1800s
1860s
The area now known as Marlborough was farmland and orchards during the Civil War and through the early 1900s. A portion of the Battle of Westport took place on Marlborough soil in 1864.
1870: Street railway system called the Dodson Dummy Line was built from Westport to Dodson (85th & Prospect) where passengers connected to the MO Pacific Railroad.
In the 1870s the first commercial and residential development occurred at 85th and Prospect when the railroad came through William Dodson’s farm and it built the Dodson Depot at that location
1870s
1900s
1910s
1907: Residential development began in the northern portion of the neighborhood when the T.B. Potter Realty Company purchased 640 acres north of 79th Street. His development was named Marlborough Heights, in honor of John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough in England who was revered for his military victories. Mr. Potter donated land at 77th and Prospect to the city of Kansas City to be used as a park. Arleta Park is named after Mr. Potter’s daughter.
1920s
The Marlborough Village business district along Paseo began with a dry goods store, a drug store, and Maddi’s grocery store, located on the edge of the Maddi dairy farm. Though never incorporated as a city or town, Marlborough Village grew to include businesses such as a bank, movie theater, bakery, car dealership, radio shop, restaurant, tavern, gas station, and more.
Streetcar connection to the "Dodson Dummy Line" was built. The streetcar line, the nation's third largest, extends southward from downtown and midtown.
1923: Fairyland Park, a segregated amusement park, opened at 7501 Prospect.
1927: Marlborough Elementary School opened.
1937: Residents formed the Marlborough Water Company so that all homes had running water. Residential growth south of 79th Street was intermittent in the 1920s-30s.
1930s
1942: a major airplane plant opened at 95th and Troost contributing to residential growth in the area.
1947: The Banister Federal Complex opens at 1500 Banister Rd., the site of the former Kansas City Speedway and becomes a major employment center.
1947: Town of Marlborough annexed into KCMO.
1940s
1955 - 1956: Marlborough Elementary School is 100% white.
1957: The last streetcar lines stop running in Kansas City, leaving pockets of citizens highly auto-dependent and far from downtown.
1950s
1960s: Urban interstates are constructed across Kansas City, intersecting Marlborough neighborhoods and cutting off local traffic to businesses along Prospect and other commercial corridors.
1960s
1974 - 1975: Marlborough Elementary School is 73.8% Black.
1977: Fairyland Park closes after resisting integration, dwindling attendance and extensive storm damage to the attractions.
1977: KC Board of Education approves integration plan.
1970s
1985-1987: District court requires a series of educational improvements for KC schools promoting integration and improved performance; $88 million integration plan ordered.
1980s
December 1990: First section of Bruce R. Watkins Drive opens from 75th Street to Bannister Road.
July 1994: First parkway section of Bruce R. Watkins Drive opens.
1990s
2000s
2000s
2005: Portions of Fairyland Park property redeveloped as Life Skills Campus of Alphapointe Association for the Blind and also later with the addition of the KCMO Police Department's Metro Patrol facility.
2007: Marlborough School closed.
Spring 2009: The Coalition successfully prevented the closure of the Marlborough Community Center.
July 2009: Marlborough Community Coalition incorporated as 501(c)(3) organization led by a board of directors.
2010: Swope Health South Clinic opens at 8825 Troost.
2010: Model Block Home Ownership program began.
2010: Neighborhood beautification, code enforcement and clean-up efforts started.
2010: Middle Blue River Green Solutions: Stormwater Pilot project begins.
2011: Troost Max line begins service from downtown through Marlborough.
2011: Beans & Greens Mobile Farmer’s Market opens.
2012: After decades of employment decline, the General Service Administration announces the closure of the Bannister Federal Complex in 2014.
2012: Kansas City Metro bus line re-routes service along 85th street, providing better access to grocery stores.
2012: Marlborough fountain renovation and rededication.
2013: Shayan's EZ Shop, part of the Healthy Corner Store initiative by MARC and the KCMO Health Department, opens at the Shamrock Gas Station at 85th and Paseo.
2013: Marlborough Community Coalition Catalyst Project is completed and plans take shape for numerous area improvements.
2018: The MCC worked with the Kansas City Government and the Neighbors in the area to secure and plan green space improvements:
$150,000 PIAC funding for community engagement and preliminary planning for neighborhood uses of the 82nd & Troost, Rachel Morado and Arleta Park green infrastructure sites, designed initially for only stormwater retention.
$350,000 PIAC funding for construction of community amenities identified by residents for the Arleta Park and Rachel Morado green infrastructure sites.
$500,000 PIAC funding for construction of a Nature + Play area and other improvements identified by residents for the green infrastructure site located at 82nd & Troost.
2010s
2019: MCC forms the Marlborough Community Land Trust (now the Kansas City Community Land Trust) as a separate non-profit organization aimed at providing affordable housing options by acquiring land and holding it in trust. This allows buyers to own the house while leasing the land at a fixed rate, thus ensuring long-term affordability for future generations
2020: An Urban Renewal Area within Marlborough is officially approved by the City Council.
2021: The first Marlborough Fall Festival is held.
2023: Marlborough United is formed to identify and correct the root causes of crime in the area.
2020s