Secret Kansas City: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

by Anne Kniggendorf

Most visitors know all about Kansas City’s barbecue, jazz, and football success, but there are hidden gems and wild pieces of trivia around every turn in Missouri’s largest city. Is the giant Hereford bull anatomically correct? Can a seed that’s been to outer space still grow into a normal tree? And who really killed President William Henry Harrison? You’ll find answers to the questions you didn’t know you had in Secret Kansas City: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure. Learn why three completely unrelated groups have chosen Kansas City as the center of the world and the place you want to be when the world ends. Between these covers, you’ll also find castles, a horse buried in a cul-de-sac, a ghost who likes a good laugh, and the world’s longest snake. This is not a tour guide for outsiders, it’s a scavenger hunt—insiders only, please. Longtime Kansas Citian Anne Kniggendorf is at your service to bolster your love and boost your respect for this middle-of-the-map city. With her eye for the odd leading the way, you’ll have a great time discovering Kansas City.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2020

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this kind of book which I received as a Christmas present for I'm always seeking new spots to visit and photograph. This book is about 'secret' Kansas City where I learned some local history (perhaps it does not need to be stated, but I live in KC) about places I've been, and places I haven't been. This book has a lot of drawbacks to me such as no easy way to find areas. Although entries seem to be organized somewhat around parts of town, additional research is needed to find out where if one does not already know. For example, I have no idea where Williamsburg, Kansas, is. Again, this book's entries easily step outside of KC and includes Atchison, Kansas, (which does sound like it has some interesting places to visit). I've been to places like Cave Spring Park in Raytown (those chimney ruins are from the 1940s and not from Civil War fighting). (Strangely this book bypasses the natural tunnel on the Unity Village trail so go figure.) Still my rating is 4 stars because I enjoyed reading this and planning all of the places I still want to visit in the Kansas City area.

[Eric Copeland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more like what I imagined the "Abandoned Kansas City" books could have been like. I won't drag those books out to be re-reviewed -- those reviews are surely still available under my profile -- but in this case the author actually included the addresses of the places that were mentioned. Some of them aren't accessible without trespassing, but many of them are, and my family will surely visit some of them when the occasion arises.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this book is intended mostly for people who are quite familiar with Kansas City. First-time visitors will likely have a wide array of spots to visit before they get to most of the places mentioned here. But for those who have already "been there, done that" in KC, there are definitely some ideas for new, interesting, and exhilarating experiences.

I can't speak to the accuracy of much of it, because quite a bit of the book covered stories that were unfamiliar to me. Ms. Kniggendorf does include surrounding communities under her Kansas City Umbrella, including my own hometown of Excelsior Springs -- twice! But she also ranges as far outside the metro area as St. Joseph. The site she chooses in St. Joe, the Glore Psychiatric Museum, is certainly fascinating, but there could have almost been a separate section with St. Joe attractions.

I will admit that the breezy, casual language the author used was sometimes a little bit annoying, but then I just imagined that the chapters were written from a tour guide's point-of-view. A tour guide will develop little jokes and figures of speech for the patter that they use at their regular stops, or they probably won't last as a tour guide. Reading the book with that in mind, the items were much more interesting.

[MKF · Rating 1 out of 5]

It would appear that the author reached her deadline and threw a book together. The editor then did a quick glance before rushing it to the publisher. This is most obvious considering the colored photo section repeats the same photos. Then if you read the introduction she mentions that she includes surrounding suburbs of Kansas City. Makes sense but her idea of surrounding suburbs includes other towns. Nice to know the Kansas town I grew up in is a KC suburb so no more referring to it as the city. Among these there is the usually incorrect information and mistakes that makes you wonder where she got her information from. Besides these this book had potential to be great but failed.

[Katerina Jae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading the book but wish there weren’t places you can’t get to without trespassing on there like the Pyramids of Pump Station #39 and the horse buried in the cul-de-sac. Also, the Workhouse Castle has been scrubbed of all the graffiti and is currently being turned into a cultural center, which good for it but I’m also sad about it because the graffiti and dilapidation had a certain charm to it. There were other things that the book said they weren’t sure about, but it took a quick Google search to find the info.

[Deborah Dilks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Anne Kniggendorf's book and enjoyed reading it. I understand that it was written with the intentions of introducing the reader to unusual or lesser known sites in and around Kansas City, not do an indepth study of the sites. This leaves the reader a chance to investigate further anything that interests them. There are some sites that I learned about and intend to look up. This book is a quick read with lots of pictures.

[Shá · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Juneteenth historical site at Quindaro Township was a missed opportunity not included. A lot of it wasn't as interesting, but there were certainly some that were.

I'd recommend it to the KC natives, but it'd mostly be useless for anyone else.

I'm not sure how much she made from this book, but it was written in a format like someone that took a bunch of Wikipedia info and printed it.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read and a starting point for more discoveries around the metro area. This resolved a few mysteries for me, but the following items still make me pause each time I pass:
- The Bird Lady of Brookside
- Ruins from a Future Civilization

[Linsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a local to the area, I found this book very interesting! I knew about a few of these places, but most I did not. It would be fun to go in person to some of these weird, wonderful, and obscure locations!

[Zoann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fodder for future field trips.