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Tom Pendergast House
The Tom Pendergast House is a historic residence located at 5650 Ward Parkway in the Country Club District in Kansas City, Missouri. History

The Thomas J. Pendergast house is a modified design of the French Provincial architectural style. J.C. Nichols Company architect Edward Tanner designed the house. The house was completed in 1927, and members of the Pendergast family lived in the home from the time of completion until Tom Pendergast's death in 1945. The house at 5650 Ward Parkway is one of the best known in Kansas City, because it was home to political boss Tom Pendergast. Pendergast's political machine is well known for the corruption that took place while it controlled Kansas City. The Pendergast machine bribed police and city leaders to turn a blind eye toward alcohol and gambling laws during the 1920s and 1930s. The wide open access to alcohol and gambling played a major role in the birth of Kansas City Jazz, and the Pendergast era also brought large scale developm ...
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Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Missouri–Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, with portions spilling into Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after. Sitting on Missouri's western boundary with Kansas, with Downtown near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, the city encompasses about , making ...
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Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska to the west. In the south are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Missouri River, after which the state is named, flows through the center into the Mississippi River, which makes up the eastern border. With more than six million residents, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 19th-most populous state of the country. The largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Springfield, Missouri, Springfield and Columbia, Missouri, Columbia; the Capital city, capital is Jefferson City, Missouri, Jefferson City. Humans have inhabited w ...
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Country Club District
The Country Club District is the name of a group of neighborhoods comprising a historic upscale residential district in Kansas City, developed by noted real estate developer J.C. Nichols. The district was developed in stages between 1906 and 1950, and today is home to approximately 60,000 and includes such well-known Kansas City neighborhoods as Sunset Hill and Brookside in Missouri, Mission Hills, Fairway, and the oldest parts of Prairie Village in Kansas, making it the largest planned community built by a single developer in the United States. Ward Parkway, a wide, manicured boulevard, traverses the district running south from the Country Club Plaza, the first suburban shopping district in the United States. History J.C. Nichols began developing the district in 1906 with a neighborhood he called Bismarck Place. As his development expanded to include Countryside, he began to develop a master plan, which he dubbed the Country Club District because of its proximity to what was ...
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Tom Pendergast
Thomas Joseph Pendergast (July 22, 1872 – January 26, 1945), also known as T. J. Pendergast, was an American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925 to 1939. Pendergast only briefly held elected office, as an alderman, but his capacity as chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Party allowed him to use his large network of Irish family and friends to help the election of politicians, in some cases by voter fraud, and to hand out government contracts and patronage jobs. He became wealthy in the process, but his addiction to gambling, especially horse racing, later led to a large accumulation of personal debts. In 1939, he was convicted of income tax evasion and served 15 months in a federal prison. The Pendergast organization helped to launch the political career of future president Harry S. Truman, which caused Truman's early enemies to dub him "the senator from Pendergast". Early years Thomas Joseph Pendergast, also known to ...
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Kansas City Jazz
Kansas City jazz is a style of jazz that developed in Kansas City, Missouri during the 1920s and 1930s, which marked the transition from the structured big band style to the much more improvisational style of bebop. The hard-swinging, bluesy transition style is bracketed by Count Basie, who in 1929 signed with Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, and Kansas City native Charlie Parker, who ushered in the bebop style in America. It has been said that while New Orleans was the birthplace of jazz, "America's music" grew up in Kansas City. Thus, Kansas City is known as one of the most popular "cradles of jazz". Other cities include New Orleans, Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and New York City. Kansas City was known for the organized musicians of the Local 627 A.F.M., which controlled a number of venues in the city. Background The first band from Kansas City to acquire a national reputation was the Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra, a white group which broad ...
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Jackson County Courthouse (Kansas City, Missouri)
Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City, Missouri is located at 415 East 12th Street in Downtown Kansas City and houses judicial and administrative offices for the western portion of the county. It was built in 1934, designed by Wight and Wight in an Art Deco style. Harry S. Truman, presiding judge of the Jackson County Court at the time, wanted it designed similar to the Caddo Parish, Louisiana courthouse in Shreveport, Louisiana by Edward F. Neild. The latter architect was hired as consulting architect-engineer. Neild was later commissioned to design the Truman Presidential Library, but died before it was completed. History In 1872 an unfinished hotel building located at 2nd and Main St was adapted by Asa Beebe Cross for use as the Jackson County Courthouse. In 1922, Harry S. Truman won election as county judge for eastern Jackson County as a candidate of the Tom Pendergast faction of the Democratic Party. He failed to be re-elected in 1924, but won election as presid ...
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Fidelity Bank And Trust Building
909 Walnut (formerly Fidelity National Bank & Trust Building, Federal Office Building and 911 Walnut) is a twin-spired, 35-story, residential skyscraper in Downtown Kansas City, Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It was Missouri's tallest apartment building until the conversion of the Kansas City Power & Light building and the Missouri's Tallest Buildings and Structures, tenth-tallest habitable building in Missouri. In 1997, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The structure was built in 1931 as the Fidelity National Bank & Trust Building (referred to locally as the Fidelity Building) at an estimated cost of $2.85 million, including bank fixtures. The site had previously been a two-story post office and federal building until 1904, when Fidelity purchased the site for its headquarters. The two-story building was razed in 1930. The new building mimicked the original federal twin-spire structure, in an Art Deco-Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival ...
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Municipal Auditorium (Kansas City)
Municipal Auditorium is a multi-purpose facility located in Kansas City, Missouri. It opened in 1935 and features Streamline Moderne and Art Deco architecture and architectural details. Background Municipal Auditorium was the first building built as part of the "Ten-Year Plan", a bond program that passed by a 4 to 1 margin in 1931. The campaign was run by the Civic Improvement Committee chaired by Conrad H. Mann. Other buildings in the plan included the Kansas City City Hall and the Kansas City branch of the Jackson County Courthouse. The plan was championed by most local politicians including Thomas Pendergast and provided Pendergast with many patronage opportunities during the Great Depression. Municipal Auditorium replaced Convention Hall which was directly across the street and was torn down for parking to create what is now called the Barney Allis Plaza. The streamline moderne architecture was designed by the lead architectural firm of Alonzo H. Gentry, Voskamp & Nevi ...
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Kansas City Power And Light Building
The Kansas City Power and Light Building (also called the KCP&L Building and the Power and Light Building) is a landmark skyscraper located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It was constructed by Kansas City Power and Light in 1931 as a way to promote new jobs in Downtown Kansas City. Since then, the Art Deco building has been a prominent part of Kansas City's skyline. The structure was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River upon its completion after succeeding the Smith Tower until the completion of the Space Needle in 1962. The east façade of the building faces the Power & Light District (which bears its name), and the building's iconic lantern appears on promotional materials and signage for the district and even Kansas City as a whole. History The building was designed by the Kansas City architecture firm of Hoit, Price and Barnes, which also designed Municipal Auditorium and 909 Walnut. Rumor for years said the original plans included a twin building to be pai ...
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Kansas City City Hall
Kansas City City Hall is the official seat of government for the city of Kansas City, Missouri. Located in downtown, it is a 29-story skyscraper with an observation deck. Completed in 1937, the building has a Beaux-Arts and Art-Deco style with numerous architectural features and ornamentation throughout. One Kansas City Place was modeled as a 1980s version of City Hall, and is the tallest building in Kansas City. History Situated on a city block bounded by E. 11th Street, E. 12th Street, Oak Street, and Locust Street, this 29-story structure was designed by Wight and Wight in the Neo-Classic and Beaux-Arts architectural style and built to replace and expand an earlier city hall. It is the third city hall since the incorporation of the City of Kansas in 1853. Construction of the building lasted for 22 months and the concrete was supplied by then-political boss Tom Pendergast. Its location has served as the center of city government since 1937. When it was completed, it was t ...
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