Hell’s Half Acre

As the first African American enclave in Kansas City, “Hell’s Half Acre” was home to the laborers who built the first railroad bridge across the Missouri River. Completed in 1869 and opened on July 3 of that year, the Hannibal Bridge was sought after by other communities and was key to the development of the Kansas City Stockyards and later other industries.

In 1867 many African Americans arriving from the South were seeking a better life. These Exodusters found employment on the bridge project and a home in the West Bottoms in modest shanties and shacks. Located in the northeast corner of the West Bottoms, north of Ninth Street and extending to the river, the neighborhood remained somewhat primitive, lacking sewers and water. But it was home to workers who provided labor to the stock and rail yards, industries at the core of the earliest commerce and industry, after the fledging city was founded in the mid-nineteenth century.

The inexpensive housing and proximity to work caused other immigrants (Germans, Irish and Italians) to move into the area too, but the wide open nature of the bustling industrial neighborhood made Hell’s Half Acre attractive to ne’er do wells and outlaws, too. Consequently, African American and European families began moving out of the West Bottoms in the early 1900’s. Hooligans, criminals and prostitutes drove out folks trying to make an honest living.

Other factors causing workers and families to leave were disease and nuisances associated with living in close quarters. Though home to many hardworking people the neighborhood was slum-like without clean water and sanitation. To address some of these conditions the Bethlehem Night School was founded as a sanctuary for mothers and children residing in Hell’s Half Acre where they could receive clothing and education.

The flood of 1903 devastated the West Bottoms and neighborhoods on both sides of the Kaw River and later those families who had sought higher ground on the bluffs were moved out by the condemnation process of Kansas City’s first beautification project. Observers suggest this “taking” of Hell’s Half Acre property was the genesis of the city’s racial division.

 content provided by: