Our house in 1940

November 22nd, 2009

This is our house in 1940, thanks to photos taken by the Jackson County Tax Assessor’s Office and FDR’s Public Works Administration. The house was only 30 years old, so the old folks on the front porch might be the original owners. Our block was platted in 1897, when it was still in the Westport city limits.  The house wasn’t built until 1910, after the 1899 annexation of Westport by Kansas City.

These photos are kept at City Hall, and they will provide you with a digital copy that you can get printed. The KC Public Library has many more resources for researching the history of your house.

This is the house in 2008. It is largely intact.  The biggest change is the addition of asbestos cement shingles over the original wood clapboard siding. At some point the porch railing got froo-froo spindles and the front and rear windows sprouted aluminum shutters.  Also, the old Sanborn fire insurance maps show that the garage has replaced some chicken houses at the back of the property.


Posted in House, KC | Comments (2)

 

2 Responses to “Our house in 1940”

  1. Hyperblogal says:
    11/23/2009 at 3:02 pm

    Very cool…. I got the Landmarks photos for my block too… they are a valuable resource since so many of our buildings are now gone.

  2. Marti says:
    11/29/2009 at 5:59 pm

    That is so cool!

    Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!