Solving the mystery of this Kansas City ghost sign

We speak of it in whispers, a mystery that has plagued KCtoday for ages ( ahem, 2022 )...

“Calling all historians with 20/20 vision. Can you make out what this sign says? Layers of faded paint have obscured what may be many names. We can see “Miller & Co.” but it appears incomplete [...]”

Thanks to a little research by reader Steven S., we finally have a new lead on this faded West Bottoms relic.

“The sign saids Aultman-Miller & Co. Before the windows were added, you can see it says “man.” I was looking closely and noticed the A, U + L.”

Aultman, Miller & Co. was a farm implement manufacturing company that ran from 1863 until 1904. Perhaps the Kansas River flood of 1903 , which killed 19 people and caused $22 million+ in damages, was the beginning of the end for this tenant’s residency at 1400 W. 13th St.