Early 20th Century

Riverside swaggered into the 2oth century with "Boss" Tom Pendergast's Riverside Park horse track and the completion of the Interurban railroad, an electric train that ran from KC to St. Jo and was capable of speeds greater than 70 mph. Since 1918, the community —not incorporated as a city until 1951— made plans to address frequent flooding through the formation of the Quindaro Bend Drainage District. And it was a good thing because there were floods along the Missouri in 1925, 1927, 1944, and 1951.

The Quindaro Levee District was re-formed in 1970 to pursue construction of a comprehensive Riverside Quindaro Levee. The Great Flood of 1993 made the project even more urgent and the new 87+ million dollar levee was completed in 2005, providing Riverside with state-of-the art flood protection.

Belgium Bottoms

The Belgium Bottoms came into existence in the southwest corner of Riverside (toward Parkville), when this area of the Missouri River valley was settled by approximately 10 families emigrating from Belgium. Riverside resident Gus Vandepopuliere said his grandfather, Gustoph Vandepopuliere, was one of the first. "The Deconinks were the very first family to locate here," he recalled. "They came right after World War I." Most of the Belgian immigrants raised produce for sale at the City Market or in St. Joseph. These ran true family farms. "I worked with my grandfather," Gus Vandepopuliere recalled. "We raised asparagus, parsnips and cabbage using teams of horses and mules."

Vandepopuliere admits there are some mysteries he has never solved. "Those parsnips. I wonder what they did with them," he laughs today. "You never saw them in the stores." Today the "Belgium Bottoms" name lives on in one of Riverside's light industrial developments.

Interurban Railroad

In 1913, the Riverside area was key in the Interurban Railroad route - an electric, high-speed trolley that connected Kansas City, North Kansas City, Riverside, St. Joseph, Liberty and Excelsior Springs. Its speed and luxury would make today's light rail proponents jealous. For more than 20 years, the Interurban was a virtual miracle of transportation. In the early 1900s, the Northland suffered from bad roads. The result was slow deliveries and no way to reach good jobs in Kansas City on a daily basis. A few enterprising people realized the need for an Interurban railway that could tie the Northland to St. Joseph and Excelsior Springs.

In 1913 the Kansas City, Clay County and St. Joseph Railway Company (K.C.C.C. St.J.) was formed under a 200-year charter. The Interurban was no ordinary electric railway. It was billed as the "World's Fastest Interurban" and offered elegant steel cars with plush green seats. The wide, arched windows were decorated with cathedral panels and backlit with tungsten lamps. With a top speed of more than 70 mph, even cynics might be led to reconsider their position on "light rail." The completion of the Interurban also opened a faster and easier way to transport dairy and freight products. Two lines split out of North Kansas City with one going through Liberty to Excelsior Springs and the other through Riverside to St. Joseph. The St. Joseph mainline was almost a straight route that provided several stations along the way - including two in Riverside.

An Interurban rider could board at 7th and Walnut in downtown Kansas City and ride to St. Joseph for $1.55. One Riverside station was full time and the other was only used during races at Riverside Park horse racing track. The regular station was the two-story Brenner station located on the hillside across from the old Post Office and was owned by Albert Brenner. The other station consisted of a 20-foot canopy next to the railway at the present location of Northside Mobil Homes. This loading platform was close to the racetrack and was only used during the years that Riverside Park operated. Since it wasn't a regular station, passengers would light matches and hold them up so the Interurban would know to stop.

The track lay close to the bluff around Indian Hills, across the Interurban bridge, then ran beside AA Highway through Northmoor and on north. During its best year in 1923, the Interurban receipts totaled one million dollars. Six years later this dropped to $120,000. The sagging economy and financial problems saw the Interurban make its last trip in 1933 and closed. In debt, The K.C.C.C.& St.J. railway abandoned its tracks and bordering landowners reclaimed much of their land. Tracks and ties were later removed, some in the 1940s for war materials. The Interurban didn't disappear completely. An early Riverside motel was constructed using "recycled" Interurban cars. Today, the only visible evidence is the large double arched concrete bridge at the end of St. Joe Boulevard and a faint trail along the south side of Indian Hills.

Pendergast Connection

Tom Pendergast, infamous political boss of Kansas City during the 1930s, had close ties to Riverside. One of Pendergast's passions was gambling and especially horse racing. He helped return horse racing to Kansas City during the 1930s when a court ruling allowed a limited form of "donation" gambling. In 1928, he and a Kansas City group organized the Riverside Park, taking over the grounds previously used by a dog track. The park was generally known as Pendergast's track, although his name did not appear on the legal papers. However, the names of his business associates and close friends were prominent in the list and the Pendergast association stuck.

Riverside Park, also sometimes known as the Jockey Club or Riverside Downs, was very successful, growing into a large establishment with many windows for "contributions" and "refunds." The track began as a three-quarter mile but was soon enlarged to a full mile. With exciting thoroughbred racing almost all week, at its peak the track drew crowds of nearly 20,000 in a single day. These crowds were a major factor in Pendergast's push for the widening of the highway from a two-lane to a four-lane and the building of the Fairfax Bridge to bring over the Kansas money.

There were two seasons per year for racing; 30 days in the spring and 30 days in the fall at the rate of eight races per day. The track achieved national notoriety in movies and had public appearances by Harry Truman among various others during its years of operation. The park was comprised of about 30 buildings. West of the track was the clubhouse where Pendergast's friends and other elite visitors would sit on the second floor. From there they could see the entire racetrack. North of the clubhouse stood the huge grandstands which surrounded three-fourths of the track. Built mostly of wood, these bleachers held several thousand people and resembled those at the state fair grounds. Just before one race season, a fire destroyed the bleachers. But within hours, Pendergast had bulldozers scooping up the debris. He brought in floodlights and a 24-hour work crew. Before opening day, new grandstands were complete.

On a normal race day, jockeys were up at 6 a.m. exercising the horses and checking the charts to see what horses they would be riding that afternoon. Jockeys would draw their riding numbers and do their required routines until the 1 p.m. weigh-in. A jockey might have ridden five to eight mounts a day, a grueling schedule requiring physical training and constant dieting, plus a thorough knowledge of horses and how to ride them.

The track's livelihood lasted only until 1937, when a new wave of anti-gambling sentiment swept the area and brought laws which outlawed even the "donation" gambling. At the time of Pendergast's downfall in 1939 (due to taxes and other issues), the District Attorney noted that in 1935 Pendergast's horserace bets and losses had forced him to seek income outside his normal resources.
Evidence of the graceful Riverside Park still remains today; several Riverside businesses utilized various structures originally built for the track. To this day, a building south of the new Riverside city maintenance center sports some unusual poles atop the building - flag poles that once graced the club house for the old Riverside jockey club.

Confessions of a Jockey

Vern Davis of Riverside doesn't have to read about Tom Pendergast or thoroughbred racing in Kansas City. He lived it. Davis was raised in Brookfield, Mo. and spent most of his time riding horses. By the age of 13, he was competing in the "bushes" - local events at county fairs and other venues. With his light weight of only 105 pounds, he was a perfect Jockey. "I was horse crazy. I was small and that's how I got started." Not surprisingly, Davis quickly gravitated to what became Missouri's finest track, Riverside Park. "I came to Riverside the year it opened," he recalled. "I was just a kid and it was the big time, even though it was not a recognized track. They didn't have betting. They had donations. If you won, you went to the window and got a 'refund.'" The track held up to eight races each day so a rider could stay very busy.

The Interurban provided easy access for anyone from Kansas City. The station was literally across the street from the entrance to the track. "It was really 'the place' to be," Davis recalled. "There was a restaurant right there in the club house. Sandwiches and everything was available in the grandstand. People would come out and make a day of it." The quality of the track was evident by the thoroughbreds shipped in to compete. Davis had been riding under contract to another stable when Riverside opened. The owner brought him to the new facility and sold his contract to a large stable at Riverside. He rode at Riverside for all of its brief life. "My last year or so I worked with Tom Pendergast," Davis recalled. "He was the best man in the world. He liked all of the stable hands and all of the riders. He was a really good man to us. He treated me awfully good."

Davis managed to keep his 103-104 pounds until he was 40 years old. He also managed to sustain a close-knit family life for what was often a vagabond lifestyle. "I had my wife and two kids in a trailer traveling all over the U.S.," he recalled. "We'd go from Chicago to New Orleans to Florida. My first winter of racing was even in Cuba." Davis and his wife, Berneice, eventually had four sons and today have 14 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. He admits that his growing family was a reason to retire, along with his growing waistline. "Berneice liked the tracks but it was rough," he agreed. "That was one thing that helped me get off the track. I was a family man. I wanted to stay together."

Davis still had time for a couple more careers. He broke horses for several years for Herbert Wolfe, of Wolfe Brothers clothing fame, and eventually held a 30-year career with Kansas City Power and Light. He also served as a Riverside Marshal and remained active in the Riverside community affairs for years. Now 93 he says, "I've lived a long time," he recalls. "But I can still remember that track. You should have seen it with all those people. It was something alright." 

Flooding and Fixes

The Missouri River, which gives Riverside so much of its identity, has also been an enemy. As early as 1844, major flooding has caused problems for residents of the area. Several major floods and minor ones have been recorded. In the 20th century, damage was recorded in 1925, 1927, 1944, 1951, 1973, 1982 and 1993.  While the Missouri River is a factor in most of these floods, Line Creek has also been the cause of local flooding and occasionally some serious damage. In 1973 and 1982, Line Creek was behind the flooding which, though not as widespread, was serious enough to impact both home and business owners.

It's believed that the worst flood was the famous 1993 disaster when waters rose to nearly the heart of the city, inundating scores of businesses along Highway 9 and causing millions in damage. The great flood of 1951 was also among the worst. This flood, which caused massive damage throughout the metropolitan area's valleys, was especially bad for Riverside because the community had only incorporated one month earlier. The disaster hit Riverside July 13, 1951 and lasted for days, leaving behind a thick coating of smelly mud and debris.

Early on residents looked for solutions. One of the first major efforts began in 1918 with a meeting in Parkville to form a levee district for the protection of "Quindaro Bend," the nearly 1,600 acres of river valley south of Riverside. The resulting levee was partially successful in protecting the area. Damage occurred frequently, however, and the levee was seriously breached in 1951. A "new" Quindaro Bend Drainage District was reorganized in 1970 and is still active in the current effort with the U.S. Corps of Engineers.

This program lead to the construction of a new 87+ million dollar levee which was completed in 2005. Bob Gieske, chairman of the district's board of supervisors, said this new Riverside-Quindaro Bend Levee brings protection to key parts of the city. (The levee district itself was originally formed to build the earliest levee, a structure finished in the early 1920s. The organization was rechartered in 1972 when it became apparent that the early levee was not capable of withstanding serious flooding).

This latest endeavor involved the US Corps of Engineers. "It's unbelievable the time and planning that have been involved," Gieske reported. A major change in today's effort compared to earlier attempts is involvement of the city. "If it wasn't for the city, we never could have done it. The upfront costs and fees are amazing. Original efforts were really just a bunch of farmers trying very hard to protect their land. The flood of 1993 really opened people's minds as to the potential damage we can incur without protection and the potential growth we're capable of with a levee. This is going to be a fantastic area now that we have state-of-the art flood protection." 

The Riverside-Quindaro Bend Levee will protect approximately 1,200 acres of property in the Missouri River valley, including farm land and a border area of light industrial development. Bounded by I-635 with railroad access and near downtown Kansas City, this portion of Riverside possesses some of the greatest growth potential of any region in the metropolitan area. During the summer of 2000, the city of Riverside began actively marketing the area in anticipation of commencement of construction.