Ward Parkway begins at Brookside Boulevard on the eastern edge of the Country Club Plaza and travels west 2.8 miles along Brush Creek as U.S. Route 56 before turning south near Kansas-Missouri state line.

The street is named after the family of local businessman and real estate tycoon Seth E. Ward (1820-1903), who owned property on both sides of the parkway.

To promote his development, Nichols periodically placed photographs of the large houses being built along Ward Parkway in Sunday editions of the Kansas City Star.

[5] Shortly following establishment of the U.S. Highway System, U.S. Route 50 was drawn concurrent to the section of Ward Parkway between Southwest Trafficway and State Line Road.

Continuing to today, the perceived social capital associated with living in proximity to Ward Parkway has made it home to a disproportionate number of Kansas City's wealthiest, most educated, and healthiest residents.

These include the Park Manor Historic District at 910-920 Ward Parkway; the Serena Apartment Hotel, a nine-story Italian Renaissance Revival Villa, and the Alexander Majors Antebellum house at West 83rd.