Janssen Place in Central Hyde Park is a must-see for Kansas City historic home lovers!
Arthur Stilwell
Janssen Place, two blocks that run south from 36th Street between Cherry and Kenwood, is a mini boulevard built in the final years of the 19th century by railroad magnate Arthur Stilwell. Born in Rochester, New York, in 1859, Stilwell started his work life as a Travelers Insurance salesman in Kansas City and Chicago. Arthur knew from a young age though that he wanted be a part of that era’s booming railroad industry. He moved back to Kansas City in 1879 and began building the Kansas City Suburban Belt Railway, a small local line that ran between Kansas City and Independence.
With a desire to connect Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico, it wasn’t long before the ambitious young entrepreneur began building and acquiring rail lines for the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railway – a railway which later became Kansas City Southern. Stilwell, at the age of 32, was for a short time the youngest railway president in America. Financial problems caused by hurricanes and Yellow Fever caused KCPG to go into receivership.
Unfazed, Stilwell began his next venture, the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad, with an audacious goal – connecting Kansas City to the Pacific Ocean via a railway that would be 400 miles shorter than a competing line that connected Kansas City to San Francisco. His ambitions fell short though as the financial problems and the Mexican Revolution caused construction to halt at the foot of the Sierra Madre Mountains. All told, Stilwell started 41 companies, created 2,300 miles of railway and founded more than 40 cities during his railroad career.
Vintage Janssen Place Postcard – Missouri Valley Special Collections.
Stilwell began developing Kansas City’s Janssen Place in 1897, naming it after one of the financial backers of his railroad, August Janssen. The park-like avenue featured a center median lined with 19 stately homes in a variety of architectural styles.
Many of the homes were originally purchased by some of the region’s famous lumber barons and construction company owners of the time, which led to the street quickly becoming known as “Lumberman’s Row.” It was the first private street established in Kansas City and remained private until 2001. Stilwell’s inspiration for the creation of Janssen Place was a network of elegant private streets in St. Louis, particularly Portland Place and Westmoreland Place.
54 Janssen Place circa. 1937 – Missouri Valley Special Collections.
Like many city neighborhoods of the time, Janssen Place began to decline from the economic hardships of World War II. Several of the formerly elegant mansions were turned into boarding houses – some crudely divided into as many as 16 apartments.
In the 1970s, developers sparked a renewed interest in Janssen Place and restoration of the neighborhood to its former glory. Through time, money and effort, the homes once again began to glow with the sheen of their Gilded Age heyday.
Today, Janssen Place is beautifully maintained by its current homeowners and, remarkably, all 19 of the original homes remain intact. Visitors to the street can’t help but notice the striking neoclassical entrance gate. It’s a magnificent trip through time to take a drive – or better yet, walk – down Janssen Place, taking step back in time, to a place where an early railroad man built a neighborhood where the city’s early elite would make this elegant avenue their home.
Take a look at one of the impressive Janssen Place homes that was recently on the market!
*listing courtesy of Pam Anderson Gard/ReeceNichols – Country Club Plaza – 816-729-1241
