History and Cities of KC
History and Cities of Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area began in the 19th century. Frenchmen from the St. Louis, Mo area migrated westward up the Missouri River to trap furs for the fur trade with Native Americans. Kansas City, Missouri was founded in 1838, and at the time became the predominant city west of St. Louis. The Kansas City metro area straddles the borders of Kansas and Missouri at the Kansas and Missouri Rivers merge. It was a strategic point for both security and commerce, and played a major role in the westward expansion of the United States. Major trails of the westward expansion (Santa Fe and Oregon) ran through the Kansas City area. Kansas was opened up for expansion in 1854 and the Kansas-Missouri border became the first battlefield of conflict in the Ameerican Civil War.
There are several “areas” of Kansas City. Most often these areas are referred to as:
- The Northland
- Downtown
- Midtown
- The East Side
- The Southside or South KC
- Kansas City, KS or KCK
- Johnson County-Johnson County, KS
The Northland is generally the towns or cities of Parkville, Kearney, Gladstone, Riverside, North Kansas City, Weatherby Lake, Smithville, and Liberty.
The East Side of Kansas City includes Independece, Raytown, Lee’s Summit, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, Sugar Creek, Lake Lotawanna, Lone Jake, Greenwood, Bates City, Odessa, Buckner, Unity Village, River Bend, and the NFL and MLB stadiums of Kansas City.
Downtown includes the City of Kansas City, MO
Midtown includes the areas of Hyde Park, Westport, and Southmoreland
The southside is generally the south part of the Kansas City, MO city limits, as well as the cities of Grandview, Loch Lloyd, Raymore, Peculiar, and Harrisonville
KCK, is generally the area of Kansas City, KS, and may include Lansing, piper, basehor, and Leavenworth
Johnson County, KS includes the city/suburbs of Overland Park, Olathe, Leawood, Prairie Village, Gardner, Mission, Shawnee, Lake Quivera, Mission Hills, Mission Woods Westwood Hills, Westwood, Lenexa, Roeland Park, Fairway, and Spring Hill.
