Take A Hike

The Cliff Drive Scenic Byway has lots of opportunities to get some good exercise by walking the Drive or by hiking the Indian Mound Trail. I've created maps that show both the human hiking trails (red) and the routes the animals use (green) which are oftentimes usable by us as well. Blue represents water in either spring or pool form. The top map shows the Byway from Elmwood Ave. and Gladstone Boulevard east to Indian Mound and Belmont Ave. The bottom shows the Byway from Elmwood and Gladstone west to Scarritt Point and the midpoint access to the Drive. HyperHouse is indicated by a red dot on the top map.

Cliff Drive is closed each weekend to motorized traffic so it's a great time for a family hike. The Trail is moderate in difficulty but make sure footwear is waterproof.

Click on the images below to make them larger. These are stolen from Google Maps and marked up in Photoshop. The top map shows the Indian Mound portion of the Byway, the bottom shows the Scarritt Renaissance section.

Cliff Drive was created between 1890 and 1910. It was designed by George Kessler for whom the surrounding parkland is now named. Originally called North Terrace Park it was complemented by West Terrace Park which was adjacent to what is now Case Park by Quality Hill.

Spring Year-round...

Hope springs eternal along Cliff Drive in the winter as springs constantly flow from the hillsides. The three below are just west of the waterfall by the eastern most entrance to the drive. Since the water flows from underground it is always around 60 degrees and doesn't freeze. Once it contacts the Drive it does though and this area is pretty much a skating rink until spring. The proliferation of springs along the bluffs... there are at least 12 from this point east to Indian Mound... is why the area was home to several Indian villages. The Natives were also fond of the plentiful game and high land... bluffs that allowed them to see who was coming. Also close to the Missouri and Blue Rivers.

It is my uninformed opinion that this hillside is probably home to multiple caves as the waters have been carving the limestone for hundreds of years.
Sometime I will go cave hunting.... several reliable neighbors have seen flocks/herds/covens of bats flying up from the bluff face in the evening as they start out on their hunt for insects. That's a sure sign of some bat condo... also known as "cave."
Above the Carl DiCapo Fountain ( i.e. The Waterfall ) lies dry in wait for spring that has never seemed further off to me.

Happy Valentines Day

One Ballroom, Many Lives

This downtown Kansas City building has more lives than a cat. Originally it was to be a hotel but construction was begun in 1912 but not completed. The Kansas City Athletic Club then bought the unfinished structure and completed it in 1923. It remained the club until bought by the Continental group which converted the structure to a hotel.... the Athletic Club remained in the building until the 60s or 70s when it moved to Kansas City Kansas. During the Continental period the Kansas City Playboy Club was on the 22nd floor. Purchased again the building was refurbished for office space and is now known as the Mark Twain Tower. Now under new management several new leases have been signed.

The elegant room shown below was the ballroom for all the buildings incarnations. Today it is the Sawyer Room and is popular for weddings and other events. Each of the windows in the room has a unique design/logo in the center. I'm assuming those date to the Athletic Club Days and are logos for different teams.... although if someone knows for sure help me out!

President Truman used the club regularly before, during and after his Presidency. He was very keen on physical fitness.

Remnants of the old club facilities remain and the current management hopes to restore some to their former glory.

Below is first the exterior of the building at 11th and Baltimore. Then the entryway. The Ballroom takes up the fifth and sixth floors.

More pictures later including rooftop views (if we EVER get warmer weather). The building is the 20th tallest building in Kansas City at 24 floors.

Many thanks to Dawña the building manager who allowed me to photograph this treasure!

Television Market ca 1950

More images from the Herb Harper Collection. 90% of the negatives are 4x5. All of the negatives are black and white. So far the dates run from 1949 to 1952.... but I am only on the contents of box three out of 7. It's a tedious process to assign a file number, scan, write a brief blurb on what's in the image and then move on to the next. Most of the files aren't marked as to contents and there could be negatives of one subject.... i.e. W.T. Grants.... scattered throughout one box.

These show what the envelope said was "T.V. Mart".... although I suspect it's TV Market. The address on the front of the building is 3634 but could be east and west or north and south.... there is a reflection on the window glass from the building across the street. The signage on that is "Dr. Lilyhor Chiropractor". There is also a reflection of a cleaners that can be partially read: "...erles Cleaners." So the location can be pinpointed at a later date.

This is probably promotional work for the site showing that they have a full range of the latest models including those with phonographs and TVs as well as a repair facility (tubes anyone) and men who will make house calls.

Television was just coming into it's own around this time as the stars of decades of radio shows were making the move to the little screen.

The image of the man on his knee getting ready to fix the tv is an unfortunate double exposure... easily done back then when the 4x5 film was in negative holders (two to a holder) and you had to remember to take out the holder and turn it around for the next shot.

Renovating W.T. Grants

From the Herb Harper Collection which I am cataloguing (sporadically at best). 4x5 black and white images of the W.T. Grant store at 1017 Main after renovation circa 1950. From the store display signage it looks like the interiors were shot shortly before Mothers' Day. I'd like to have those prices back.

Not sure but I think the bottom two photos may be "before" pix and those pix which show the "Luncheonette" signage are after.

Play Misty for Me

Taken around the Concourse in Old Northeast..... cold and dank... but very quiet.....