Shady Walk, Fairmount Park, Kansas City, Mo. is the title of a hand-tinted postcard published by Acmegraph Co., Chicago, near the turn of the century, possibly 1910. Young ladies with long summer dresses loiter along a park walkway over a small stream lined with forest trees and lilac bushes in full bloom. Fairmount Park, near Kansas City's eastern boundary and Independence, was master-minded in 1897 by Arthur E. Stillwell, railroad builder. His Kansas City to Independence railroad, the Independence Airline, ran between the two cities. A stop was made at Fairmount Park on the run from Kansas City. The amusement park, with an eight-acre lake, boasted the usual park rides and entertainment. It included Shakespearian stock, Swiss bell rigers, aerialists, giant dipper rides, a zoo, horse racing, a nine-hole golf course and fine band music. One Fourth of July the elaborate fireworks attracted 53,000 people. Patrons often stayed a week. Cottages, without cooking facilities, were available. Patrons enjoyed hearty meals at a large dining hall. Eight cottages were privately owned. The crowd would include people like Wm. Jennings Bryan, theatrical stars, local Kansas City society, Loula Long (still in braids) and James A. Reed, who usually spoke on Labor Day. Horse shows held here became the forerunners of our annual American Royal stock show, and a group of young blades at the race track formed a club which later became the Kansas City Athletic club. Today the park and lake are gone. Winding drives and suburban homes fill the area. Only the Sugar Creek ball park gives a clue. It occupies space once used for a large bathouse, on the old lake front. The postcard was mailed with a green one-cent stamp to Miss Muriel Peach, 261 N. Pearl Street, Galesburg, Ill. The cancellation stamp is blurred and cannot be read. Kansas City Times, July 7, 1989.
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