Christmas Ranch Tree Farm in Excelsior Springs has been a destination for generations of families in the Kansas City area every holiday season — but it takes a lot of work. Plus: It's now a lot easier to find out what your Kansas City neighborhood looked like in 1940, thanks to the public library.

Every year, starting the day after Thanksgiving, families traipse around the Christmas Ranch Tree Farm in Excelsior Springs looking for the perfect tree. KCUR’s Savannah Hawley-Bates takes us on a stroll through the spruce, pine and fir.

In the wake of the Tom Pendergast political machine of the 1920s and '30s, Jackson County embarked on a monumental tax assessment. It sent teams of federal workers out into Kansas City block by block, taking photos of residences, schools, factories and government buildings. Today, the photos provide a candid glimpse of daily life in 1940. The Kansas City Public Library’s Laura Spencer spoke about the images with digital history collections librarian Katie Eschbacher, who helped create a new website where you can view them.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Olivia Hewitt and KCUR Studios, and edited by Lisa Rodriguez and Gabe Rosenberg.

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