You’ve probably walked right past it without realizing. If you’ve spent any time in Kansas City’s urban core, particularly around the Troost Avenue corridor, you’re standing on the ghost of an idea that felt revolutionary in 1976. They called it Woman Town Kansas City. It wasn't just a collection of houses. It was a literal attempt to carve out a physical, economic, and social sanctuary for women in a world that, frankly, wasn't built for them.
Honestly, the name sounds like something out of a pulp novel. But for the women who scraped together the cash to buy derelict Victorian homes in the mid-70s, it was a gritty, high-stakes gamble on community.
They wanted out. Out of patriarchal bank lending rules. Out of unsafe streets. Out of isolation.
The Real Story of Woman Town Kansas City
In 1973, things were different. A woman couldn't even get a credit card without her husband’s signature in many places until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed in 1974. Against that backdrop, a group of feminists in KC decided they didn't want to just protest for rights; they wanted to own the dirt they stood on.
Woman Town Kansas City wasn't a "town" with its own mayor. It was a focused effort to revitalize a specific area—roughly the neighborhood around 25th and Troost—and turn it into a hub for woman-owned businesses, collective living, and mutual aid.
It was messy.
The buildings they bought were often "handyman specials," which is real estate speak for "the roof is caving in and there are raccoons in the basement." But these women were learning how to plumb, how to wire electricity, and how to hang drywall. They were building a physical manifestation of their politics.
Why the Troost Corridor?
Location is everything. Back then, Troost was already a deep racial and economic dividing line in Kansas City, a scar left by decades of redlining. The choice to plant Woman Town there was intentional. These weren't suburbanites looking for a gated community; they were activists looking to integrate their struggle with the broader fight for urban justice.
They established the Womankind bookstore. It became the heartbeat of the movement. You didn't just go there for books; you went there to find out who was hiring, who needed a roommate, and where the next organizing meeting was happening. It was their version of the internet.
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The Financial Hustle You Didn't Hear About
Money was the biggest hurdle. Banks in the 70s looked at a group of single women trying to buy a block of real estate and basically laughed. So, the founders of Woman Town Kansas City had to get creative. They used collective purchasing power.
- They pooled resources to buy properties.
- They shared tools and labor to avoid high contractor costs.
- They traded services—legal help for carpentry, or childcare for accounting.
It was a proto-sharing economy.
One of the most fascinating aspects was the "Woman’s Bank" concept. While they didn't start a formal FDIC-insured bank, the network functioned like a credit union. They provided micro-loans to each other when the traditional system failed. It was survival. Plain and simple.
Some people think it was just a commune. It wasn't. While some houses were collective, many women owned their individual homes but agreed to a set of shared values. It was about autonomy, not just togetherness.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Project
There’s this myth that Woman Town was a utopia.
It wasn't.
Internal conflicts were constant. Imagine trying to run a neighborhood where everyone has a PhD in feminist theory and very strong opinions on how to fix a leaky pipe. There were disagreements over inclusivity, especially regarding trans women and women of color, mirrors of the larger tensions within second-wave feminism.
And then there was the neighborhood itself. Kansas City in the 70s and 80s was dealing with massive disinvestment. The "town" was surrounded by the realities of urban decay. You can have the best intentions in the world, but if the city turns off the streetlights or the police won't patrol your block because it’s "east of the line," your experiment is going to suffer.
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The Womankind Bookstore Legacy
The bookstore lasted longer than the formal "Woman Town" branding did. It moved a few times, eventually landing in the Volker neighborhood before finally closing its doors years later. But for a decade, it was the epicenter.
If you talk to women who were there, they don't talk about the "brand." They talk about the feeling of walking into a room and realizing they didn't have to explain themselves. That was the real product of Woman Town Kansas City.
Why Does a 50-Year-Old Experiment Matter Now?
We’re seeing a resurgence of this today.
Look at the rise of "co-living" spaces or "mommunes" where single mothers buy large houses together to share the burden of the "second shift." The economic pressures of 2026—insane housing prices, the childcare crisis, the loneliness epidemic—are driving people back to the exact same solutions the Woman Town founders pioneered.
They were early. Maybe too early.
But the blueprint they left is still there. They proved that real estate is a tool for social change. By buying the buildings, they controlled the narrative. They didn't have to ask permission to exist.
The Physical Remnants Today
If you drive through the Longfellow or Dutch Hill neighborhoods today, you’ll see some of those same Victorian houses. Many have been beautifully restored. Some are part of the new wave of gentrification hitting the Troost corridor.
There isn't a plaque. There isn't a museum.
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But the DNA of Woman Town Kansas City lives on in the city's robust network of women-led nonprofits and the lingering spirit of grassroots activism. The women who started it went on to become city council members, business owners, and pillars of the KC community. They didn't fail; they just evolved.
Actionable Insights for Today’s Community Builders
If you’re looking to start your own version of a localized community or collective, the history of Woman Town offers some pretty blunt lessons.
First, buy the dirt. You can’t build a permanent movement on rented land. Landlords can always evict an idea, but they can’t evict an owner.
Second, diversify your skill sets. A community of people who only know how to write manifestos will starve. You need the person who knows how to fix a water heater just as much as you need the visionary.
Third, expect the mess. Any attempt to build a "town" within a city is going to face external pressure and internal friction. Conflict isn't a sign that the experiment is failing; it’s a sign that people actually care about the outcome.
Fourth, look at the edges. The Woman Town founders chose an area that the rest of the city had written off. There is power in the margins. It’s where the barriers to entry are lowest and the potential for impact is highest.
To understand Kansas City's history, you have to look past the fountains and the BBQ. You have to look at the women who picked up hammers when the banks told them "no." That’s the real legacy of Woman Town. It was a loud, defiant, and imperfect attempt to build a better world, one brick at a time.
Next Steps for Research and Action
- Visit the Missouri Valley Special Collections at the Kansas City Public Library. They hold archives on local feminist movements and neighborhood associations from the 1970s that provide raw data on these property acquisitions.
- Explore the Longfellow Neighborhood. Take a walking tour of the area between 25th and 31st, Troost to Harrison. Observe the architectural styles of the homes that were part of the initial land trust efforts.
- Support Local Women-Owned Businesses. The spiritual successors to the Womankind bookstore are currently operating throughout the KC metro. Seek out the "Buy Women Owned" directories provided by the KC Chamber of Commerce to continue the economic mission started decades ago.
- Investigate Co-Housing Models. If the "Woman Town" concept appeals to you, look into the National Co-Housing Association's resources for modern legal frameworks on shared property ownership to avoid the pitfalls the 70s pioneers faced.