Today the land from Truman road to 18th street along Prospect Avenue is an industrial business area. It is no longer a residential neighborhood as it was in 1909. Back in time this area was full of medium sized residential homes as well as Woolf Brothers Steam Laundry company . Some of the homes in this area had horse stables behind them. There were also alleys behind the buildings enabling access to the stables for the horses and carriages .The Sanborn maps in figure 1 and 2 (1909 pp. 309,322) show what the area looked like in 1909. There are 13 empty lots with the majority of structures being homes.
( 1909 Sanborn Vol. 3 pp. 309)
( 1909 Sanborn Vol. 3 pp. 322)
Today the area is much different and is composed mainly of businesses. Currently the businesses in this area are Indicia, a branding firm,Uplift, an organization that helps the homeless,Blue Valley Industries, for the mentally disabled,MCC faculty services and Heartland Department for Behavioral Change. ,The only building that is still standing from 1909 is the former Woolf Brothers Steam Laundry, today it is used by Walker Towel and Uniform Service Inc. (figure 2)
The blocks along Prospect Avenue from Truman road to 18th street have changed from a budding residential area to an industrial business section of Kansas City . After researching the history of the buildings in this area it has made me wonder what life would have been like living along Prospect in 1909.
