Kansas City History

Kansas City history goes back to the 1800s but the city was incorporated only in 1850. Though the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers offered an ideal space for settlements, it also became the first battlefield when the Civil war began. You can acquaint yourself with the more recent events during your Kansas City MO travel, while we deal with an abstract of the past.

The population of Kansas started growing from the middle of the 1800s and had touched 130,000 by 1889 and in 1897 Kansas City was born through anew charter. 1940 to 1970 were three decades of heady days for Kansas and the City even had come to be considered the crossroads of the globe.

The city's contribution of two presidents in quick succession between1945 and 1960 - first President Harry Truman and then D.Eisenhower and the TWA headquarters in Kansas helped fuel the thought of turning the cosmopolitan hub into what was conceived as a gateway to the world. But, soon the TWA's presence started diminishing and Kansas could not reach the goal post with its ambitions.

Wiki pages on Kansas history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kansas_City

Westport history

http://www.experiencekc.com/westport.html

Between 1970 and 1980 Kansas was affected by two major disasters - the first, through two major storms in1977 killing 25 people and damaging property worth $100 million. The Country Club plaza suffered the worst damage during the flood caused by the storm.

The second disaster struck in 1979 when the roof of Kemper Arena collapsed. Initially, it was thought that the roof collapse was due to the storm, but later investigations revealed that the supports to the roof could not handle the heavier load due to the storm water that had pooled on the roof aggravated further by the high winds. Consequently, the Arena was repaired and reopened in 1980.

Towards the close of the 20th century, the Union Station was refurbished and the Science City was established to help memorialize the events of the early 20th century.

The first female mayor for Kansas was elected in 1999 and with the dawn of the 21st century, Kansas City has been making steady progress on different facets - albeit for the effects of the 2009 economic melt down which affected the whole nation. The web links on this page are intended to provide you more in-depth knowledge on Kansas history, before you embark on your Kansas City MO travel.

Local history and genealogy at the public library

http://www.kclibrary.org/kchistory

Visuals and famous people in Kansas history

http://www.hellokansascity.com/History.Cfm