts and festivals on weekends the international sports architectural the market’s interior spaces have and holidays. firm, to establish its headquarters in a prospered. Meanwhile, there is a new building at 3rd and Wyandotte. waiting list for City Market’s 180 Once again, Kansas City’s City Kansas City has made many outdoor stalls. Market has become the place to be. improvements in City Market, What was old is new again.

23 This booklet was made possible through a partnership between The City Market and The Kansas City Public Library.

For more information, please visit our websites:

www.thecitymarket.org www.kclibrary.org

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