A Brief History of Kansas City Missouri

First incorporated in 1850, Kansas City, MO has a rich history too vast to be entirely printed here. The Kansas River was originally named the "Grande Riviere des Cansez", which later formed the current name of the river and city, by Etienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont, a French explorer and the first documented European to visit the area. Years later, this very area was in the turmoil of the Civil War: Kansas being a slave state at the time, people fought both by ballot box and by bloodshed in attempts to allow the slavery they had become so accustomed to using. The City of Kansas, renamed Kansas City in 1889, was in the midst of the battles of the Civil War. After the Civil War, Kansas City grew rapidly, stretching its borders to the south and east, and developing a network of beautiful parks and boulevards. The end of the second World War also marked growth for the city: While the inner city's population dropped, the population in sprawling suburbs around its core and within its borders grew quickly.

Kansas City has also seen the faces of many celebrities and important historical figures. Lewis and Clark visited the place where the Missouri River joined the Kansas River shortly after 1803 and the Louisiana Purchase, noting it as a good place to build a fort. Ernest Hemingway, the American novelist, short-story writer and journalist, wrote for the Kansas City Star during World War I. Walt Disney built his first animation studio, Laugh-O-Gram Studio, in 1923, at the corner of 31st and Locusts streets. Walter Cronkite, American broadcast journalist, lived in Kansas City with his family from 1917 to 1928, returned in 1936 to be a sports announcer for KCMO AM radio, and joined Kansas City's United Press in 1937, becoming one of America's top reporters for World War II. Also notable are actress Joan Crawford, raised in Kansas City, pianist and composer Burt Bacharach, born in Kansas City, and American film actress Jean Harlow, born in Kansas City.