The distinction between the two phases of the Hilltop development has affected the neighborhood throughout its history. The disposition of the original Hilltop Manor to a cooperative residents' association helped to secure it with a stable, well-maintained future. However, the individual sales of the units on the west side of the neighborhood have resulted in multiple landowners, many of whom are absentee landlords with varying degrees of property maintenance and repair. As described by a resident in a 1994 Wichita Eagle article, "Hilltop is clearly a divided neighborhood. An 8-foot chain link fence erected nearly 30 years ago to prevent trespassing divides the east side -- 400 units of one- and two-story duplexes, fourplexes and sixplexes -- from the rest of Hilltop." Both sides of the neighborhood provide affordable housing, but homeowners on the east side are charged a monthly service fee according to the size of the unit. This revenue provides maintenance for the 400 units.

A Preliminary Site Information Questionnaire (PSIQ) was submitted to the Kansas State Historic Preservation Office in September of 1996, as the initial step in determining eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The PSIQ was in specific reference to the first 400 units built on the east side of the neighborhood. Preliminary review by state Historic Preservation Office staff indicates the properties to be significant cultural resources and that a National Register Historic District nomination be submitted for Hilltop Manor.

Sources

Miner, Craig; Wichita, The Magic City, An Illustrated History; copyright 1988 Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum Association.

Main Street of Hilltop Manor, Wichita's Defense Village; The Wichita Eagle; p. 2; September 14, 1941. Wichita Furnishes Unusual Service to Defense Employees; The Wichita Eagle; p. 22; July 27, 1941.

Give Neighborhood A Closer Look, Hilltop Residents Urge; The Wichita Eagle; p. 1D; June 3, 1994.