Pendleton Heights Talk

Wednesday, Feb. 15 | 6:30 p.m.; 6 p.m. reception | National Archives | Free

The National Archives at Kansas City will host Kent Dicus, past president of the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association, on Wednesday, February 15 at 6:30 p.m. for a discussion of the book Pendleton Heights: Then and Now, First Suburb of Kansas City. Dicus will be available to sign copies of the book after the discussion.  A 6:00 p.m. reception will precede the event. This event is presented in partnership with the Kansas City Museum.

The National Archives at Kansas City is located at 400 W. Pershing Rd. next to the Union Station parking garage. For more information call the Museum at 816-483-8300 ext. 1400 or the National Archives at 816-268-8010. To make a reservation for this free event email kansascity.educate@nara.gov.

About the Book:
Pendleton Heights: Then and Now, First Suburb of Kansas City published by the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association, takes an in-depth look and analysis into the area’s historic architecture.  Platted in the early 1880s, Pendleton Heights bears the distinction of being Kansas City’s first suburb, being separated from town by few roads, deep gullies, and ravines.  While the entrance ramp to I-35 North now serves Pendleton Heights from Columbus Park, it is hardly considered a suburb of the City.  Included in Pendleton Heights: Then and Now are 83 vintage photographs of historic homes and other structures compared to as many images captured at today’s same camera angle.  While many of the homes reflect successes in the preservation of the neighborhood’s original structures, other side-by-side comparisons boldly state the impact of neglected and abused property, as well as—in extreme cases—the brutality of the wrecking ball.  Details of early owners and architectural design accompany each photograph.

Copies of Pendleton Heights: Then and Now, First Suburb of Kansas City will be available for purchase via The Kansas City Store onsite. 

About the Presenter:

Kent Dicus was born and raised in Kansas City and has been active in the Pendleton Heights neighborhood for several years.  He has a master’s degree from the University of Arizona – Tucson. In the early 1990s he lived in an 1899 Victorian house for eleven years, originally built and occupied by noted Kansas City fire chief, George C. Hale.  Dicus successfully registered the home to be on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places.  In 2003 he moved to Kansas City’s Old Northeast Area, where he is restoring the 1887 home of lumber baron Charles B. Leach.  Pendleton Heights:  Then and Now was a collaborative effort of Dicus’ and others living in and supportive of the Pendleton Heights neighborhood.