Monday, March 28, 2011
In March of 2011, I went on a trip to Kansas City Missouri. Keeping clear of the usual tourist traps and safer well lit areas, I went straight to work exploring the more interesting parts of town.
But first, we had to sleep. We had arrived in town in the evening and planned on meeting some strangers in a cave. The only exciting thing about the drive was the anticipation of impending adventure in a town neither of us had been to before. I had driven through (and flown back from it) in another life a long time ago, but this was the first time as an adult in which KC was my destination and I was the pilot. As boring as the drive was, I love having my wheels pointed at "new" cities/new adventures. We parked with the rest of the cars, not really knowing what to expect, and dragged our things towards the entrance. We were going to sleep in the cave and head out in the morning.
When we got inside, things got strange.. even compared to the idea of sleeping in a cave as being considered normal. That's not to say outright strange in the form of tangible things I could concretely describe here, rather it was strange losing one's senses to the darkness. The cave was gigantic and the group was supposed to be somewhere way in the back. I'd say we were walking for a solid ten minutes before we located anyone else inside, all the while fighting with the mud and gravel as we dragged our gear deeper into the earth. Smells of smoke and crazy echoes of laughter and screams bounced around through the giant subterranean halls, intensifying as we progressed onward. It seemed as though we were venturing towards madness itself. Along the way, columns of rock did their best to hold up the ceiling and after passing a few of them we lost our sense of direction, aided only by the expertly placed candles which stood out as beacons for underground travelers. Eventually we perceived silhouettes huddled around a fire in this very remote corner of the earth. Like ancient cave dwellers, our purpose here was that of performing a necessary ritual, one from which we would all benefit and through which would please the gods with our solemn offerings of furniture and other flammable material. We introduced ourselves to strangers and for the first time I properly met lots of explorers from cities outside of Saint Louis.
This venue is easily among my favorite. Down here, there's no connection to the outside world. Hours pass by secretly when there's no sun or moon to set the time by. We all talked and told stories and were all in various stages of intoxication. This experience reminded me of times past, especially that of being a teenager in the 90s and living each day without all the modern technological conveniences to come. No cell phones, no internet-just us and this forgotten, dangerous place. Not since the mid 90s had I so vividly recalled that feeling of isolation and freedom. Back when we explored whatever we happened to find with nothing but a flashlight if you were so adequately prepared. No contact with the outside world and no emergency services at the push of a button. I was truly grateful to be alive, to be down there and to remember what freedom really feels like. And as the night progressed the outside world drifted further away as the underground madness crept deeper into our collective psyche. All manner of laughter, screams and unintelligible conversations carried on into the morning. This was Fear and Loathing in Kansas City.
The fire swallowed many strange objects that night including a couch and the smoke of our offerings increasingly choked the cave. Off a good ways from the side of the path and the fire, we setup sleeping bags, pillows and candles on the cold hard ground. Strange visions went through my head as I tried to sleep in an unfamiliar underground with all the unexplainable distant echoes bouncing around the cave all night and into the morning.
Western Seminary
The building known today as the Western Seminary was constructed in approximately 1909 from funds ($25,000) donated by Mrs. Margaret Clock Armour, widow of Simeon Brooks Armour of the famous Armour Meat Packing Company. The building was originally christened "The Margaret Klock Armour Memorial Home for Aged Men and Women" and was operated by the Women's Christian Association of Kansas City who constructed the Gillis Orphan's home on the same tract of land. A bronze tablet was hung in the entryway during the home's dedication by Mrs. Armour which read "At evening time, it shall be light". The land on which it was built had been donated by "Colonel" Thomas H. Swope, whose death had become a highly publicized murder trial. Swope was a wealthy real estate magnate and philanthropist and was the largest indiviual landowner in Kansas City. His physician, Dr. Hyde, was believed to have poisoned him with strychnine in an attempt to inherit some of his vast wealth (Dr. Hyde was married to one of Swope's neices).
The Armour Memorial Home, along with the Orphan's Home, were receiving widespread support in the community due to the positive social impact these facilities were making. As a result of their success, these buildings were filled to capacity by the mid 1920's and they had a waiting list of more than 100. At about this time, the Western Negro College offered $25,000 to purchase the property. This sum was sufficient for the homes to relocate to a comfortable 26.5 acres, a site in which they still inhabit today.
The Western Negro College had formed in the late 1880's and had moved between a variety of locations before finally purchasing this land in 1926 from the WCA. The College was forced to close its doors in the height of the depression for the school years of 1935-1936, after which time it was reorganized and renamed in 1937 as the Western Seminary. Eventually, the College would operate solely out of the old Orphan's home thus abandoning the old Memorial Home which still bears their name.
Holy Name Catholic Church
Holy Name Catholic Church was one of the founding churches of the Southeast portion of Kansas City during its second major reisdential expansion. It was also one of the largest built in the Kansas City area. The location selected for Holy Name was a major hill in one of the highest growth areas on the edge of the expanding city.
This church was plagued from the beginning, however, with continuous financial difficulties. The basement was completed in 1911, but the financial problems halted construction. A temporary roof was put over the basement and it sat this way for 13 years before the congregation would receive their necessary funds, mostly from donations and money from selling other land. Construction was finally resumed in 1924 and the church was dedicated on June 3rd, 1928.
Most of the population in the surrounding neighborhood was that of a white middle class. However, in around 1911, several African American families moved in and were immediately received with death threats. The neighborhood became unsettled after a series of conflicts and some explosions, culminating in a demographic shift from white upper and middle class to poorer whites and African Americans, especially after the 1948 Supreme Court ruling outlawing racial discrimination. Holy name developed programs in an attempt to serve the community and provide an alternate means of income. Among these, the church created a Credit Union, Radio Station and even installed a bowling alley in the basement. In 1951, due to increasing financial strains, Holy Name integrated with Holy Spirit Parish, an African American Parish. By the late 50's, the Parish was over 68,000 in debt. But the worst was yet to come.
Rising racial tensions in the area were further fueled by the assanation of Martin Luther King, Jr in April of 1968, which sparked riots in may other cities. But the violence didn't spill over in Kansas City until later. On April 9th, the Kansas City school distric went ahead with classes while other area schools closed in observance of King's funeral. That morning, over two hundred students left to join a march held by another local school. Once the Police Chief learned of the march, the decision was made to move the force into a tactical alert as part of a riot control plan. Reports of vandalism soon followed, including overturned cars and broken windows. When the marchers met with police, they were promptly sprayed with mace.
At noon, a local radio station, the nation's first black owned station west of the Mississippi, announced that a dance would be held at Holy Name and the protesters would be ferried to the church (in an attempt to calm the protestors) from the steps of City Hall at which they were now gathered. This didn't work as planned and violence broke out at City Hall.
Police arrived at Holy Name, following reports of a disturbance. They were met by students outside who threw rocks at them. The police attempted to break up the crowd outside the church and, assuming rioters were taking refuge in the church, shot teargas into the basement where it turned out there were about 400 black teens gathered. This further added to the ongoing riot situation. The riots lasted until some time around April 11th. Over one hundred people had been arrested. It is said that six people died and about 150 fires were set.
The church attempted to return to its former community service function as before, but the maintenance costs were becoming a burden to a dwindling neighborhood. The church was sold several times before ultimately being abandoned sometime in mid-1980.
Holy Name was purchased in 2001, with the stated intention of a complete restoration but the restoration never happend. Unfortunately, in 2011, Holy Name Catholic Church was demolished.
Source: National Records of Historic Buildings Nomination form
Unfortunately, this church was demolished shortly after these photos were taken.
The Castle
The castle is a former prison which was built by inmates in 1897. It was used as a prison only until 1911 after which time it housed various public works departments. It was abandoned in the 1970's.
Monday, March 21, 2011
"Cairo was founded by the Cairo City & Canal Company in 1837, and incorporated as a city in 1858. For fifteen years, the town grew slowly, but the sale of lots (commencing in 1853) and the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad attracted settlers and merchants. By 1860, the population exceeded 2,000.
During the American Civil War, Cairo was a strategically important supply base and training center for the Union army. For several months, both General Grant and Admiral Foote had headquarters in the town." -Wikipedia
At its peak, Cairo was a thriving community with around 17,500 inhabitants. There is a lot of interesting and historic architecture throughout the town indicating the prosperity once enjoyed here. Cario, however, has a turbulent history especially in regards to racial issues. Race relations were tense as early as 1909, when the lynchings of two black men took place (both accused of murder) in a town with a rather large black population. Eventually, the civil rights movement in the 60's reached Cairo: "On July 16, 1967, Robert Hunt, a 19-year-old black soldier home on leave, was found hanged in the Cairo police station. Police reported that Hunt had hanged himself with his t-shirt, but many members of the black community of Cairo accused the police of murder" (wikipedia) This sparked riots which resulted in several buildings being burned to the ground. These events, combined with economic woes, precipitated the exodus of most of the towns inhabitants. It is certainly evident that this town has been in steady decline since then. Storefronts are in disrepair and the streets are eerily quiet.
Since this blog post was first published, Cairo has demolished just about everything of interest that was old and not currently inhabited. I believe I counted 19 individual structures reduced to rubble and vacant lots on a recent visit confirmed in photos from my previous trip. RIP to both the structures that have been demolished and to whatever tourism Cairo may have briefly enjoyed which was a direct result of those structures' existence.
This post is a celebration of Cairo's rich architectural history. Much of what you see below, however, is gone now..
This was essentially "Main Street" (aka Commercial Ave). Now gone:
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks Lodge 651:
The Gem Theater was originally constructed in 1910 and could seat almost 700 people. At some point, it was gutted by fire and rebuilt. It closed in 1978. Preservation attempts started a few years ago and soon stalled.
The Southern Medical Center, originally St. Mary's Hospital, opened in 1958. It closed in the mid-1980s.
The Church:
Old Warehouse:
Cement Plant:
Train Car:
Miscellaneous:
