Welcome to Kansas City! We've put together the perfect Kansas City Guide for tourists, visitors & for everyone spending time in "The City of Fountains".

American Royal, bullriding

Ameristar Casino, exterior

Country Club Plaza Season of Lights

Crown Center Ice Terrace

Muse of Missouri Fountain

Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City is a city in Clay, Cass, Jackson, and Platte counties in Missouri.

Often abbreviated KCMO, Kansas City is the center of the Kansas City metropolitan area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 441,545, making it the largest city in Missouri. Combined with Kansas City, Kansas, the population is 588,411, but the entire urban area (in both states) is well over a million and a half.

History
Significant non-native settlement of the area dates to 1831, when members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) coming from Kirtland, Ohio and New York State purchased about 2,000 acres (8 km²) of land in the Paseo and Troost Lake areas. Conflict between the Yankee Saints and southern Missourians led to the expulsion of the Mormons from Jackson County in 1833.

About this time a dock was established on the Missouri River to land supplies for Westport Landing (now Westport). The land surrounding the dock was bought by "Town Company" in 1838. The area outside of Westport Landing was renamed the Town of Kansas, after the local Kanza Indians, in 1839. The town was incorporated by the state of Missouri as the City of Kansas on March 28, 1853. At the first municipal election in 1853 there were sixty-seven voters from a population of 2,500. In 1889, with a population of around 60,000, the city adopted a new charter and changed its name to Kansas City. In 1897, Kansas City annexed Westport.

The City was connected to the telegraph system in 1858, to the railway in 1864 (with a bridge crossing the river in 1869) and the first aircraft landed at the Municipal Airport in 1927.

Due to its central location, Kansas City became and remains the second largest railroad hub in the United States, ahead of St. Louis and behind Chicago. Union Station, built in 1914, was one of the largest passenger terminals in the country. After deteriorating significantly in the second half of the 20th Century, the station was renovated in the late 1990s. It now houses a museum, theaters, shops, and restaurants.

Initially, the city's major industry was cattle; by the 1860s it had one of the largest cattle markets in America. That industry peaked in the early 20th century.

Pendergast era
Starting in 1915, with the city grown to 250,000 people, the city was run by one man, Tom Pendergast. He maintained control until 1940.

The city also became a center for night life and music, with jazz by musicians such as Count Basie and blues (Kansas City blues) flourishing in areas such as 18th and Vine.

Harry S. Truman, former U.S. president, was county judge of Jackson County, Missouri, under the Pendergast regime, and was initially regarded in his early career as a corrupt politician because of this. However, most people came to regard him as having a great deal of integrity because of his subsequent actions in various political offices.

Perpetual motion
In the 1910s and 1920s, Harry Perrigo (of Kansas City) and a graduate of MIT, claims development of a free energy device. Perrigo claimed the energy source was "from thin air" or from ether waves. Perrigo demonstrated the device before the U.S. Congress on December 15, 1917. Perrigo had a pending application (filed December 31, 1925; Serial Number 78,719) for the "Improvement in Method and Apparatus for Accumulating and Transforming Ether Electric Energy". Investigators report that his device contained a hidden motor.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 823.7 km² (318.0 mi²). 812.1 km² (313.5 mi²) of it is land and 11.6 km² (4.5 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.41% water.

Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there are 441,545 people, 183,981 households, and 107,444 families residing in the city. The population density is 543.7/km² (1,408.2/mi²). There are 202,334 housing units at an average density of 249.2/km² (645.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 60.68% White, 31.23% Black or African American, 1.85% Asian, 0.48% Native American, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 3.21% from other races, and 2.44% from two or more races. 6.93% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 183,981 households out of which 28.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% are married couples living together, 16.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 41.6% are non-families. 34.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.35 and the average family size is 3.06.

In the city the population is spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 32.5% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $37,198, and the median income for a family is $46,012. Males have a median income of $35,132 versus $27,548 for females. The per capita income for the city is $20,753. 14.3% of the population and 11.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 20.2% of those under the age of 18 and 10.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Parks and Parkways
Kansas City is well-known for its spacious parkways and many parks. The parkway system winds its way through the city with broad, landscaped medians that include statuary and fountains. One of the best examples is Ward Parkway on the west side of the city, near the Kansas state line.

Swope Park is the nation's largest inner-city park, comprising over one thousand acres (4 km²), and including a full-fledged zoo, two golf courses, a lake, an amphitheater, day-camp area, and numerous picnic grounds.

Kansas City has always had one of the nation's best urban forestry programs. At one time, almost all residential streets were planted with a solid canopy of American elm; Dutch elm disease was devastating to Kansas City, with almost all of its elms dying and replaced with a variety of other shade trees.