Old Images of Kansas City, Missouri: Historic Photos & Film

The Great Market Kansas City C1890

Glimpse history through fascinating old images of Kansas City, Missouri.

Tippecanoe Club

The Tippecanoe Club at Kansas City, Missouri, was established in 1840. The cabin was based at Walnut, between 11th and 12th Streets.

The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought at Battle Ground, Indiana, on November 7th, 1811. Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (commonly known as “The Prophet”), brought together a confederacy of tribes, in an attempt to halt the European-American settlement of their native lands. An American force of more than 1,000 men marched to the area, was able to fend off a surprise attack, and burnt Prophetstown to the ground, which effectively ended the conflict.

‘Tippecanoe’ was the nickname for William Henry Harrison, the leaders of the American forces in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana, who died at the age of 68 in 1841, just 31 days after his inauguration as President of the United States of America.


Kansas City in 1890


Grand Avenue

This old photo of Grand Avenue, taken sometime in the early years of the 20th Century, is so interesting that I’ve added two closeups so you can see lots of little details about the people, vehicles and buildings that day.


City Market

This photo of the City Market in Kansas City was taken sometime around 1906. The clothes, hairstyles, and good for sale are more clearly seen in the closeup I took from the bottom right of the image.


Kansas City 1906

The same year the photo of the City Market was taken, a panorama image of the city’s skyline was also captured for posterity.

I’ve added a range of closeups of the panorama, so you can see more detail of the street layouts and the buildings at that time.


Business District 1907

Another image looking across Kansas City’s skyline was captured around 1907. Again, I’ve added closeups so you can see a bit more detail.


Kansas City 1915

By 1915, cars had replaced the horses and carts on the roads of Kansas City.


Kansas City 1903-1915

This collection of old photos of Kansas City take us back to a time when horses and carts waited next to the sidewalk in Grand Avenue, streetcars whizzed down Main Street, and Petticoat Lane was the place to shop.

Eac image is labelled clearly with both the location and date.

Old photos of Kansas city 1903-1915 – oldstuff4all on YouTube


Kansas City in the 1980s

In the summer of 1987, comedy film “The Honey Thief” was made in Kansas City. Filmmakers returned the following summer for their next project, “Peter’s Treasure”.

These shots were recorded on VHS tape as establishing shots, show behind the scenes moments as crews prepare for filming, or some of the action, all with lots of images of the streets, buildings, cars and people of the city at that time.

Footage of Kansas City – 1987 and 1988 – adamstarpictures on YouTube


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