I counted this morning there are 110 stops on the African American Heritage Trail. So far we have visited 12 of them. I'm not planning on stopping by a location where the building was torn down or a person's house. That will take off a few more.
Wood Drug Store
Long ago this building was the Wood Drug Store.
It doesn't really say more than that.
Workhouse
The Vine Street Workhouse, popularly known as the “workhouse castle,” was constructed in 1897 and was designed by architects Prisoners of the workhouse, mostly vagrants and petty criminals, labored on public works projects. One such project was quarrying the limestone used in the construction of the workhouse itself. Since its closure as a workhouse in 1927, the building has had multiple uses, although none of them lasted for long.
It was not my intention to stop by here. We have visited this site before.
Another site was next to it which we have also visited before.
The fence that surrounded the workhouse has been removed. Someone planted trees too.
I hope someone saves this building.
Fire Station No. 11
We have stopped by here before too.
The station stayed at this location until 1931, when they moved to 2033 Vine Street.
Lincoln High School
In 1931, the school district acquired the site at 22nd & Woodland and the current building was completed in 1936. In the mid-1950s Kansas City began desegregating public schools but LHS didn’t become an inclusive student body and institution until 1978. At that time LHS became a magnet school and was renamed Lincoln Academy for Accelerated study and in 1986 the name changed to Lincoln College Preparatory Academy. known as ‘The Castle on the Hill.
Post Office
Yes, this picture was taken from my car.
This building was constructed by Wesley Elders and then leased by him to the Post Office for a substation. The station was named after James Crews, "the 1st Negro to be regularly employed by the Kansas City Post Office." Crews was appointed a substitute Letter carrier in 1883 and worked for the Post office until his retirement in 1930. Part of the building was also used as the Twin City Federal Savings and Loan Association.
Centennial Methodist Church
As additional housing became available and as new businesses flourished in the area surrounding 18th and Vine, the church became a centralized meeting place for this thriving Black community. Under the leadership and vision of Reverend M. L. Mackay, the members started a building campaign in 1926. The cornerstone was laid in April 1928, and on Easter Sunday, March 23, 1929, the congregation marched from their temporary worship location at Shannon Hall on 18th and Vine into their new church building, the “New” Centennial.
The Centennial Community Committee for Social Action organized at Centennial to protest segregation at downtown lunch counters.
Attucks School
The property on Woodland Avenue owned by Fred Talby was purchased and construction began on a new two-story schoolhouse. The current Attucks School is a two-story brick school design in the Colonial Revival style. It was constructed in two separate stages - the original section was completed in 1905 and a two-story addition was added to the east facade in 1922 with detailing similar to that which existed on the original section.
Over the next several decades the Attucks School was one of the main grade schools for African American students in Kansas City. In 1950, the Attucks School had nearly 1,000 students, a number exceeded by only four other African American schools in the city. The Attucks School continued to be used as grade schools for all races following integration of public schools in the 1960s.
Church of God in Christ 1912
This is not on the list but it is a very old building.
Boone Theater
It is being worked on.
The Boone theater, opened as The New Rialto Theater in 1924. Along with the Eblon, Lincoln and Gem Theaters, The New Rialto served as a vital core to the commercial and entertainment center created by the African-American community in Kansas City’s 18th and Vine District. In 1929 it was renamed The Boone Theater in honor of John W. “Blind” Boone, a famous black child composer, pianist and prodigy from Missouri, who died in 1927.
Wheatley-Provident Hospital, the first medical facility to serve the African American community of Kansas City, Mo., originated in 1910 as the Perry Sanitarium and Training School for Nurses. Named after Dr. J. Edward Perry, an African American physician, the facility quickly became too small..
In 1913, “The New Movement Association” was created by a group of community leaders who took over the operations, changing the name to “Provident Hospital and Nurse Training Association.” About the same time, Phyllis Wheatley organized another association and began raising funds to build a hospital, and in 1914 the two groups joined forces
The name was changed once more, and Wheatley-Provident Hospital was incorporated in March 1916, and the hospital was dedicated on September 28, 1918. Wheatley Provident remained open until June 12, 1972, when it was closed and the remaining patients were moved to Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital located at 25th & Euclid.
I think there are about 50 sites to visit (yes I recounted) so we are about 1/2 way done. We will finish by the end of February, Black History Month. Some of the pictures today were taken from the car because it was 37 degrees and I was cold.
See ya all tomorrow.
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