Jackson County
(Mo.)
Historical Society
Portals to the Past by David W. Jackson
Kansas City Has Long Known How to Sizzle on the Fourth
Have you
ever wondered how Kansas Citians celebrated Independence Day 100 years ago in
1907? It wasn’t that long ago, really. Here’s a blast from our past as you
light your sparklers, Roman candles, and smoke bombs…as you grill your hot
dogs, hamburgers and chicken breasts.
The Star’s first account of how Kansas
City celebrated the nation’s birthday appeared in the near 2-year-old
newspaper in 1882 (then known as The
Evening Star). The Star’s
Independence Day coverage in 1881 had been superseded with news of the
assassination attempt on U. S. President James A. Garfield (shot on July 2,
he suffered greatly before dying on Sept. 19); naturally, firecrackers were
silent in 1881.
Streamers
about July 4th in Kansas City were more elaborate judging from the
1901 festivities celebrating the quasquicentennial (or 125th
Anniversary) of the signing of the Declaration
of Independence.
Imagine
scorching weather in a time long before the invention of air conditioning…and
when women and men of the Victorian age dressed in smothering layers from
neck to wrist to toe…no exceptions.
The mercury
broke all records on this day in 1901 since the weather bureau’s
establishment 13 years prior. A squelching 103.3 degrees was “recorded by a
very conservative government thermometer.” In fact, “Kansas and Missouri
afforded the highest temperature readings in the country” on July 4, 1901;
Harrisonville, Mo., registered 106 degrees. The highest previous temperature
in the bureau’s statistics up to that point had been 103 degrees in 1897.
Though
there was little relief trying to catch a breeze on the streetcars, Kansas
Citians enjoyed outdoor public entertainments at local parks, fair and
exposition grounds. Fairmount Park
(which was once located along today’s Independence Avenue/24 Highway just
east of Mount Washington Cemetery between Willow and Harris Avenues) had the
largest crowd in its history. The lake was alive with boats and the beach was
thronged. You couldn’t get near the big, cool spring. And, at the café, hotel
and counters where refreshments were sold, “one had to wait his turn.” All
over the expansive lawns tired humanity rested. Picnic parties were too
numerous to be accommodated in the picnic grounds and the were scattered
about the entire park.
That night,
a magnificent show in the sky was seen through and above the big trees. Band
concerts were the most widely enjoyed entertainment for the thousands of
people in attendance; and, the “arrangement of national airs” were
particularly moving. In short, “The Fourth was celebrated noisily,
continually and elaborately.”
This
anniversary celebration was so well attended that there weren’t enough
streetcars in operation to take everyone home from the Park, despite the
Metropolitan Railway Company having run all of the cars that its powerhouse
could pull on the Independence and Fairmount lines. The last streetcar left
Fairmount Park at midnight. Many who missed late-night connections in the
city had to walk home.
This 1901
Fourth of July celebration is a snapshot of life before radio, television,
TiVo, movies, computers, iPods, etc.” In fact, electricity was so new that
most homes in Kansas City weren’t yet wired. The automobile had not yet
replaced the horse and wagon.
Our Kansas City predecessors
were on the verge of industrial and technological revolution and didn’t even
know it! Does this make you wonder what’s just in front of us today?
Try keeping this reality check in the back of
your mind when projecting 100 years from now when future Kansas Citians
wonder how we celebrated our Independence Day holiday in 2007.
Will they understand society’s
seeming addiction to sports and news that bleeds? Will they sympathize with
our individual and collective sentiment about the wars in which we are
involved? Will they jeer us for not standing up to everyday freedoms and
civil rights being subtly usurped? Will they appreciate the challenges we
face today and how we overcame them? Will our American flag be flown at half
or full mast on Independence Day 2107?
Tomorrow’s newspapers may
reveal the answers.
David W. Jackson is archivist for the nonprofit Jackson
County (Mo.) Historical Society’s Archives and Research Library at 112 W.
Lexington Ave. Suite 103, Independence, MO, 64050. Discover all the products,
services and programs including Jackson County Counts that are
available through the Historical Society at www.jchs.org (click on ‘Educational
Opportunities’). For more information, or to donate historical materials,
call (816) 252-7454, or e-mail info@jchs.org.
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