Squier Park, Kansas City, Missouri facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Squier Park
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Intersection of Manheim Road and 39th Street, 1920
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| Location | Kansas City, MO |
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| Architect | Louis S. Curtiss, John McKecknie, Nelle E. Peters, Selby Kerfiss, and Smith, Rea & Lovitt. |
| Architectural style | Prairie School, Craftsman, Kansas City Shirtwaist, Folk Victorian, Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Tudor Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 12000232 |
| Added to NRHP | April 24, 2012 |
Squier Park is a special old neighborhood in the middle of Kansas City, Missouri, USA. It covers 16 city blocks. These blocks are bordered by Armour Boulevard to the north and 39th Street to the south. Troost Avenue is on its west side, and Paseo Boulevard is on its east side. Squier Park is mostly a place where people live. You can find some businesses along Troost Avenue. This neighborhood has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2012.
Contents
How Squier Park Started
This neighborhood was built between 1887 and 1915. Two people, James J. Squier and his son-in-law, Robert V. Jones, developed it. Squier Park is known as an early "streetcar suburb". This means it grew because people could easily get there using streetcars.
James Squier and Robert Jones
James J. Squier was born in Pennsylvania in 1836. He first worked in a hardware store. Later, he moved to Chicago and became very successful in the cattle business. In 1872, Squier came to Kansas City. He bought cattle for a big meat-packing company. He earned a lot of money and became very rich.
Squier helped start two banks in Kansas City. These banks mainly helped people in the cattle business. People in Kansas City knew Squier as a rich banker and a powerful businessman.
Squier bought a large piece of land. He built a beautiful country home there. It had fancy gardens, a fishpond, and even a deer park. Squier saw that Kansas City was growing. The city limits were moving closer to his land. He decided to divide his land into smaller pieces, called lots. He hoped to build a neighborhood there. But by 1900, only a few houses were built. Most of these were north of what is now 37th Street.
James J. Squier passed away in 1900. He left his property to his wife and his only daughter, Cora. Cora Squier went to school on the East Coast. There, she met Robert Valentine Jones. He was good at building new homes. They got married in 1902 at Squier Manor.
The couple lived in Philadelphia for a while. Then, in 1908, they moved back to Cora's estate. Most of the land was divided into lots, but they were still empty. Robert Jones saw a great chance to build. So, in 1908, he started his own real estate company. He made a new plan to develop the land between 37th and 39th Streets.
Building the Neighborhood
Robert Jones wanted Squier Park to be a special place. He wanted the streets to follow the land's natural shape. He did not want them to be just straight lines like a city grid. He also wanted every house to look different. Each house would sit on a large piece of land.
Jones worked with many famous architects in Kansas City. He also worked with builders and homeowners. Together, they designed many beautiful and stylish homes. Because of this, many houses south of 37th Street were built in 1909 and 1910. Building continued steadily through the 1910s and into the 1920s. Many homes built by Jones's company had special features for that time. These included hot water heating, sleeping porches, and many bathrooms.
By 1920, Squier Park was full of homes designed by architects. Manheim Road had a curve that created a triangle-shaped park. Many well-known Kansas City architects designed homes here. These included Louis Curtiss, John McKecknie, Nelle E. Peters, Selby Kerfiss, and Smith, Rea & Lovitt. The homes show many different styles popular in the early 1900s. This was because Jones wanted each house to be unique.
Most of Squier Park was for single-family homes. But it also had some buildings with multiple apartments. There were also schools and a small shop. Because streetcar lines ran nearby, Squier Park became an early "streetcar suburb."
In 1925, Robert and Cora Jones got divorced. They sold the land where the original Squier Manor stood. The new owner tore down the manor house that same year. They planned to build a "Squier Manor Community Center." This center would have apartment buildings, shops, a theater, and a hotel. But this big plan never happened. In 1930, the block was divided into lots for homes. In 1940, Bishop Lillis High School was built on part of that block. By the start of World War II, Jones's vision for the neighborhood was mostly complete.
Architecture and Design
Squier Park has many different building designs. This is because the neighborhood was built over a long time. It also shows how popular architectural styles changed. The northern part of the neighborhood was built in the 1880s. The southern part was built around 1915. Many homes on the south side were designed by architects. In other parts of Squier Park, builders made several similar homes next to each other. They just made small changes to each one.
The most common building styles in Squier Park are the Prairie School and Craftsman styles. You can also see many examples of the Kansas City Shirtwaist style. There are also homes in the Folk Victorian style. Plus, there are historical styles like Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, and Tudor Revival. Some unique homes even show the Shingle and International Styles.
Squier Park's Best Years
The first people who owned homes in Squier Park were well-off citizens of Kansas City. They were lawyers, successful business owners, and managers of different companies. Some worked in the car industry, jewelry, lumber, or iron. Many were important people in the railroad business. Others were artists and architects.
Two famous people who lived in the neighborhood back then were Michael Katz, who owned Katz Drug Store, and Johnny Kling, a former baseball player. Many early residents were also members of the Beth Shalom Synagogue. It was located nearby at 34th and Troost.
Changes and Comeback
The Great Depression, which started in 1929, was a tough time for Squier Park. Many large houses became places where people rented rooms. Some houses were left empty. After World War II, many people moved out of Kansas City to the suburbs. The city's population went down. The center of the city moved away from Squier Park. Troost Avenue became a dividing line in the city.
Around the same time, some Catholic groups bought property in Squier Park. These groups included the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. St. Scholastica. Their presence helped keep the neighborhood strong when other areas were struggling. They are still active members of the Squier Park community today.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many midtown neighborhoods in Kansas City started to get better. Squier Park was one of them.
Squier Park Today
Today, Squier Park is a lively and active neighborhood. Its motto is "Pride, Preservation, Participation." The Squier Park Neighborhood Association leads the community. They host many events each year. These include an Easter Egg Hunt, a Fall Festival, and a Homes Tour. The association also helps fund projects to improve the neighborhood. They plant trees and flowers and organize monthly clean-up days. All residents are welcome to attend their neighborhood meetings.
On April 24, 2012, the Squier Park neighborhood was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was only the second neighborhood east of Troost Avenue to get this special recognition.
