Out for a summer ride, and no doubt with double pride in the new Swope Park and the new means of getting there, the well dressed couple drive their roadster through the imposing entrance of Kansas City's new park. The people's great playground it was called in early Park Board records. The gift of Thomas H. Swope in 1896, the park had 1,333 acres. The first two improvements were the monumental stone entrance and the large stone shelterhouse in a commanding position just inside the entrance. The entrance was built in 1902, the design of John Van Brunt and George Kessler. The shelterhouse, built in 1905, was designed by Adriance Van Brunt & Brothers. Adriance Van Brunt was a park board member from 1892 to 1900. The shelterhouse was used by picnickers and visitors to the park, most of whom came by street car or horse and buggy. The building also was used by early golfers after a small nine-hole course was laid out in 1908, just east of the shelterhouse. Today the building serves as an information and interpretive center for the park's many attractions. Bicycles are available for rent. Historic displays and quilt shows are held there. A park employee is present at all times. The post card was published in color by the Acmegraph Company of Chicago and was mailed from Kansas City in the summer of 1914. Kansas City Times, July 2, 1982.
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