Looking Back: The Warren Addition

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society

Having never seen a plat plan for the Warren Addition to Grain Valley, I am making several assumptions regarding the exact location within the town. I believe it was a small addition that stretched from Charlotte Street west to E. E. Kirby Road and from Walnut Street north to Yennie. Some readers may recall from a very early article in The Valley News, Charlotte Street was named for Charlotte (Onsley) Warren, the wife of Elsworth Warren, William Durwood Warren’s younger brother.

According to the 1920 U. S. Census, William Durwood Warren and his wife Madge had a home on Walnut Street. According to the Grain Valley Property Tax records they paid taxes on Lot 14 and 15 of the Warren Addition from 1920 through 1945, the only years for which I have records. And finally, I remember from my youth, the Warrens lived in this house on Walnut Street.

In the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, several larger homes were built in “the west end of town.” They balanced the few larger homes along Broadway (Main Street) just north of downtown.

W.D. Warren died in 1962. His wife continued to live in the home until lived there until her death in 1970 at age 87. Their daughter Deloris (Warren) Mollenkamp and her family lived next door (on the east side of Charlotte Street.)

I don’t remember too much about the home after that time. I do remember Lona Bloss Wyatt lived there in the 1990. I know some remodeling was done during those years, mostly just painting, a new roof, front porch repair and shutters.

Today, the house remains a stately older home on Walnut Street with over 100 years of history within the walls.

The Warren House, circa 1920. Photo credit: Grain Valley Historical Society