Quality Hill Master Plan (KC163)

The Quality Hill area, on the West Bluffs directly to the west of downtown Kansas City, was one the earliest real estate developments in the city. In the late 1850s, Kersey Coates, a Philadelphia-born land speculator, promoted this addition around 10th and Pennsylvania. The district, extending from 7th to 13th and Central to the Bluffs, became the city's most fashionable and prestigious neighborhood with large homes constructed in the 1860s and 1870s. However, during the late 1880s and the 1890s, a migration of the wealthy residents to newer homes in south Kansas City forced the area into a slow decline. By the 1920s, Quality Hill had become a low rent district with many of the older homes razed or divided into apartments. Because of its prime location near downtown the Quality Hill area has been the target of numerous redevelopment projects. One such program in the 1950s resulted in the construction of the Quality Hill Towers, the American Hereford Association building and the River Club.

This collection consists of a six page Master Plan for the development of the Quality Hill area. Lewis E. Kitchen is listed as project developer, and Kivett and Myers, with Angus McCallum as an associate, are listed as the architects and engineers. The master plan as presented in this document did not materialize. 1954

1 volume

© WHMC-KC, University of Missouri

WHMC-KC Homeupdated: Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Kansas City
(816) 235-1543 WHMCKC@umkc.edu