|
|
 |
The Kansas City Metropolitan Area consists of the second largest city in the state of Missouri,
Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Kansas, and several other cities in parts of Jackson, Clay,
Cass, and Platte counties in Missouri and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas.
Kansas City, Missouri was founded in 1838 as the "Town of Kansas" at the confluence of the
Missouri and Kansas rivers it was formed into the city it is now in 1850. The area is
well known for its contributions to the musical styles of Jazz and blues as well as the
popular Kansas City style barbecue. Kansas City, Missouri officially incorporated on March
28, 1853. Settlements were built at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers. During
the civil war there were several battles including the Battle of Westport.
Kansas City, Missouri is often abbreviated as "KC", and people in the city tend to refer to the
entire Metropolitan Area as Kansas City. Residents are known as "Kansas Citians".
A hometown Kansas Citian traveling out of town when
asked where they are from they would often say "Kansas City" even though their home town may
may be one of the Metropolitan area cities, e.g. Overland Park, Kansas. For us Kansas Citians
it's easier to tell people we live in Kansas City rather than in Raytown, Roeland Park, or any
of the other Metropolitan area cities.
Kansas City, Missouri is nicknamed the "City of Fountains", there are more than 200 fountains
throughout the Metropolitan area and claims to have the second most in the world, with Rome
having the most fountains. The fountains at Kauffman Stadium are the largest privately
funded fountains in the world. The city has more boulevards than any city except Paris and
has been called "Paris of the Plains".
In 1833 John McCoy established "West Port" along the Sante Fe Trail, three miles from the river.
In 1834, McCoy established "Westport Landing" on a bend in the Missouri River to serve as the
landing point for "West Port". Three major trails, Sante Fe, California, and Oregon Trails all
originated in the area within Jackson County. On February 22, 1853, the City of Kansas was
created with a newly elected mayor. The area preceding the civil war became known as
"Bleeding Kansas" the people were bitterly divided on the issue of slavery. Kansas was
petitioning to be a "free state" this infuriated the people on the Missouri side and at first
people from Missouri crossed into Kansas to sway the vote by voting in Kansas and then by
bloodshed.
After the Civil War the Kansas City area grew rapidly with new bridges over the Missouri River
being built to allow for significant grown. In 1889 the city was named "Kansas City" and
then on December 2, 1897 Westport became part of Kansas City. Union Station built in its
present location in 1914 saw significant travel for many people including soldiers as this
being a hub for Kansas City traveling via train. Liberty Memorial, adjacent to Union Station,
was built as a
memorial honoring the fallen soldiers of World War I and completed on November 11, 1926.
Many notables include Robert A. Long who built Corinthian Hall in 1911 which is now the
home of the Kansas City Museum, a 72 room French Renaissance mansion. One of the most
popular areas in Kansas City was built in 1925, the innovative "Country Club Plaza"
developed by J.C. Nicols. In the 1920s and 1930s it was the Tom Pendergast era his
political machine gained notoriaty by adding new skyscrapers to the Kansas City downtown
skyline. Streetcars were implemented providing travel between neighborhoods starting
in the 1940s. Kansas City, Missouri began its incorporation of areas within Jackson County,
Missouri going north of the Missouri River. Slums begain to form in the 1960s and in the
1970s until the 1980s business were mainly built well away from the downtown city center.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Downtown Kansas City, Missouri begain undergoing changes to
draw people back to the city, The "Power & Light District" was built comprising of
numerous restaurants, bars and retails shops. The "Sprint Center" a 19,000 seat complex
providing a complex for sports, concerts, circus and many other types of events. There is
plenty of things to do in downtown Kansas City with the Convention Center and Bartle Hall
and the newly opened Civic Center. There are several Casions in the area along the Missouri
River and just east of Downtown Kansas City is the home of the Kansas City Chiefs Footbal Team
and the Kansas City Royals Baseball Team.
Several Fortune 500 companies in the Kansas City area some of which include Spring Nextel Corporation,
H&R Block, YRC Worldwide Inc. AMC Theatres, Applebee's, Garmin International, Cerner,
Russell Stover Candies, Hallmark Cards, and Black and Veatch.
|
|
