Troost Avenue

Troost Avenue is one of the major streets in Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is 10.7 miles long, from the north point at 4th Street to the south point at Bannister Road.

Troost Avenue
Mural of Civil Rights leaders at the racial segregation line that is 31st and Troost Avenue
NamesakeDr. Benoist Troost
Length10.7 mi (17.2 km)
Coordinates39°4′7.3″N 94°34′17.2″W
North4th Street
SouthBannister Road
Other
Known forRacist dividing line

History

The street is named after the first physician to reside in Kansas City, Dr. Benoist Troost. He was born November 17, 1786 in Holland and moved to the United States in 1815, settling in Independence, Missouri in 1844. Troost Avenue has been continuously developing from 1834 into the 1990s, including movie theaters and apartments.[1] After the Town of Kansas (which is now the city of Kansas City, Missouri) was established in 1850, Dr. Troost became one of the governing trustees. In the 1850s, he was involved in publishing the first newspaper, the Kansas City Enterprise. He was one of the originators of the first Chamber of Commerce in 1857. He died February 8, 1859 and is buried at the Mount St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery at 2201 Cleveland Avenue.[2]

Troost Avenue has historically served as a dividing line of racist segregation and disinvestment in Kansas City, with more white residents living west of Troost and more black residents living to the east.[3] For decades, this line was legally enforced under Jim Crow laws,[4] which had been templated after the neighborhood system of house deed covenants blocking homeownership or occupancy by Blacks and Jews, which had been written by Kansas City real estate developer J.C. Nichols.

Points of interest

References
  1. "Pitch Weekly". Pitch Weekly. 1998.
  2. "Benoist Troost"; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21451 (accessed 25 March 2009)
  3. Humfeld, Jeff. "50 Years of Divestment And Racial Divide Along Troost Avenue, Change Is In The Wind - Director Kevin Bryce Talks About His Film "We Are Superman" • KKFI".
  4. "Cities moving beyond segregation". USATODAY.COM.
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