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Missouri Valley Special Collections

Explore thousands of digitized photographs and material related to the history of the Kansas City region. Learn about the collections and services of the Missouri Valley Special Collections, the Kansas City Public Library's local history archive.

A pool? A skate park? The real story...

A reader was intrigued by a handful of concrete structures resembling skateboard ramps on a grassy area off The Paseo, near 58th Street and Lydia Avenue — and reached out to What’s Your KCQ?, a...

Railroad tycoon envisioned a grand...

Today, Guinotte Avenue is a rather unassuming stretch of road running through Kansas City’s predominantly industrial East Bottoms. One hundred seventy years ago, however, the thoroughfare was the...

Searching for Vincent O. Carter

June Graham, Guest Author Vincent O. Carter working at his home in Bern. ©P. Kräuchi In June 2023, I travelled to Kansas City to research the early life of Vincent O. Carter, an African American...

The strange case of Mr. Swope and Dr....

Images Courtesy Of The Jackson County Historical Society / Crysta Henthorne, KCUR 89.3. For more than a century, Kansas City has been haunted by the mysterious death of philanthropist Thomas Swope...

This Week in Kansas City History

Postcard of self-portrait of Thomas Hart Benton, painted by the artist in 1970

Drawn from the Heartland

April 15, 1889: Thomas Hart Benton, future painter and a leader of the regionalist movement in American art during the 1930s, was born in Neosho, Missouri. After showing a strong interest in art as a youth, he aggressively pursued an artistic career and eventually became one of America's most famous artists of the 20th century. As a member of a politically prominent Missouri family, Benton faced the high expectations of his father, who wanted him to be a lawyer or politician. His great-uncle and namesake was the five-term U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858), who aggressively promoted westward expansion in the first half of the 19th century.

Kansas City FAQs

What is the oldest building in Kansas City?

The identity of the oldest building in Kansas City has been hotly debated. Neither one of the prime candidates was originally in Kansas City but in Westport, a separate town until 1897. Both buildings were constructed within a few months of each other in 1850.