Volker Neighborhood

Welcome to Volker!

The Volker neighborhood is an eclectic mix of housing people and lifestyles. Housing styles range from turn-of-the-century "Kansas City style" shirtwaist and four-square styles, to modest single-family bungalows and multi-story, brick colonnade apartment buildings of the 1920's, to ranch style, infill housing of the 1950's.

Thirty-three percent of housing units are owner-occupied and 55% are occupied by renters, per the 1990 U.S. Census. Vacant housing accounts for 12% of all units. The median value of single-family housing is $52,213. Seventy-four percent of the housing is more than 40 years old.

Two properties in the neighborhood are listed in both the National Register of Historic Places and the Kansas City Register of Historic Places. Loretto Academy, and example of Georgian Revival architecture sitting upon 6.5 acres, was built in 1902 as a Catholic girl's school and operated by the Sisters of Loretto. The Sisters were noted for their progressive educational instruction and religious tolerances, and the school was one of the first in the City to admit Black students. The residence of William Volker, "Roselawn", is the other distinguished historic structure in the neighborhood.