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| History and Description
of the Kansas City Regional Area - Search Home and House MLS Listings |
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 In the early 1800s, two enterprising young men were instrumental in the history of Kansas City’s development. In 1821, Francois Chouteau and several other French families established a trading post on the Missouri River in what is now the Northeast Industrial District. This modest center of trade was the first non-Indian settlement in Kansas City. Soon after, John Calvin McCoy opened his store four miles inland on the Santa Fe Trail and named it Westport. Because Westport had a natural rock landing for riverboats, it soon became an important source of supplies and point of departure for wagons headed west. Today, Westport is a renovated historic district replete with funky cafes, nightclubs and charming boutiques. McCoy also purchased the Gabriel Prudhomme farm with 13 other men, which became the first downtown district in Kansas City.
The Town of Kansas as it was called before 1889, was officially incorporated in 1850. Its first challenge was the Civil War. Bitterly divided, events climaxed in 1863 when a building being used as a temporary jail by the Union Army collapsed, killing some women relate to William Quantrill’s pro-slavery raiders. Quantrill retaliated by virtually destroying Lawrence, Kansas, and leaving 150 people dead. The Battle of Westport was also a turning point for the area, one in which the Union army routed the Confederates in the largest and most decisive Union-Confederate clash in Missouri.  Kansas City survived and flourished after the war thanks to the coming of the railroad. Once the Hannibal Bridge was built across the Missouri River, the city became one of the world’s major cattle markets. The Kansas City stockyard was founded in 1870 and, at the time, the Kansas City Livestock Exchange was the largest building in the world devoted exclusively to livestock interests. The city has diversified its economic base since the early days of cattle drives. Today, it is an internationally known Mecca of manufacturing, telecommunications and health services. In addition to the already mentioned Hallmark Cards, Sprint and AT & T, large employers include, Health Midwest, DST Systems, Black & Veatch, Transworld Airlines, Farmland Industries, Station Casino and Children’s Mercy Hospital.Located in the Heart of America, Kansas City is an air, trucking and rail hub with strong international ties. It is also known for its foreign trade zone, its underground storage industry and its automobile assembly plants.  The 4,700-acre Kansas City International Airport and a major network of modern highways, which include Interstates I-35, I-435 and I-69, connect it to the world. More than 10 million tourists a year visit the Country Club Plaza, which was built by local developer J.C. Nichols Co. in 1922 and was modeled after Seville, Spain, one of Kansas City’s sister cities.
Other areas of interest in Kansas City include the newly renovated Union Station, Crown Center, an office, retail and entertainment complex housing Hallmark Cards’ international headquarters, the Kansas City Zoo, World’s of Fun and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. |
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