The mighty chime of church bells echoes through orderly rows of old brick buildings, some of them marked with now-faint hand-painted advertisements. There’s something about walking the streets of Kansas City’s Columbus Park that suggests the neighborhood has a storied past.

Whether it was an evening at Garozzo’s Ristorante, where Frank Sinatra tunes croon over patrons and passersby, or perhaps a portrayal of Kansas City gangsters on the latest bingeable TV series, curiousKC reader Brian McAree inquired: “What life was like in Columbus Park during its heyday?”