It might have been a while since some of you have driven around the Crossroads area and taken a close look at what’s there and some of the things that are coming.
I worked out of the The Star’s 18th and Grand building for 36-plus years, and, I can tell you the neighborhood was long run down — home, primarily, to auto repair places, auto salvage operations, warehouses and a handful of C-minus bars and restaurants.
It’s much different now, of course. The Star is now surrounded, within a few blocks in any direction, by renovated buildings and an array of businesses. The Crossroads’ website describes the area as “an eclectic enclave of boutique shops, one-of-a-kind restaurants, creative businesses, studios and art galleries.”
The Crossroads’ official boundaries are Troost on the east, I-35 on the west, 22nd Street on the south and Truman Road on the north. For all practical purposes, however, the hub is between Broadway and Locust, from 16th to 22nd streets.
On “First Fridays,” the central part of the Crossroads is jammed with foot traffic, and parking is a mess for blocks around. The next First Friday is two days away. Today I went down there and took some photos, which, I think, capture the feel and look of the Crossroads, which has evolved, with little investment of public dollars, into one of Kansas City’s great success stories.
Here you go…
The Freight House, built in 1887 by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, was one of the first buildings to be restored. And Lidia’s was one of the first occupants.
YJ’s coffee shop at 18th and Wyandotte was another early arrival.
The Art of Pizza, on the southeast corner of 18th and Baltimore, was home to Kenneth Smith Golf clubs when I came to town in 1969.
Up-Down, an arcade and bar at Southwest Boulevard and Baltimore, seems to draw nice crowds.
The Brick, a popular bar on McGee just north of 18th, was for many years The Pub, owned by Jimmy and Joe Spinello. It was the go-to lunch and drinking place for many KC Star employees. Now, it’s geared to the younger set.
This building, north of The Brick and across McGee from The Star (far right corner), used to house The Star’s circulation department. It has been renovated and subdivided into a variety of operations, including Screenland Theatre.
Here’s a 1927 photo of McGee Street, looking south from the northeast corner of 20th and McGee.
Here’s a shot from the same vantage point today. That’s the Western Auto building behind the two story building, and I’m not even sure that the two-story building is the same building as the one in the foreground of the 1927 photo. (The building in the ’27 photo is three stories, where this one is two.)
Here’s another old photo, (1951) from the Missouri Valley Special collections, of an auto parts store at 1820 Oak. It’s now a parking lot. In the background is the old City National Bank (later Republic Bank) on the southeast corner of 18th and Grand.
Apartments and a small retain space are going in on the west side of Main, south of 19th.
North of the apartment development is the two-story building where the late political boss Tom Pendergast had his office. He was on the second floor.
A combination Residence Inn and Courtyard by Marriott is going up at 16th and Baltimore. The grassy foreground is where KC’ new convention hotel is to be built.
Grinders, between Oak and Locust on 18th Street, is an eastern anchor of the Crossroads. To the left of the Grinders’ “east” is a coffee shop and bar called Thou Mayest.
Thou Mayest.
Another sign of progress: The rails are down on Main, just north of Union Station, where the new streetcar line will end. The line is scheduled to start operating next year.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Jim, do you know who coined that name (Crossroads) and why?
Great question, Gayle. I had to do some deep digging to come up with the answer.
A November 1995 story by The Star’s Judy Thomas yields a pretty good idea of where the name originated, Gayle.
Thomas wrote:
The name Crossroads came from a group called Crossroads Today, formed in December 1977 as an offshoot of the Urban Economic Development Council, whose mission was to bring an identity and a spirit to the neighborhood. The group later merged with the Crossroads Local Development Corp.
Thomas continued: “The neighborhood of small shops, galleries, businesses and warehouses is bounded by Southwest Trafficway on the west, Truman Road on the north, Harrison on the east and the tracks running into Union Station on the south – roughly the area between Crown Center and Downtown.”
Then she quoted Eugene Novorr, owner of Michael’s Fine Clothes for Men, as saying: “That’s why we determined that name. It’s in between everything.”
(Novorr died April 1, 2011, of pneumonia. He was 86 and lived in Leawood.)
…The Crossroads website says: “When galleries arrived in the 1980s, the name Crossroads Arts District had already taken hold and became formalized with a new neighborhood association in 2001.”
The site also lists some of the district’s major milestones:
1985 || Leedy-Voulkos Gallery opens
1995 || First Fridays begin
1998 || Freight House renovation completed
1999 || Union Station reopens
2001 || Crossroads Community Association formed
2003 || Renovated buildings bring influx of residents
2012 || Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts opens
2014 || KC Streetcar construction begins
I don’t think I knew that it’s been called that since the ’80s — that’s kind of mind-blowing. Either I wasn’t paying much attention or it wasn’t publicized much then.
Thanks so much, Jim. Judy comes through with another great story and you prove once again you “still got” the nose for news!
Jim:
Great job! Thanks for all the photos, your time and research.
Most interesting.
All best,
Laura
Thanks, Laura…With your background, like mine, at 18th and Grand, I thought you’d appreciate that.
I actually played. I think while still with Cotton, in the concert venue in the lot out behind Grinders. It’s really an interesting area and doesn’t appear to have the problems Westport and the P&L district are having.
I took a look at that concert yard yesterday, but, standing empty and enclosed by chain-link fencing, it didn’t really lend itself to a good photo. My children Brooks and Charlie have been to concerts there and I think they had good experiences.
It looks funky, but it’s really a nice venue. As i recall, you can access Grinders and a couple of the other restaurants from the lot. Somewhere i have pictures from when we played there, but I don’t know how to load them here and they’re not as nice as yours.
Somewhere in the alleys around Speeds, in another dimension, a fry cook is making a Bohling Burger…always made to order.
Ah, yes, Speed’s…A narrow little bar and lunch place on McGee at about 20th. I looked for it yesterday but for the life of me cannot identify the exact building. It was a siren song for us 4-to-midnight reporters and editors in the late 60s and early 70s. If you hurried, which we did, you could down four or five beers before last call at 1 or 1:15.
Lloyd Mahan — “Speed” — reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock in looks and disposition. He didn’t flap his gums but was the dispenser of sage and unusual advice. For example, garnishes of radish and onions came on the side with the hamburgers, and if you balked at the garnishes, Speed would lean over the bar and say, “Eat the radishes; they make you come.” (Apologies to those taken aback, but that line has always cried out to be reported.)
After the bar closed, he’d get in his old car and head south, at about 30 miles an hour, through the mostly dead streets of the city…all the way to Martin City, where he and his wife lived. Next day, about 9 or 10, he’d start into town for another 15-hour day at the bar.
…Thanks, AAA, very few people remember that venerable establishment and its thoroughly singular owner.
So exciting and great to see! Thanks for the post!!
Jimmy, you might be a better photographer than writer!
My wife, Regina, and I moved from the Plaza to a condo in the Crossroads a month ago. It was a great decision. We are finding shops and restaurants in all directions that we did not know existed previously. It is not unlike a small neighborhood in New York minus the tall buildings.
I’m glad to hear you moved right into the heart of the city, Steve. I hope the Crossroads turns out to be a great place for you and Regina.
Another hole in the wall diner was the Busy Bee – I think on 19th St. Drove by not too long ago and the sign is still up. Think of Town Topic but a little more seating! Greasy burgers, fries and all that. Probably closed in the mid to late 90’s.
Used to love to go to Goodman Hardware also – old fashioned with the wood floors and everything crammed in.
I went there a couple of times. Pretty pedestrian, and, yes, the sign is still up. There are still a lot of empty storefronts, which I expect will be renovated and occupied in years to come. It could be an incredible area.
Didn’t the Pub serve a Bohling burger? Named for Al Bohling, long of the editorial pages. Like a patty melt, only better. Bohling also frequented the Peanut at 50th & Main, but I don’t think there ever was a Bohling burger at that home of peanut wings and the best BLT in town.
Thank you, I was going to ask where the name Bohling came from! And, yes, cheers for the Peanut BLT!
Am sure you’ve seen the article in today’s Star about the new hotel planned, just in time for this article (or did you have inside info?!). Sounds like that area continues to grow into hipness.
The Pendergast building that is to be the site of the new hotel is not the same building where Tom Pendergast had his office. His office was in the two-story building — 1908 Main — that is photographed in my post. The Pendergast Distilling company building — one of two buildings being converted into a boutique hotel — is at 2101 Central…I never knew he had a distilling company company with headquarters on Central. The Main Street building is where Pendergast greeted visitors and people seeking jobs and favors; it was renovated a few years ago and is staying as is.
I meant it was timely that you wrote about the District two days before they announced the hotel plans.
They weren’t going to put the hotel there until they saw Fitz’s blog and realized their error.