Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri (KC or KCMO) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by population and area. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, with portions spilling into Clay, Platte, and Cass counties. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Missouri–Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035.[7][8][9][2] As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090,[10] making it the 37th most-populous city in the United States, as well as the sixth-most populous city in the Midwest.[11] Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.
"KCMO" redirects here. For other uses, see KCMO (disambiguation).
Kansas City, Missouri
United States
June 1, 1850
March 28, 1853
Brian Platt
Marilyn Sanders
318.80 sq mi (825.69 km2)
314.73 sq mi (815.14 km2)
4.07 sq mi (10.55 km2) 1.28%
714.10 sq mi (1,849.5 km2)
7,952.16 sq mi (20,596 km2)
910 ft (277 m)
508,090
1,614.38/sq mi (623.31/km2)
1,674,218 (US: 34th)
2,344.5/sq mi (905.2/km2)
2,392,035 (US: 31st)
Kansas Citian
$169.5 billion (2022)
29000–38000[5]
748198[6]
Sitting on Missouri's western boundary with Kansas, with Downtown near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, the city encompasses about 319.03 square miles (826.3 km2), making it the 25th largest city by total area in the United States. It serves as one of the two county seats of Jackson County, along with the major satellite city of Independence. Other major suburbs include the Missouri cities of Blue Springs, Lee's Summit, Raytown, and Liberty; on the Kansas side of the metro area, major suburbs include the cities of Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, and Kansas City, Kansas.
The city is composed of several neighborhoods, including the River Market District in the north, the 18th and Vine District in the east, and the Country Club Plaza in the south. Celebrated cultural traditions include Kansas City jazz; theater, as a center of the Vaudevillian Orpheum circuit in the 1920s; the many fountains throughout the city that it was nicknamed the "City of Fountains";[12] the Chiefs and Royals sports franchises; and cuisine such as Kansas City–style barbecue and strip steak.
Culture
Abbreviations and nicknames
Kansas City, Missouri is abbreviated as KCMO and the metropolitan area as KC. Residents are Kansas Citians. It is officially nicknamed the City of Fountains. The fountains at Kauffman Stadium, commissioned by original Kansas City Royals owner Ewing Kauffman, are the largest privately funded fountains in the world.[92] In 2018, UNESCO designated Kansas City its first and only City of Music in the US, in "recognition of [Kansas City's] investment and commitment to music, arts, and creativity as a driver of urban economic development".[93] The city has more boulevards than any other city except Paris and has been called Paris of the Plains. Soccer's popularity, and Children's Mercy Park's popularity as a home stadium for the U.S. Men's National Team, led to the appellation Soccer Capital of America. The city is called the Heart of America, in proximity to the population center of the United States and the geographic center of the 48 contiguous states.
Performing arts
In 1886, Kansas City had only two theaters when David Austin Latchaw, originally from rural Pennsylvania, moved there. Latchaw maintained friendly relations with several actors such as Otis Skinner, Richard Mansfield, Maude Adams, Margaret Anglin, John Drew, Minnie Maddern Fiske, Julia Marlowe, E. H. Sothern, and Robert Mantell.[94]
Theater troupes in the 1870s toured the state, performing in cities or small towns forming along the railroad lines. Rail transport had enhanced the theater troupe tour market, by allowing full costumes, props, and sets. As theater grew in popularity after the mid-1880s, that number increased and by 1912, ten new theaters had been built in Kansas City. By the 1920s, Kansas City was the center of the vaudevillian Orpheum circuit.[94]
