PHOTOGRAPHY BY CALEB CONDIT AND REBECCA NORDEN
W H E R E YO U WA N T TO B E I N M AY
May
07 GO: Wettest Block Party on Saturday, May 7 at the corner of Ninth St. and State Line, KCMO. 4–11 pm.
BOTTOMS UP
In August of 1907, the Kansas City Times reported that the Ninth Street block from State Line to Genessee Street in the West Bottoms was “the wettest block in America.” When Kansans went dry after banning alcohol in 1881, Missourians opened pubs right on the border to serve their neighbors. By that September, two dozen of the twenty-nine buildings on Ninth Street were occupied by saloons and liquor retailers. One of those, a building constructed by Pabst Brewing at 1717 W. Ninth St., has recently been restored to its roots by owners Heather Hamilton and Sean Smith.
Hamilton is honoring the history of the West Bottoms with the Wettest Block Party. As part of Historic West Bottom Heritage Days, an outdoor festival with live music will be held on the boozy block on the border of Kansas and Missouri. “Because the event is a part of Heritage Days, it’s really meant to draw attention to the history of this other side of the West Bottoms,” Hamilton says. “This side doesn’t get a lot of attention, and it’ll be a nice chance to get people down here to see a different part of the West Bottoms and realize there’s still a lot of potential here.” —MARY H ENN
KANSASCITYMAG.COM MAY 2022
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