TASTE & SEE KC: The history behind JC Nichols Parkway

Deme Walls

5:42 PM, Jan 18, 2017

Before it was known as JC Nichols Parkway, it was called Mill Creek Parkway.

KSHB

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Before it was known as JC Nichols Parkway, it was called Mill Creek Parkway.

The parkway opened in 1913 after the Kansas City Board of Commissioners worked to acquire the land known as Mill Creek Valley, according to Kansas City Parks & Recreation.

After the death of Olathe-born real estate developer and KU grad Jesse Clyde Nichols, the street was renamed JC Nichols Parkway in 1952.

See more videos from Taste & See KC

Nichols took "unappealing" land and turned it into the country’s first shopping center, Country Club Plaza.

Matt Gilligan in t he Johnson County Museum Album Newsletter said he built thousands of homes, but enforced strict rules on how his neighborhoods functioned and who was allowed to live in them, reinforcing exclusivity on a racial bias.

Watch the video above to learn more!

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