White puffy clouds over Kansas City Missouri. Photo by: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
I asked you to share your favorite random pieces of Kansas City history. Y'all delivered some delightful little-known facts. Here's what you said:
🛒 Grandview's Truman grocery
Lowell H. tells us the UPS Store building in Grandview was once a local grocery and meat market where Harry Truman's family shopped. It's right across from the Baptist church Truman helped dedicate in 1949. Talk about historic neighbors.
📚 KC's first library cardholders
Denise R. pointed out that when the Kansas City Public Library opened in 1873, it wasn't a grand marble building. It was a single shelf of eight encyclopedias, and borrowing books required either $2 a year or a $10 lifetime pass.
From that modest start, KC built one of the most celebrated library systems in the Midwest.
🚗 KC's first car crash
Merz M. flagged that in 1900, Kansas City had what's believed to be the nation's first two-car accident. The craziest part of this news is that it involved the only two automobiles in the city at the time.
ðŸ’Abbey's thought bubble: My habit of hitting every curb I see doesn't seem that bad anymore.
Got another weird fact hiding in your neighborhood? Hit reply and let me know!
