Long ago on independence square (St. Charles, Sibley: cottage, distance, grocery)

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

Mount Washington was (and still is) a distinct neighborhood due west of Fairmount. The unofficial dividing line is the RR.

Fair Street off of Noland was named for where it once led.

Chuckle, we had family that lived on Fair.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

Mount Washington was (and still is) a distinct neighborhood due west of Fairmount. The unofficial dividing line is the RR.

Fair Street off of Noland was named for where it once led.

The map shows the current day Fairmount area, Ash Street, where I use to live, Cedar, Huttig, Harvard, etc., as all being in Mount Washington. The only Fairmount on the map is Fairmount Lake. At some point that area was renamed Fairmount and Mount Washington was further west.

[SilverDoc]

Q.: How Did Knobtown at Noland Road & 350 Highway Get Its Name?



According to local legend, the name of Knobtown, Missouri, comes from an unusual death that occurred there in the late 1800s. A merchant named Charlie Engler had built a general store in about 1897, east of where U. S. 350 now crosses the Little Blue River. A year later, Engler decided to give the community a name and ordered a sign made for "Englersville." A day or two after the sign was prepared, however, Engler's body was found on the basement stairs of the store. His suspenders were wound around his neck and the knob of the basement door. Robbery was a possible motive but the death was ruled a suicide, even though Engler left no suicide note. The community suggested that since Engler had been found hanging from a door knob, Knobtown was a more appropriate name than Englersville. Knobtown was annexed into Kansas City in 1961.

[SilverDoc]

Anyone know anything about this bridge?


Bridgehunter.com | Little Blue ghost bridge

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by SilverDoc

Q.: How Did Knobtown at Noland Road & 350 Highway Get Its Name?



According to local legend, the name of Knobtown, Missouri, comes from an unusual death that occurred there in the late 1800s. A merchant named Charlie Engler had built a general store in about 1897, east of where U. S. 350 now crosses the Little Blue River. A year later, Engler decided to give the community a name and ordered a sign made for "Englersville." A day or two after the sign was prepared, however, Engler's body was found on the basement stairs of the store. His suspenders were wound around his neck and the knob of the basement door. Robbery was a possible motive but the death was ruled a suicide, even though Engler left no suicide note. The community suggested that since Engler had been found hanging from a door knob, Knobtown was a more appropriate name than Englersville. Knobtown was annexed into Kansas City in 1961.

I drove down to Knobtown quite frequently when I was in high school. It was on US Highway 50 at the time. I always thought that was a peculiar name, though.

Both Delorme Maps and Google Maps still show a Knobtown.

At the time Kansas City annexed Knobtown, they also gobbled up Noland Road south from there all the way to Highway 40 in Independence.

[MRG Dallas]

We might have covered this before, but does anyone know why St. Charles and Willis no longer cut thru to River and 24, respectively? All the time I spent in that area, I don't believe I ever crossed 24 at N. Grand as I don't remember that cluster of trees that are presently there. The 1912 map shows both cutting thru. I also couldn't find the bridge along River, it must have been the one over those old RR tracks but for some reason I thought it was further south. The tracks are the only reason I can see why there would be a bridge between 24 and Truman Rd in the first place.

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I drove down to Knobtown quite frequently when I was in high school. It was on US Highway 50 at the time. I always thought that was a peculiar name, though.

Both Delorme Maps and Google Maps still show a Knobtown.

At the time Kansas City annexed Knobtown, they also gobbled up Noland Road south from there all the way to Highway 40 in Independence.

My bus route cut thru some of the creepy country roads off Noland and included a stop at US 50. There was the Knobtown Fruit Market on the NW corner, aka to us smartass kids as the Fruit Town Knob Market.

That section of Noland between 40 and 50 was always unnerving to me. Even when I turned 16 I hated to drive home Noland Rd versus thru Raytown (50 to 63rd to Blue Ridge Blvd) A day or two after my 16th Charles Gray come on the 10 O'Clock news, the lead story a fatal traffic fatality at 51st and Noland. My Dad decided to drive me by the scene as a wake up call to drive safely. I remember another fatality further south. Also some kids in the adjacent neighborhood were playing on tracks late one wintry nite and failed to beat the train across the Noland overpass. The abandoned farm house that served as our "haunted house" (we only went there during daylight hours!) was near the accident. It's still creepy to look at that section of town, which 40+ years later, is still relatively undeveloped.

Our house was in that annexed area and indeed carried a Kansas City postal address, albeit the Raytown School District, and unfortunately, the KC Earnings Tax.

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by SilverDoc

Anyone know anything about this bridge?


Bridgehunter.com | Little Blue ghost bridge

Gosh, know my bus had to pass right by there since Little Blue Rd was part of the route, but for the life of me the pics don't ring a bell.

[SilverDoc]

Here's is the location of the bridge. Take Noland south from 40 highway. From the middle of the long sweeping curve back toward the west, you follow the clearing west almost to the tree line, then turn south to another tree line to where the bridge crosses a small creek. The bridge seems to be angled to about the same as Noland is at that spot. The "road" that crosses the bridge appears to lead up the hill to E. 51st St.

I was curious as to whether or not that was the route that Noland took at one point. Further research online lead me to this 1940 Indep. map, a section of which is shown here that shows that Noland does in fact appear to have taken the route denoted by the dotted lines, instead of the curving roadway shown in red.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by MRG Dallas

Our house was in that annexed area and indeed carried a Kansas City postal address, albeit the Raytown School District, and unfortunately, the KC Earnings Tax.

The Hiway 40 Drive In at 40 and US Highway 71 Bypass (Noland) in Independence was a popular attraction for many high school kids.

Actually, it was not in the city limits but the area was called Independence. In fact, a lot of us considered the area well south of Hiway 40 as Independence and the area may well have had an Independence mail address.

With that Kansas City annexation all of a sudden the theater had a KC address.