East View From City Point is the title of an old post card picturing the East Bottoms, the Missouri River and the Heim Brewery. The photograph was made from the top of the bluff, now Scarritt Point in Kessler Park. Early residents of the East Bottoms included Belgian and German farmers who were drawn to the fertile Missouri River valley. Ferdinand Heim of East St. Louis came to Kansas City with his family in 1884, and in 1887 he and his three eldest sons, Ferdinand, Joe and Mike, purchased 10 acres that included a factory. They soon erected a malt house and remodeled the old factory into dry cellars. Other buildings were added to the brewery complex. A two-story bottling building at 501 N. Montgall was erected in 1901, designed by architect Charles A. Smith. This building is pictured in the recent Landmark's commission book, Kansas City - A Place in Time. A fire station, constructed for the brewery, was later used by the city. It still stands. After the brewery was in full operation, Mike Heim conceived the idea of an amusement park and beer garden on their adjacent property. The usual park rides, merry-go-round and swimming pool were installed and picnickers found well-shaded tables and benches for their baskets and beer. The park was the forerunner of Heim's well-remembered Electric Park, which extended from 46th and the Paseo east to Woodland. Residences for the Heim families were imposing, three-story, red brick Victorian structures with brownstone window trim. They were located on the heights above the brewery at 320 and 328 Benton. The post card was published in 1907 by the Southwest News Company of Kansas City and was printed in color in Leipzig, Germany. Kansas City Star, December 10, 1977.
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