The area of what is now known as the Independence Plaza Neighborhood is one of the earliest to be developed in northeast Kansas City. In 1876 Thomas Marty a resident of the Westside in Kansas City told friends he thought he would locate his new home east of Troost. He was told not to do that because there was no possibility of the city growing that far east. Marty ignored his friends’ advice, and in August of 1876 construction began at Independence Avenue and Brooklyn for his residence. Many others followed Marty’s example. Soon Independence Avenue was the elite neighborhood of Kansas City.
Early development of the area continued through the 1880’s to the early 1900’s. Elegant apartment buildings and mansions such as those of Robert Keith, a furniture merchant, David Beals, a banker, and other prominent residents lined Independence Avenue with homes, accompanied by spacious lawns, luscious gardens, long circle driveways, porte-cocheres and carved- stoned doorways.
An anchor of the neighborhood was the elaborate First Congregational Church, which stood on the northwest corner of Admiral Boulevard and Independence Boulevard. An elegant four-story hotel, the Bonaventure, built in 1886, at Independence and Park Avenue attracted a prominent clientele. When Kansas City’s main development went in other directions, the Bonaventure became a residential hotel. In 1933, the building was sold for $20,000 and converted to kitchenettes. The Bonaventure was later torn down. The site has been occupied by the Central Bank building since 1973.
Adjacent to the Bonaventure was Independence Plaza Park, often referred to as “The Plaza.” Built some 20 years before the Country Club Plaza, it was part of the 1893 park and boulevard Plan developed by landscape architect George Kessler and Park Board President August Meyer. The park is unusual as it is divided into two parts, one located on the north side of Independence Boulevard and the other on the south. The little park of 1.7 acres, acquired by the city in 1898, is said to have cost more per acre than any of the Kansas City parks as property along Independence Avenue was at peak demand at the time. Though it has undergone renovations in the intervening years, Independence Plaza Park remains today.
Homes included to the west of Independence Plaza were, at one time, considered the same residential area. It wasn’t until the completion of that the expansion of the Paseo in 1899 bisected the neighborhood and separated Independence Plaza from what is currently known as the Paseo West Neighborhood.
Early 20th Century Independence Boulevard Christian Church at Benton and Independence Avenue maintains its place as an irreplaceable landmark. Independence Plaza neighborhood has also retained five of its original historic mansions along Independence Boulevard.
Today, Independence Plaza is a mix of late 19th Century and early 20th Century homes, government subsidized housing complexes and the large campus of Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences.
The original residential architecture that remains include Italianate, Queen Anne, Georgian, Colonial Revival, American Foursquare, Kansas City Shirtwaists and post World War II bungalows. Smaller businesses line Twelfth Street and Independence Boulevard. As a result of its affordability, Independence Plaza is a popular place for first-time homebuyers and apartment dwellers. Independence Plaza was proud to be a featured neighborhood on the 2013 Northeast Kansas City Historical Society Homes Tour.
