See how this stretch of Kansas City’s 12th Street has changed over the past century
In 1909, when this postcard was published, the 300 block of E. 12th Street was a busy place for businesses of various kinds. There’s plenty of signage for shops along the street selling furniture, drugs, clothing, books and bibles, and on the corner of 12th & Oak, beer at a place called Johnson’s.
The “300” signs arching overhead appear to be part of a block celebration of some kind, attesting to how much commercial traffic the area must have generated.
As you can see, the streetcar line ran down 12th Street, sharing space in those days with both horse-drawn carriages and first generation automobiles.
Two or three-story buildings were the norm in downtown Kansas City at the time, but in the postcard’s background, the shadow of the 12-story Baltimore Hotel gives a hint of where the city’s more “elegant” citizenry might be found.
By the 1930s, East 12th Street became known for large government buildings like City Hall, the Jackson County Courthouse and Police Headquarters. In 1960, the remaining buildings pictured on the south side of 12th Street were demolished to make way for the new modernist styled Kansas City Public Library.
That building was razed in 2020, and thus far, nothing has replaced it.
Having trouble seeing the video? Watch it here.
Looking for more Kansas City history?
The Katz Drug Store chain got its start inside the Argyle Building on E. 12th Street
When movies were new, here’s where local audiences saw them