Kansas City’s famed Petticoat Lane got its start at this location along 11th Street

In 1881, a young businessman named John Taylor moved from Columbus, Ohio, to Kansas City with a dream of starting his own store.

Soon, he and his partner George Sinclair did just that. They set up shop in the brand new Ridge Building at 1038 Main Street, even though it was well beyond the city’s retail core, which stopped around 7th Street at the time.

But shoppers didn’t seem to mind the location. In fact, they eagerly sought out the “dry goods” that lined its shelves—women’s clothing, linens, draperies and toiletries. Inventory that in many cases, had been unavailable to pioneers accustomed to making do with what they could make themselves.

Sinclair left town a year later, but under Taylor’s guidance, the store grew steadily. A series of expansions to the building extended it all the way west to Baltimore Street, where a second entrance was added.

Eventually, the original structure was replaced by a six-story version complete with a heating and cooling system that “bathed” the air first to minimize dust and dirt inside the store.

Most importantly, John Taylor Dry Goods helped launch a surge of retail activity along 11th Street. “Petticoat Lane,” as it came to be known, was by the 1930s, lined with large department stores like Peck’s, Kline’s, Emery, Bird & Thayer and Harzfeld’s.

Macy’s purchased the building in 1947 for its first Kansas City location. It took the Dillards name for a few years in the 1980s, and was razed in 1986 to make way for a parking garage for the new AT&T Town Pavilion across the street.

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This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 5:00 AM.