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A History of Waldo
by Bette Tillotson
(Bette Tillotson Studio of Dance)

The Waldo Tradition

Waldo Profiles:
  Dr. David Waldo
  Alexander Majors
  David Waldo, Jr.

Waldo Promotions
Waldo Vignettes

Waldo Neighbors:
  The Wornall House
  Armour Hills
  New Santa Fe
  Watts Mill
  Daniel Morgan Boone Home

Waldo Facts
Waldo Historical Pictures

Acknowledgements
About the Author

Waldo Vignettes

In the early part of the century when Broadway Methodist Church was meeting in the blacksmith shop at the corner of 75th and Washington, Sunday School classes were held on the second floor of the Pittman Building (now H and R Block) on the northeast corner of 75th and Wornall.

For one of their fund raising events the ladies of the church were having a chicken dinner. To help with profits they asked for donations of food. It was 6 o'clock the day of the dinner which began at 5 o'clock and things were going nicely when a well meaning gentleman brought his donation 2 live chickens. Undaunted, one of the ladies, as was the usual procedure at that time, took the chickens out to the backyard, wrung their necks, put them in boiling water, plucked off all the feathers and pinfeathers, put them in a pot, cooked them, and had them ready to serve to latecomers at the dinner. It should be noted that at this time there was very little plumbing in the building. To get water the ladies went down two flights of stairs to the basement. One faucet was there and an opening for the sewer. They had to carry the water up, and then the waste water had to be taken down.

On the southwest corner of 75th and State Line was a handsome brick mansion owned by the Hewitt's. Later it became the Meadowlake Country Club. It was a popular place to have weddings. On one such occasion the ceremony was about to begin when the minister discovered that he was in Kansas. He advised the bride and groom that he was not licensed to perform weddings in Kansas, so not to be defeated by such detail, the parents of the bride and groom and the entire wedding party got into their carriage, drove across the state line to Missouri where the ceremony was performed, got back into their carriage, drove back to the country club, and carried on with all their guests at the reception.

A tale of the Dodson Dummy Line "Doc" lived up the hill along the "draw" somewhere. He was normally a little late in the morning, so the conductor would pull up and wait after blowing the whistle. "Doc" would wave from the window and pretty soon would be running down the hill to get on. It is said that one morning "Doc" did not wave. Fearing something might be wrong, the conductor got out, leaving the passengers and the "Dummy," and walked up to "Doc's" house to see. He was gone a long, long time. Finally, both the conductor and "Doc" returned. "Doc's" wife had made pancakes and had invited the conductor to have some, which he did.

Another Dodson Dummy tale Life in the days of the Dummy was much more informal than today. The Dummy was an integral part of the school life for grade school children in the area. Boone School was only a one room country school, but some of the children farthest south walked there. Most, however, took the Dummy and headed for the city. Some went to Allen School in Westport and some got off at E.C. White School. A few went to Border Star. Rollins School opened about 1908 or 1909, so some went there, but they all arrived via the Dummy. It wasn.t too bad in the morning as there were quite a few parents on the car to maintain order, but the afternoon was a different story. The children were all dismissed five minutes early so they could catch the four o'clock Dummy. The conductor let them take over. They always had a basketball for entertainment. One boy stood in the front and one in the back, and they tossed the ball back and forth with results that are easy to imagine. Adults preferred to take other runs. The story is told that a very dignified gentleman with a beard, had his hat knocked off one time, and would thereafter sit quietly in the station at Westport and wait for the five o'clock run if he happened to miss the one which left at three o'clock. He lived in a fine mansion where Bingham Junior High School now stands. Old timers will remember the beautiful old colonial mansion that was built back off Wornall Road in a wooded area. The mansion was later a veterinary hospital.