In 1940 Kansas City embarked on an ambitious program of taking a photograph of every building in the city as a part of the Jackson County Tax Assessor’s office. The images consist of small, black-and-white contact prints mounted on block record cards representing each city block. The identification number of each photograph was displayed on a sign in front of each building photographed, and a WPA worker is typically seen holding the sign or standing nearby in the frame.
The 44,000 photographs that resulted from that assessment are now in the possession of the Kansas City Public Library and housed in Missouri Valley Special Collections. The photographs have been digitized and are available on-line (see links page).
From this amazing collection have been plucked 640 images relating to the early petroleum and automotive history of Kansas City. These images span buildings which are clearly early 1920 structures up to the “state of the art” modern service station of 1940. Where available, station owners and addresses are included with each photograph in the galleries. If desired, high resolution scans of individual photographs are available from the Kansas City Public Library. The original pictures are only 1″ x 1.5″, so beautiful glossy images should not be expected.
Enjoy!
Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are courtesy of Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri. Use of these images require permission from the library and a photo credit for images used.
This map currently shows ~150 stations of the 913 that existed in 1940
- 100 Armour Rd, KC, MO
- 1120 E 47th, KC, MO
- 1216 E 15th St, KC, MO
- 1332 E 63rd, KC, MO
- 1400 Westport Rd, KC, MO
- 1401 McGee, KC, MO
- 1502 E 19th St, KC, MO
- 2401 E 18th, KC, MO
- 2401 Holmes Rd, KC, MO
- 25 W 39th, KC, MO
- 2536 Indiana Av, KC, MO
- 2600 Walrond, KC, MO
- 2609 Swope Parkway, KC, MO
- 2719 E 39th, KC, MO
- 2809 E 18th, KC, MO
- 2917 E 39th, KC, MO
- 29xx E 39th, KC, MO
- 3 W 63rd, KC, MO
- 30xx E 31st St, KC, MO
- 331 E Linwood Blvd, KC, MO
- 3400 Linwood Blvd, KC, MO
- 3520 Roanoke Rd, KC, MO
- 3814 E 31st, KC, MO
- 3820 E 31st, KC, MO
- 3927 Paseo, KC, MO
- 3931 Genesee, KC, MO
- 4 E Linwood Blvd, KC, MO
- 4001 Broadway, KC, MO
- 404 Independence Ave, KC, MO
- 4101 E 39th, KC, MO
- 4200 Main, KC, MO
- 4200 Mill Creek Pkwy, KC, MO
- 42XX Mill Creek Pkwy, KC, MO
- 4346 Prospect Av, KC, MO
- 4501 Prospect Ave, KC, MO
- 4532 Paseo, KC, MO
- 4701 Paseo, KC, MO
- 4709 Paseo, KC, MO
- 4800 E 12th, KC, MO
- 4801 Paseo, KC, MO
- 494X Main, KC, MO
- 4950 Main, KC, MO
- 4954 E 31st, KC, MO
- 5301 Prospect Av, KC, MO
- 5340 E 15th, KC, MO
- 535 Westport Rd, KC, MO
- 5400 Troost Ave, KC, MO
- 5514 E 15th, KC, MO
- 5612 St John Ave, KC, MO
- 5753 Troost, KC, MO
- 5816 Swope Parkway, KC, MO
- 6238 Prospect Ave., Kansas City, MO
- 6300 Troost, KC, MO
- 7044 Troost, KC, MO
- 712 Wyandotte, KC, MO
- 81xx Woodland Ave, KC, MO
- 839 W 39th, KC, MO