•At 2657 Independence Blvd., a stately stone home was built for Dr. Valcolon W. Mather in 1901. Mather was a Principal at the Kansas City Homeopathic Medical College at 1020 E. 10th Street.
•Mather died in 1920 and by 1924 the home was re-fitted as the Ketterlin Funeral Home. Ketterlin had the Jackson County contract for the interment of the poor and indigent for burial in the Pauper’s Cemetery.
•In 1948, the funeral home was purchased by A.J. Dehner, who operated the All Electric Appliance Company from the property.
• The property was demolished in the late 1950s, and by the early 1960s the Postal Service began construction on a new post office.
•Saturday, October 10th, 1964 was the official dedication of the new William Chick Post Office at 2657 Independence Avenue. The event was attended by over a dozen descendants of William Chick, Kansas City’s first postmaster, commissioned in 1845.
•Congressman Richard Boling was also in attendance.
• Advances in technology along with a change in mailing habits moved the Postal Service to shutter the William Chick post office in November 2010.
• In 2016, the building, including the old Rose Marie Flower Shop immediately to the east, was purchased by Independence Avenue CID to be a Community Resource Center & offices for NEKC Chamber of Commerce.
• The old Chick Station continues to function as the headquarters for the Chamber and the operations hub for the Independence Avenue CID.
• Once again, The Northeast News would like to thank the staff at the Kansas City Public Library’s Missouri Valley Special Collections. This series could not have been possible without their resources and outstanding assistance.
