U.S. Route 56 follows Ward Parkway for 0.7 miles along Brush Creek between Roanoke Parkway at the western edge of the Country Club Plaza and its southward bend at Brush Creek Parkway.
The street is named after the family of local businessman and real estate tycoon Seth E. Ward (1820-1903), who owned property on both sides of the parkway. His family's mansion is located at 1032 West 55th Street along Ward Parkway and remains on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]
Ward Parkway was created as part of developer J.C. Nichols's overall plans for the Country Club District. Desiring a boulevard that would exceed the aesthetic value of all other streets in Kansas City, Nichols hired landscape architect George Kessler, who had designed several other boulevards, parks, and neighborhoods throughout Kansas City, Missouri, including Hyde Park.[2] The street was named after prominent Kansas City attorney Hugh Campbell Ward (1864-1909), a business partner of J.C. Nichols who donated his family property to the city.[3] Though he died before the papers were signed, his wife, Vassie James Ward, followed his will.[3][4]
As Nichols platted the district, beginning in 1906, he reserved space for Ward Parkway. The largest lots in the district were reserved for houses to be built along the boulevard. The Kansas City Parks Department added Ward Parkway into its formal boulevard system. Nichols traveled to Italy and England to buy statues and monuments to place in the boulevard's wide median. He also placed ponds and decorative urns throughout the parkway's length. To promote his development, Nichols periodically placed photographs of the large houses being built along Ward Parkway in Sunday editions of the Kansas City Star. Nichols even moved into a house on this new development.[5]
Shortly following establishment of the U.S. Highway System, U.S. Route 50 was drawn concurrent to the section of Ward Parkway between Southwest Trafficway and State Line Road.[6] Following many years of discussion, U.S. Route 56 additionally serviced this section of Ward Parkway beginning in 1957, with U.S. Route 50 being moved concurrent with Interstate 435 and Interstate 470 following the latter's completion in 1979.[7][8][9] This half-mile section of Ward Parkway is maintained as U.S. Route 56 to the present day.
Some of the most prominent Kansas City families chose to build their homes on Ward Parkway (notable examples include Tom Pendergast House, Bernard Corrigan House, and Mack B. Nelson House).[3] By the time Evan S. Connell wrote Mrs. Bridge in 1959, the proximity of a prominent Kansas Citian's house to Ward Parkway was seen as an indication of that person's place in Kansas City society. Continuing to today, the perceived social capital associated with living in proximity to Ward Parkway has made it home to a disproportionate number of Kansas City's wealthiest, most educated, and healthiest residents.[10]
In 2012, Ward Parkway was named a Great Street in the American Planning Association's annual list of Great Places in America, citing that the passion “by both citizens and city government to maintain the parkway has allowed it to remain one of the area's most coveted addresses with historic homes, neighborhood parks, picturesque fountains, ornamental monuments, and rolling landscapes.”[11]
Improvement and Preservation
The Ward Parkway CenterCommunity Improvement District, the area contained by W 85th Terrace, Ward Parkway, W 89th Street, and State Line Road, was created in 2011 to allow the city to levy a one percent sales tax to help fund parkway projects and redevelop the area.[12] One project that benefited from the District is the Ward Parkway Center, a large indoor shopping center near the southern end of the parkway.[13] In addition, the city allocated more than $9 million for the maintenance and improvements of park grounds, fountains and monuments, and recreational facilities along parkways.[12]
Several sites and buildings along Ward Parkway are designated as National Historic Sites and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These include the Park Manor Historic District at 910-920 Ward Parkway; the Serena Apartment Hotel, a nine-story Italian Renaissance Revival Villa, and the Alexander Majors Antebellum house at West 83rd. In 1996, design guidelines for building along the parkway were adopted, and new construction on the parkway requires a certificate from the Historic Preservation Committee.[12]
Points of interest
Kansas City Public Library Plaza Branch, located at 4801 Main Street near the intersection of Ward Parkway and Brookside Boulevard
Country Club Plaza shopping center, located to the north of Ward Parkway between Baltimore Avenue and Roanoke Parkway
InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza, located at 401 Ward Parkway
The Pembroke Hill School Ward Parkway Campus, located at 5121 State Line Road along Ward Parkway
The Carriage Club, located along Ward Parkway between Brush Creek Boulevard/Shawnee Mission Parkway and 55th Street.
Mirror Pool Fountain, located within the Ward Parkway median between W 61st Terrace and W 62nd Street.
The Meyer Circle Sea Horse Fountain, featuring a 17-century Venetian sculpture, located at the intersection of Ward Parkway and Meyer Boulevard[14]
^Missouri State Highway Commission (1928). Official Road Map of Missouri 1928(PDF) (Map). Missouri Highway Map. Jefferson City, MO. Kansas City inset. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
^Missouri State Highway Commission (1957). Map of the Missouri State Highway System(PDF) (Map). Missouri Highway Map. Cartography by MO Division of Highway Planning and US Bureau of Public Roads. Jefferson City, MO. Kansas City - Independence Area inset. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
^Missouri State Highway Commission (1980). Missouri 1980 Official Highway Map(PDF) (Map). Missouri Highway Map. Jefferson City, MO. Kansas City inset. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
