Rockhill celebrates 100 years of

Rockhill celebrates 100 years of living!
The official banner, designed by resident artist and teacher David Elrod, was displayed throughout the neighborhood to commemorate the celebration.	The Story The Rockhill Homes Association is celebrating the centennial of the historic Rockhill District throughout 2005. On June 26, it hosted a 100^th anniversary party at the Rockhill Tennis Club. Current and former residents were invited to the celebration. The party is part of a series of activities sponsored by the homes association to celebrate the neighborhood’s “official” birthday. One hundred of years of Kansas City history gently unrolls in the Historic Rockhill District. The area was developed by William Rockhill Nelson, founder of The Kansas City Star, whose name lives on in the Nelson-Atkins Museum. The museum occupies the site of his residence, Oak Hall, which was demolished after his death in 1915. Nelson planned the area to reflect a wide style of housing from the “worker’s cottages” modeled after those of the English Cotswalds to houses designed by the leading Kansas City architects of the day, such as Adriannce and John Van Brunt and Clarence Shepard. Nelson constructed Rockhill Road and other streets in the area to follow the natural terrain of the land. The Rockhill area was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It is also listed on the state and local registers. As part of the centennial celebration, the Rockhill Homes Association hosted a public garden and architecture tour on May 22. Seventeen gardens were on display throughout the neighborhood; the tour began at the Rockhill Tennis Club, formerly the residence of Laura Nelson Kirkwood. William Rockhill Nelson built the house as a wedding present for his daughter and her husband. In October, Historic Kansas City Foundation hosted a private tour of seven homes in the neighborhood. The final part of the centennial activities planned by the RHA will be the redevelopment of a “pocket-sized” park in honor of William Rockhill Nelson. The area was created by the closing of 45^th Street just north of the Rockhill Tennis Club. The site overlooks the Nelson Museum, Rockhill Road which William R. Nelson built with his own funds and the neighborhood he developed. Photos of Garden Tour Photos of Centennial Picnic	"The soul has greater need of the ideal than of the real" reads the caption on this amazing celebration cake made by former resident Holly Hughes for the Rockhill Centennial Picnic in July, 2005.
History Map Board Members 2005 Centennial Celebration last updated 11/15/2005
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