Posted February 2005

Gregory Blvd is named for William S. Gregory, Kansas City’s first mayor who was elected April 18,1853 beating Dr. Benoit Troost. It took until 1930 for what was then 71st Street to be renamed after Gregory, and this only occurred because a citizen in a city meeting mentioned that no street had been named after our first mayor.

Ward Parkway is named for Hugh Ward, son of better-known Seth Ward, and not for Seth, as is more commonly thought.  Seth was a pioneer “Mountain Man” and then a maverick real estate developer in Jackson County.  Hugh was a Harvard-educated lawyer who became Corporate Counsel for some of the most prominent businesses in Kansas City in the late 1800s.  Hugh and JC Nichols were involved in developing a high-end Boulevard to compete with the Rockhill area, and when Hugh died mid-project at a young age, it was agreed that the street would be called Ward Parkway.

Posted December 2004

Why is our airport officially MCI?

The airport was originally called Mid-Continent International. This is especially confusing, since the “real” Mid-Continent International Airport in Wichita is forced to use the code ICT. There is no officially designated KCI airport, but apparently changing ours from MCI to KCI would create too much confusion. See the link below for more information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/Kansas_City_International_Airport

Contributed by Cory Bryars

Why do the sidewalk tiles on Jarboe say “West Prospect”?

According to the Star Magazine of 2/9/92, the name was changed by the city in 1922. Joseph Jarboe, a farmer, came to the Kansas City araa in 1832. “Jarboe’s Addition” is described in an 1870 plat as a subdivision bounded by 17th and 19th streets and Holly and Summit streets.

Where is Holly?

Holly is now the northbound lanes of Ward Parkway.