Building Character and Distinction Community Features in the Country Club District Community features can and should be the means of giving character and distinction to your property; the things that create enthusiasm and a liking for the property by its residents; the things that cause your cli- ents and your owners in your property to enjoy living there. Community features … include the activities that bring residents … to- gether in any united purpose of pleasant or serious effort. On the other hand, it includes the character of the physical development of your property, its adornment, its characteristics — the very creation of an individual and an appealing personality in all or various parts of your property … These features may be the inspiration that causes a better Mary Rockwell Hook was Kansas City’s and more intensive development of every private lawn; an inspiration first significant female architect. Here for better architecture … the cause of the development of a greater in- she is pictured heading off to France in terest and love of one’s home … the cause for closer friendships, and a 1920 to work for the American Com- greater neighborhood and community spirit. They directly improve life mittee for Devastated France. Her work is in its noblest sense and lead to higher aspirations to obtain the things important but little known. See story on worthwhile in life — and in the end, from it all comes a greater love page 9. and respect for one’s city, a greater civic interest and pride, a better public spirit, and a greater patriotism for city and nation in the hearts of both young and old. Table of Contents J.C. Nichols, Address to the 1924 Convention of the National The Country Club District: Giving character to KC ............... 1 Association of Real Estate Boards, Washington, D.C. Mary Rockwell Hook: KC’s By LaDene Morton First Female Architect .................. 9 J.C. Nichols made these remarks to his colleagues at a pivotal time in Lincoln High School— real estate development. America was in the midst of the greatest hous- A 150 years of success ............... 13 ing boom it had yet seen, and the industry at this convention was adopt- The Neff brothers and The ing its first set of professional standards. Daily Drovers Telegram ............ 20 It was the perfect time and platform for Nichols to share the lessons he Kansas City Christmas had learned from nearly two decades of experience. Nichols was a rec- Miracle: A Child’s Story ............ 25 ognized leader of the industry, and his comments would be taken seri- Washington Irving’s 1832 ously. After all, the Nichols Company’s Country Club District in Kan- visit to Independence .................. 29 sas City had national bragging rights in many measures of success — at News and Updates ...................... 32 some 6,000 acres, it was the country’s largest contiguous residential development completed by a single firm. Last chapters .............................. 34 (Continued on page 3) 2 JCHS Journal — Summer 2016 Jackson County The future of this city Historical Society The first Sunday in 1950, two intrepid Kansas City Star reporters em- barked on an ambitious project to tell the history of Kansas City, Mo.’s OFFICERS first 100 years unfolding the serialized story in a new chapter published Sharon Williams, President each week. Brent Schondelmeyer, President-Elect J. Bradley Pace, Vice President Henry Haskell Jr. and Richard Fowler wrote about the European settle- Benjamin Mann, Treasurer ment, winning of the west, agriculture, railroads, real estate, political corruption, floods, and the civic accomplishments of leading lights – DIRECTORS mostly men – later published in a book unabashedly titled City of the A. Scott Cauger Future. Kent Dicus The view of the city’s future was optimistic. Mark Eubank The boosters, the Babbits, and their like had Angie Felarca reason to gloat and image a promising fu- Karen Graves ture. Gary Jenkins George B. Lopez The authors, in their prologue, observed: Michael Manners “Kansas City has exhibited during the last Ralph A. Monaco II hundred years certain well-defined charac- Barbara Potts teristics. Because it was constantly having Diane Reuter to deal with new problems, for example, the Charlotte Ronan community early acquired its habit of for- David Ross getting the past, ignoring the present, and Gloria J. Smith living almost altogether in the future.” Shirley Wurth Fast forward to 2016. A new kind of civic STAFF enthusiasm is evident. Steve Noll, Executive Director Kansas City no longer apologies for being a “cow town” – the livestock Caitlin Eckard, Archives heydays are over. Instead, with obvious pride we point to the redevelop- Don Andes, Operations ment of downtown, the Sprint Arena, the Kauffman Performing Arts All surface-mail correspondence must be Center, Google Fiber, and establishment of a starter light rail line. delivered to PO Box 4241, Independence, And if this were not enough to swell with pride, there is the resurgence Mo. 64051-4241. of our professional sports teams – the world champion Kansas City JCHS History Center and Archives Royals, the Kansas City Chiefs and Sporting KC. 112 W. Lexington, Room 249 Independence, Mo. 64050 In short, the city seems alive – perhaps a larger metropolitan region more confident about its future because of recent accomplishments 1859 Jail Museum We face significant challenges – urban education, segregated neighbor- 217 N. Main St. hoods, income inequality, and the potential to withdraw from larger Independence, Mo. 64050 matters to pursue individual endeavors. The connections and social bonds in our “virtual” communities compete with interest and attention Vol. 54, No. 1, Summer 2016. The Jack- son County Historical Society Journal to our physical. (ISSN 0888-4978) is published semi- Place matters. History matters. annually by the Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society, a non-profit Missouri We again share with you stories which we believe matter – discovering educational corporation. Back issues are the west, the excellence of African-American education at Lincoln High available on the JCHS website School, the remarkable story of development of the Country Club Plaza, www.jchs.org. remarkable houses in a nearby neighborhood by our first female archi- All rights reserved. Contents, when fully tect, along with a child welfare story. credited, may be used with written permis- What the future holds is unclear, but this much is certain – it will be dif- sion. ferent if we are involved, care about where we live, better understand our collective story and open to tackling the new problems – those past, present and ones yet in our future. JCHS Journal — Summer 2016 3 (Continued from page 1) mong his peers, Nichols was city’s southern boundary (47th A particularly esteemed for his Street/Brush Creek), and well be- The beauty of the District, and the keen insights into the wants and yond the reach of any public regu- impressive list of other communi- needs of the home buyers to lations on development. ties for which it served as a model whom he was appealing. And The consequences of that lack of (Beverly Hills in Los Angeles and while Nichols did have a sales- order were readily apparent: litter- Shaker Heights in Cleveland, to man’s sense of the market, his ing the banks of Brush Creek and name but two), had made the greater contribution was the vision its nearby feeder streams were Nichols Company project the fo- of the broader plan, and the under- small factories, mills, and live- cus of much media attention, al- standing that it was a complex, stock operations — businesses lowing Nichols to proclaim his long-term effort. that were hardly conducive to the Country Club District to be Ultimately, Nichols would come “garden homes” the Nichols Com- “America’s best residential sec- to refer to his approach as pany was building. tion.” “planning for permanence,” the The deed restriction became one simple idea that residents would vehicle for regulating property use stay invested in their homes if the prior to 1920s zoning laws. Deed community in which they lived restrictions defined the limits of responded to their needs, tastes any number of development con- and interests. siderations — lot size, easements, Nichols started development of and construction values were the Country Club District in 1905 among the most detailed in the with an existing subdivision documents. To ensure these re- known as Bismark Place near 51st quirements continued once the and Main streets. By the time development phase was complet- Nichols died in 1950, the District ed, for each subdivision the Nich- stretched roughly between four ols Company established a homes corners — on the Missouri side, association which assumed legal the Country Club Plaza (47th and responsibility for oversight of Broadway) on the northeast and covenants and restrictions. Brookside/Waldo (71st Street and hile the mechanism was the Wornall Road) on the southeast; W same, there were often sig- on the Kansas side, Prairie Village nificant differences in the specific (Tomahawk and Mission roads) restrictions enacted from subdivi- and Fairway (Mission Road and sion to subdivision. But from the Shawnee Mission Parkway), Jesse Clyde Nichols began the develop- beginning, each contained a racial ment of the Country Club District projects southwest and northwest respec- restriction. in 1905 when he was only 25, and spent tively. Aside from subtle changes of the rest of his life refining his vision, until Within these boundaries nearly