The site is the former home of Satchel Paige, a Negro League and Major League Baseball player who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. Satchel Paige was born Leroy Robert Paige. His nickname “Satchel” came from his childhood of toting luggage at the train station. He is known as the best pitcher in baseball history, due to his longevity in the game and the record crowds he drew first in the Negro Leagues, then with Major League Baseball. Satchel Paige died in this house in 1982. Built in 1910, the house was designed by Smith & Bois Architects in the Shirtwaist style and is a contributing property within the Santa Fe Neighborhood Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
After a fire in 2018, Historic Kansas City and our partners—the Santa Fe Area Council, Kansas City Homesteading Authority, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, and many others—set out to honor Paige’s local legacy by stabilizing his former home.
Historic Kansas City received two grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservations’ African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The first grant funded a structural assessment of the house, the second grant helped to stabilize and secure it. Cleaning, stabilization, and reroofing have been completed.
The Kansas City Homesteading Authority (KCMHA) is a nonprofit organization comprising city staff and elected city officials whose purpose is turning blighted properties into neighborhood
assets. The KCMHA purchased the home in 2019 to protect the structure for future use.
KCMHA will solicit qualifications and proposals from potential developers for the complete restoration of the property to make it a neighborhood asset that celebrates Paige’s legacy. The partners who will make recommendations to the KCMHA in the redevelopment of this project include Historic Kansas City, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Santa Fe Area Council, the neighborhood association in which the house is located and is dedicated to preserving their neighborhood. These groups have worked diligently to stabilize and preserve the house.