3028 BELLEFONTAINE AVENUE KANSAS CITY, MO 64128
Please, step this way as we explore one of two Disney family Kansas city homes. Before we visit our next location, I would like to share a "Mouse-ke-thought" with you : Please remember, that these are private residences. By respecting the owners and their property lines, we can continue to show ourselves honorable honorary Disney historians (and good Mouseketeers too)!
"PROLOGUE"
Now, I would like to present to you the setting of our story. It was winter time in the small town farm community of Marceline, Missouri. During 1910, Elias Disney fell ill with typhoid. Herbert and Raymond were adults and had left home by now. Even with Flora and his remaining children's assistance, the Disneys could no longer maintain the family's Marceline farm. As painful as it was, the farm was sold, and Elias, Flora, Roy, Walter, and Ruth moved to Kansas City around the spring of 1911. (*There are a few printed sources that state this move occurred during the spring of 1910, as does "Walt Disney, An American Original", pp. 38-61.)
Before we talk about the significance of the Bellefontaine address, I must mention that the Disneys rented their first home at another address in Kansas City - 2706 East 31st Street (from 1911 to 1914). This house was not far from the future site of architect Nelle Peter's McConaughey Building (completed in 1922) - eventual home to Walt's "Laugh-o-Gram Films" business. After a short time (and reasons undisclosed or unfound), they moved approximately 17 blocks east to yet another home (the Bellefontaine address). I must also add that the original 31st Street home (the Disney's once occupied), was torn down many decades ago, so this is the only extant former Disney house in the Kansas City area.
"LIFE AT 3028 BELLEFONTAINE"
After living on 31st Street, the Disney family rented and ultimately purchased a newer home at 3028 Bellefontaine Avenue (from 1914 to 1921). Researchers describe the house as a "Builder's Vernacular" style wood frame cottage constructed during 1905.
The Bellefontaine house, Kansas City, Missouri - as it likely looked during the Disney family's residence from 1914 to 1921.
For approximately six years, Walt (along with older brother Roy) helped his father Elias deliver Kansas City Star newspapers at 3:30a.m. each morning before attending school. During the weekdays, Walt attended nearby Benton Grammar School. Even amidst such a busy schedule, Walt still found time for hobbies. It was during this time, that Walt's fascination with vaudeville shows and theatre films began. Walt also had the opportunity to take drawing classes at the Kansas City Art Institute on Saturdays.
Walt also had interaction with some of the local children. In a 1966 interview with the Star, Walt recollected an experience with the neighborhood kids : "There were some tough kids around 31st and Troost...Some of the Pendergast and Costello gangs. We'd get into snowball and mud fights with them - only they put rocks in their balls. One time one of them hit me in the head with a brick and cut my scalp. I ran to a barbershop where the barber was a friend of mine, and he doused it with peroxide; the loafers around the shop told me my hair would be white the rest of my life. Then he took a wad of chewing tobacco from his mouth and plopped it on the cut and wrapped it up with cloth. I never had any trouble from it."
The interior of the Bellefontaine house, ca. 1912.
Rear, left to right: Herbert Disney, his first wife Louise, Elias, Flora
Front: Walt and Ruth
Flora with Walt and Ruth in the garden of the Bellefontaine house, ca. 1911. Photograph part of a collection on display at Walt Disney Family Museum, Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company.
Flora in her kitchen, the Bellefontaine house. This photograph is believed to have been taken by Walt. Photograph part of a collection housed at The Walt Disney Family Museum.
"THE BELLEFONTAINE GARAGE STUDIO"
According to a Nomination Form filed with the National Register of Historic Places Inventory, a rectangular 570 square-foot concrete cinder garage was erected by undisclosed Disney family member(s) living at the residence during the years 1916-1917. In 1917, Elias became involved in a business venture with the O-Zell Jelly Factory in Chicago, moving his family there. Walt was still living at the Bellefontaine address during this time (graduating from Benton Grammar School on June 8, 1917, and working as a candy and news butcher for the Van Noyes Interstate News Company during the summer of 1917). After the summer was over, Walt joined his parents in Chicago, attending Mc Kinley High School.
Time passed. Walt completed his World War I service with the Red Cross during World War I (during the fall of 1919), and returned to the Kansas City Bellefontaine address. After losing his short term job (from October - December of 1919) with Pesmen-Rubin Commercial Artists, Walt found employment with Kansas City Slide Company (Kansas City Film Ad Company). Walt still resided at the family’s Bellefontaine address during this time. According to several sources, it was during this time he utilized the newly built garage at the Bellefontaine address for animation experiments ("inkies" - drawings produced with the help of incandescent lights).
The letterhead features Walt Disney’s Bellefontaine address. The letter is dated May 12, 1920.
A view of the Bellefontaine address cinder block garage from the yard.
The Bellefontaine address cinder block garage from the alleyway.
"HISTORICAL PRESEVATION AND LEGACY"
Today, the residence is private and not opened to the public. Despite this, it is currently owned by the friendly Long family who recognizes the cultural significance of the structure. According to documents pertaining to the home's historic status in 1977, the dimensions are described at "roughly 3,564 square feet" (after a few later additions performed after the Disney's tenancy of the house). But after all, the house essentially looks the same.
The Bellefontaine house during the mid-1980's, under new ownership.
A rear view of the Bellefontaine address' back porch.
It isn't hard to spot the former Disney Bellefontaine residence. If you visit the structure (even from the street), you'll notice that the current (and long-time residents) proudly identify their humble home's connection to the Disney family's story with a few monuments in Walt's honor.
