This Week in Kansas City History

Heat Wave

Salvation Army Penny Ice truck at 1319 Broadway

August 14, 1936: Kansas City records its highest temperature ever, 113 degrees Fahrenheit, causing a summer heat wave that sends area residents to Swope or Penn Valley parks to sleep at night in order to cool off.


The Way to Santa Fe

Apache chief Dor-con-each-la in traditional dress

August 10, 1825: Representatives of the Osage tribes meet with American commissioners near present-day Council Grove, Kansas to negotiate a treaty giving the U.S. government rights to land for the establishment of the Santa Fe Trail, which will become a major trade route linking the greater Kansas City area to the Southwest.


Burnt End

Interior view of the Exposition Building, also known as the Crystal Palace

August 5, 1901: A suspicious fire destroys Kansas City’s Crystal Palace, once a prime tourist attraction, only five days before its scheduled demolition.


Water Rights

Swope Park swimming pool

August 2, 1951: Kansas City receives formal notification that the NAACP will bring suit against the municipal segregation policy at the swimming pool in Swope Park.  


Hotel Horror

Hyatt  Regency Hotel

July 17, 1981: One hundred fourteen people die as two skywalks collapse at the Hyatt Regency Hotel during a tea dance.