FACT CHECK: Who Troost Avenue is named after as debates swirl about changing street name

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Have you ever wondered, as you drive through Kansas City, just who is Troost? Why is a street named after him? Why do people want to change it?

The street is named for Benoist Troost. He was a Dutch immigrant and one of Kansas City’s Founding Fathers. He was also a slave owner. The 1840 federal census shows him owning two slaves; by the 1850 census, according to the Kansas City Public Library, the number had grown to six.

Troost had worked as a chemist and doctor. He came to Jackson County around 1838 and settled in Independence, MO. He later moved on to Kansas City and is recognized as the first resident physician in Kansas City.

He ran for Mayor in the first election after Kansas City was incorporated, and although he lost the election, he became one of the trustees who governed it.

Troost had lost his first wife to an illness before he settled in Kansas City but married again in 1846. His second wife, Mary Ann, was the niece of Troost’s friend, William Gillis, who is also identified as a Founding Father of the city.

Troost, Gillis and other city leaders founded the first newspaper in the city, The Kansas City Enterprise. The paper went through many owners and many names before folding in 1942.

Although it’s unclear when the street was named “Troost,” it was likely before 1850. At one point, the area along Troost between 26th and 32nd streets was called “Millionaire Row.” But Benoist Troost never lived on the street that bears his name.

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