Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor
city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metro area in
Missouri. It encompasses 318 square miles (820 km2) in parts of Jackson, Clay,
Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County,
the other being Independence, which is to the city's east. As of February
6, 2009, it was revealed that the US census had underestimated Kansas City's
population, and re-released it to be 475,830,[1] with a metro area of over
two million.[6] Kansas City was founded in 1838 as the "Town of Kansas"[7]
at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers and was incorporated in
its present form in 1850. Situated opposite Kansas City, Kansas, the city
was the location of several battles during the Civil War, including the Battle
of Westport. The city is well known for its contributions to the musical styles
of jazz and blues as well as to cuisine (Kansas City-style barbecue).
Abbreviations and nicknames:
Kansas City, Missouri, is often abbreviated as "KCMO", or simply
"KC" (both abbreviations often refer to the metro area). It is officially
nicknamed the City of Fountains. With over 200 fountains, the city claims
to have the second most in the world, just behind Rome.[8] The fountains at
Kauffman Stadium, commissioned by original Kansas City Royals owner Ewing
Kauffman, are the largest privately-funded fountains in the world.[9] The
city also has more boulevards than any city except Paris and has been called
"Paris of the Plains." Residents are known as Kansas Citians. It
is sometimes referred to colloquially as the Heart of America as it is near
both the population center of the United States and the geographic center
of the 48 contiguous states.
History:
Kansas City, Missouri officially incorporated on March 28, 1853. The territory
straddling the border between Missouri and Kansas at the confluence of the
Kansas and Missouri rivers was considered a good place to build settlements.
Exploration and settlement:
The first documented European visit to Kansas City was Étienne de
Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont, who was also the first European to explore the
lower Missouri River. Criticized for his handling of a Native American attack
of Fort Detroit, he had deserted his post as commander of the fort and was
avoiding the French authorities. Bourgmont lived with a Native American wife
in the Missouri village about 90 miles (140 km) east near Brunswick, Missouri,
and illegally traded furs.
In order to clear his name, he wrote "Exact Description of Louisiana,
of Its Harbors, Lands and Rivers, and Names of the Indian Tribes That Occupy
It, and the Commerce and Advantages to Be Derived Therefrom for the Establishment
of a Colony" in 1713 followed in 1714 by "The Route to Be Taken
to Ascend the Missouri River." In the documents he describes the junction
of the "Grande Riv[iere] des Cansez" and Missouri River, being the
first to refer to them by those names. French cartographer Guillaume Delisle
used the descriptions to make the first reasonably accurate map of the area.
The Spanish took over the region in the Treaty of Paris (1763), but were not
to play a major role in the area other than taxing and licensing all traffic
on the Missouri River. The French continued their fur trade on the river under
Spanish license. The Chouteau family operated under the Spanish license at
St. Louis in the lower Missouri Valley[disambiguation needed] as early as
1765, but it would be 1821 before the Chouteaus reached Kansas City, when
François Chouteau established Chouteau's Landing.
After the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark visited the confluence of the
Kansas and Missouri rivers, noting it was a good place to build a fort.
In 1831 a group of Mormons from New York settled in an area that would later
be part of Kansas City. They built the first school within the current boundaries
of the city, but were forced out by mob violence in 1833 and their settlement
was left vacant.
In 1833 John McCoy established West Port along the Santa Fe Trail, three miles
(5 km) away from the river. Then in 1834, McCoy established Westport Landing
on a bend in the Missouri River to serve as a landing point for West Port.
Soon after, the Kansas Town Company, a group of investors, began to settle
the area, taking their name from an English spelling of "Cansez."
In 1850 the landing area was incorporated as the Town of Kansas.
By that time, the Town of Kansas, Westport, and nearby Independence, had become
critical points in America's westward expansion. Three major trails –
the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon – all originated in Jackson County.
On February 22, 1853, the City of Kansas was created with a newly elected
mayor. It had an area of 0.70 square miles (1.8 km2) and a population of 2,500.
The boundary lines at that time extended from the middle of the Missouri River
south to what is now Ninth Street, and from Bluff Street on the west to a
point between Holmes Road and Charlotte Street on the east.
Civil War
The area was rife with animosity as the Civil War approached during a period
known as Bleeding Kansas. Already situated in a state bitterly divided on
the issue of slavery, southern sympathizers in Missouri immediately recognized
the threat of Kansas petitioning to enter the Union under the new doctrine
of popular sovereignty. Infuriated by the idea of Kansas becoming a free state,
many from the area crossed into Kansas to sway the state towards allowing
slavery, at first by ballot box and then by bloodshed.
During the Civil War, the City of Kansas and its immediate environs were
the focus of intense military activity. Although the First Battle of Independence
in August 1862 resulted in a Confederate victory, the Southerners were unable
to follow up their win in any significant fashion, as the City of Kansas was
occupied by Union troops and proved too heavily fortified for them to assault.
The Second Battle of Independence, part of Sterling Price's Missouri expedition
of 1864, also resulted in a Confederate triumph. Once again the Southern victory
proved hollow, as Price was decisively defeated in the pivotal Battle of Westport
the next day, effectively ending Confederate efforts to occupy the city.
Moreover, General Thomas Ewing, in response to a successful raid on nearby
Lawrence, Kansas, led by William Quantrill, issued General Order No. 11, forcing
the eviction of residents in four western Missouri counties—including
Jackson—except those living in the city and nearby communities and those
whose allegiance to the Union was certified by Ewing.
Post-Civil War
After the Civil War, the City of Kansas grew rapidly. The selection of the
city over Leavenworth, Kansas, for the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad
bridge over the Missouri River brought about significant growth. The population
exploded after 1869, when the Hannibal Bridge, designed by Octave Chanute,
opened. The boom prompted a name change to Kansas City in 1889 and the city
limits to extend south and east. Westport became part of Kansas City on December
2, 1897. According to the US Census in 1900, Kansas City was the 22nd largest
city in the country, with 163,752 residents.
Kansas City, guided by architect George Kessler, became a forefront example
of the City Beautiful movement, developing a network of boulevards and parks
around the city. The relocation of Union Station to its current location in
1914 and the opening of the Liberty Memorial in 1923 gave the city two of
its most identifiable landmarks.[citation needed] Further spurring Kansas
City's growth was the opening of the innovative Country Club Plaza development
by J.C. Nichols in 1925 as part of his Country Club District plan.
Pendergast era
At the turn of the century, political machines attempted to gain clout in
the city, with the one led by Tom Pendergast emerging as the dominant machine
by 1925. A new city charter passed that year made it easier for his Democratic
Party machine to gain control of the city council (slimmed from 32 members
to nine) and appoint a corrupt city manager.[citation needed] Several important
buildings and structures were built during this time, to assist with the great
depression—all led by Pendergast, including the Kansas City City Hall
and the Jackson County Courthouse—both added new skyscrapers to the city's
growing skyline. The machine fell in 1939 when Pendergast, riddled with health
problems, pleaded guilty to tax evasion. The machine, however, gave rise to
Harry S. Truman, who quickly became Kansas City's favorite son.
Post-World War II development
Kansas City's suburban development originally began with the implementation
of streetcars in the early decades of the 20th century. The city's first suburbs
were in the neighborhoods of Pendleton Heights and Quality Hill. After World
War II, many relatively affluent residents left for suburbs like Johnson County,
Kansas, and eastern Jackson County, Missouri. Many also went north of the
Missouri River, where Kansas City had incorporated areas between the 1940s
to 1970s. The population of the urban core significantly dipped, while the
metropolitan area as a whole gained population.[citation needed]
The sprawling characteristics of the city and it environs today mainly took
shape after the race riots of the 1960s in Kansas City. The assassination
of Martin Luther King Jr. was a catalyst for the 1968 Kansas City riot. At
this time, slums were also beginning to form in the inner city, and those
who could afford to leave, left for the suburbs and outer edges of the city.
The post-World War II idea of suburbs and the "American Dream" also
contributed to the sprawl of the area. As the city's population continued
to grow, the inner city also continued to decline.
In 1940, the city had about 400,000 residents; by 2000, the same area was
home to only about 180,000. From 1940 to 1960, the city more than doubled
its physical size, while increasing its population by only about 75,000. By
1970, the city had a total area of approximately 316 square miles (820 km2),
more than five times its size in 1940.
The Hyatt Regency walkway collapse was a major disaster that occurred on 17
July 1981 killing 114 people and injuring more than 200 others during a tea
dance. At the time it was the deadliest structural collapse in U.S. history.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
318.0 sq mi (823.7 km²). 313.5 sq mi (812.1 km²) of it is land and
4.5 sq mi (11.6 km²) of it (1.41%) is water. Much of urban Kansas City
sits atop bluffs overlooking the rivers and river bottoms areas. Kansas City
proper is bowl-shaped and is surrounded to the north and south by limestone
and bedrock cliffs that were carved by glaciers. Kansas City is situated at
the junction between the Dakota and Minnesota ice lobes during the maximum
late Independence glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch. The Kansas and Missouri
rivers cut wide valleys into the terrain when the glaciers melted and drained.
A partially filled spillway valley crosses the central portion of Kansas City,
Missouri. This valley is an eastward continuation of Turkey Creek valley.
Union Station is located in this valley. The city's municipal water was recently
rated the cleanest among the 50 largest cities in the United States, containing
no detectable impurities.
Climate
Kansas City lies near the geographic center of the contiguous United States,
at the confluence of the second largest river in the country, the Missouri
River, and the Kansas River (also known as the Kaw River). This makes for
a climate that can, depending on the criteria used, be classified as either
a humid continental climate (Koppen Dfa), or a humid subtropical climate (Koppen
Cfa), with moderate precipitation and extremes of hot and cold. Summers can
be very humid, with moist air riding up from the Gulf of Mexico, and during
July and August daytime highs can reach into the triple digits, doing so on
an average of about 5 days per year, and surpassing 90 °F (32.2 °C)
44 days per year. Winters vary from mild to bitterly cold, with lows dipping
below 0 °F (-17.8 °C) for 5 to 10 nights a year. Snowfall averages
at 12.6 inches (32 cm), but this figure varies widely, as the median amount
is 5.9 inches (15.0 cm).
Kansas City is situated in "Tornado Alley", a broad region where
cold air from the Rocky Mountains and Canada collides with warm air from the
Gulf of Mexico, leading to the formation of powerful storms. Kansas City has
had many severe outbreaks of tornados, including the Ruskin Heights tornado
in 1957, and the May 2003 tornado outbreak sequence, as well as other severe
weather, most notably the Kansas City derecho in 1982. The region is also
prone to ice storms, such as the 2002 ice storm during which hundreds of thousands
lost power for days and (in some cases) weeks. Kansas City and its outlying
areas are also subject to flooding, including the Great Flood of 1993 and
the Great Flood of 1951.
Cityscape
Kansas City, Missouri, is organized into a system of more than 240[18] neighborhoods, some with histories as independent cities or the sites of major events. Downtown, the center of the city, is currently undergoing major redevelopment with new condos, apartments, offices and The Power & Light District (shopping/entertainment development) complete with bars, restaurants, a grocery store with a tony roof-top pool club called The Jones, a theatre and The Sprint Center. All these things have made downtown/midtown a more viable residential option more than ever. Near Downtown, the urban core of the city has a variety of neighborhoods, including historical Westport, Ivanhoe, Hyde Park, Squire Park, the Crossroads Arts District, 18th and Vine Historic District, Pendleton Heights, Quality Hill, the West Bottoms, and the River Market; one up-and-coming "newer" neighborhood just minutes from downtown is upscale Briarcliff, though it is in the so-called "North-land" or simply "North of the River". Two other "near" downtown neighborhoods that are very popular and have unique appeal include the Country Club Plaza (or simply the "Plaza"), south Plaza and nearby Brookside.
Architecture
he city's skyline is what one might envision for a major Midwest city, with some notable exceptions. The Nelson-Atkins Museum opened the stunning Euro-Style Bloch addition in 2007. The towering Power and Light Building is influenced by the Art Deco style and contains a glowing sky beacon. The new world headquarters of H&R Block is a 20 story all glass oval which is bathed from top to bottom in a soft green light. The four Industrial art works atop the support towers of the Kansas City Convention Center (Bartle Hall) were once the subject of ridicule but now define the night skyline near the new Sprint Center along with One Kansas City Place (the tallest office tower structure in Missouri), the KCTV-Tower with its hundreds of lit bulbs (the tallest freestanding structure in Missouri), and the Liberty Memorial, which flaunts simulated flames and smoke billowing into the night skyline. Kansas City is home to significant national and international architecture firms including ACI/Boland, BNIM, 360 Architecture, Ellerbe Becket, HNTB, Populous. Frank Lloyd Wright designed two private residences and the Community Christian Church.
Kansas City contains a collection of over 200 working fountains, second only
to Rome.[citation needed] Some of the most notable are on the Country Club
Plaza. From French inspired traditional to modern, these fountains offer visitors
to the city an unexpected bonus. Among the most notable : the Black Marble
H&R Block fountain in front of Union Station with its synchronized water
jets shooting high into the air, the Nichols Bronze Horses at the corner of
Main and JC Nichols Parkway at the entrance to the Plaza Shopping District
and the unique "family friendly" walk thru fountain at Hallmark
Cards World Headquarters in Crown Center.
Downtown
Downtown Kansas City is an area of 2.9 square miles (7.5 km2) bounded by
the Missouri River to the north, 31st Street to the south, Bruce R. Watkins
Drive (U.S. Highway 71) to the east and I-35 to the west. Areas near Downtown
Kansas City include the 39th Street District is known as Restaurant Row and
features one of Kansas City's largest selections of independently owned restaurants
and boutique shops. It is a center of literary and visual arts and bohemian
culture. Crown Center is the headquarters of Hallmark Cards and a major downtown
shopping and entertainment complex. It is connected to Union Station by a
series of covered walkways. The Country Club Plaza, or simply "the Plaza",
is an upscale, outdoor shopping and entertainment district. It was the first
suburban shopping district in the United States, designed to accommodate shoppers
arriving by automobile, and is surrounded by apartments and condominiums,
including a number of high rise buildings. The associated Country Club District
to the south includes the Sunset Hill and Brookside neighborhoods, and is
traversed by Ward Parkway, a landscaped boulevard known for its statuary,
fountains and large, historic homes. Kansas City's Union Station is home to
Science City, restaurants, shopping, theaters, and the city's Amtrak facility.
After years of neglect and seas of parking lots, Downtown Kansas City currently
is undergoing a period of change. Many residential properties recently have
been or currently are under redevelopment. The Power & Light District,
a new, nine-block entertainment district comprising numerous restaurants,
bars, and retail shops, was developed by the Cordish Company of Baltimore,
Maryland, Its first tenant opened on November 9, 2007. It is anchored by the
Sprint Center, a 19,000 seat complex that has become a top draw for sports
and musical entertainment. Elton John was the first performer to play at the
Sprint Center.
Parks and boulevard system
Kansas City has 132 miles (212 km) of spacious boulevards and parkways, 214
urban parks, 49 ornamental fountains, 152 ball diamonds, 10 community centers,
105 tennis courts, five golf courses, five museums and attractions, 30 pools,
and 47 park shelters, all overseen by the city's Parks and Recreation department.
The parks and boulevard system winds its way through the city. Much of the
system, designed by George E. Kessler, was constructed from 1893 to 1915.
Cliff Drive, in Kessler Park on the North Bluffs, is a designated State Scenic
Byway. It extends 4.27 miles (6.87 km) from The Paseo and Independence Avenue
through Indian Mound on Gladstone Boulevard at Belmont Boulevard with many
historical points and architectural landmarks. Ward Parkway, on the west side
of the city near State Line Road, is lined by many of the city's most handsome
homes. The Paseo is a major north–south parkway that runs 19 miles (31
km) through the center of the city beginning at Cliff Drive. It was modeled
on the Paseo de la Reforma, a fashionable Mexico City boulevard.
Swope Park is one of the nation's largest city parks, comprising 1,805 acres
(2.82 sq. mi.), more than twice as big as New York's Central Park. It features
a full-fledged zoo, a woodland nature and wildlife rescue center, two golf
courses, two lakes, an amphitheatre, day-camp area, and numerous picnic grounds.
Hodge Park, in the Northland, covers 1,029 acres (1.61 sq. mi.). This park
includes the 80-acre (320,000 m2) Shoal Creek Living History Museum, a village
of more than 20 historical buildings dating from 1807 to 1885. Riverfront
Park, 955 acres (3.86 km2) on the banks of the Missouri River on the north
edge of downtown, holds annual Fourth of July celebrations and other festivals
during the year.
At one time, nearly all residential streets were planted with a solid canopy
of American elms, but Dutch elm disease devastated them. Most were replaced
with varieties of other handsome shade trees. A program went underway to replace
many of the fast-growing sweetgum trees with hardwood varieties.