Kansas City

Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas, the county seat of Wyandotte County, and the third-largest city of the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified Government". Wyandotte County also includes the independent cities of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 145,786 residents. It is situated at Kaw Point, which is the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers.

History

In October 1872, "old" Kansas City, Kansas, was incorporated. The first city election was held on October 22 of that year, by order of Judge Hiram Stevens of the Tenth Judicial District, and resulted in the election of Mayor James Boyle. The mayors of the city after its organization were James Boyle, C. A. Eidemiller, A. S. Orbison, Eli Teed and Samuel McConnell. In June 1880, the Governor of Kansas proclaimed the city of Kansas City a city of the second class with Mayor McConnell present.

In March 1886, "new" Kansas City, Kansas, was formed through the consolidation of five municipalities: "old" Kansas City, Armstrong, Armourdale, Riverview, Wyandotte. The oldest city of the group was Wyandotte, which was formed in 1857 by Wyandot Native Americans and Methodist missionaries.:370, 384, 388

In the 1890s, the city saw an explosive growth in population as a streetcar suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, from which it takes its name; this growth continued until the 1930s. It was one of the nation's 100 largest cities for many U.S. Census counts, from 1890 to 1960, including 1920, when it had a population of over 100,000 residents for the first time.

As with adjacent Kansas City, Missouri, the percentage of the city's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic whites, has declined from 76.3% in 1970 to 40.2% in 2010. In 1997, voters approved a proposition to unify the city and county governments creating the Unified Government of Wyandotte County.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 128.38 square miles (332.50 km2), of which, 124.81 square miles (323.26 km2) is land and 3.57 square miles (9.25 km2) is water.

Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods of Kansas City, Kansas, include the following:

• Downtown
• Argentine − former home to the silver smelter for which it was named; it was consolidated with Kansas City in 1910.
• Armourdale − formerly a city, it was consolidated with the city of Kansas City in 1886.
• Armstrong − a town absorbed by Wyandotte.
• Bethel − a neighborhood located generally along Leavenworth Rd., between 72nd and 77th Streets. It was never incorporated as a municipality.
• Fairfax District − an industrial area along the Missouri River.
• Muncie
• Maywood − until the late 1990s, Maywood was a quiet, isolated residential area; it is now part of the "Village West" project that includes the Legends shopping and entertainment district, the Children's Mercy Park soccer stadium, T-Bones' Community America baseball park, the Schlitterbahn amusement water park, the Kansas Speedway racetrack and Hollywood Casino.
• Nearman
• Piper
• Pomeroy − a late 19th century-early 20th century Train Depot, Trading Post, Saw Mill, and river landing for barges to load and unload.
• Riverview
• Rosedale − merged with Kansas City in 1922.
• Stony Point
• Strawberry Hill
• Turner − community around the Wyandotte-Johnson County border to the Kansas River north-south, and from I-635 to I-435 east-west.
• Vinewood
• Wolcott
• Welborn

Parks and parkways

• City Park
• Wyandotte County Park
• Wyandotte County Lake Park
• National Agricultural Hall of Fame and county park complex
• Wyandotte County Museum and Historical Society, located inside Wyandotte County Park.

Public libraries

Kansas City, Kansas, is also home to a library system, with five branch libraries spread throughout Wyandotte County; these include the Main Library, South Branch Library, Turner Community Library, West Wyandotte Library, and the Mr. & Mrs. F.L. Schlagle Environmental Library in Wyandotte County Lake Park. The Kansas City, Kansas Public Library was formed in 1895. In 1899, it came under the authority of the Kansas City, Kansas Public School District Board of Education.

Transportation

River transportation was important to early Kansas City, Kansas, as its location at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers afforded easy access to trade. A portion of I-70 was the first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 (though not the first constructed or to begin construction).

Major highways

• Interstate 35 – To Des Moines, Iowa, to the north and Wichita, Kansas, to the south.
• Interstate 70 – To St. Louis, Missouri, to the east and Topeka, Kansas/Denver, Colorado, to the west.

Spur routes and notable roads

• Interstate 435 – A bi-state loop through the Missouri and Kansas suburbs.
• Interstate 635 – Connects the Kansas suburbs with Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City International Airport.
• Interstate 670 – A southern bypass of I-70 and Southern portion of the downtown loop. Signed as East I-70 when exiting from I-35 while traveling north.
• US-24-40 – Combination of the US-24 and US-40 highways that pass through Kansas City.
• K-5 – A minor freeway bypassing the north of Kansas City, Kansas, connecting the GM Fairfax plant with I-635. K-5 continues as Leavenworth Road west to I-435 then on to Leavenworth, Kansas.
• K-7 – A freeway linking Leavenworth County, Kansas, Wyandotte County, Kansas and Johnson County, Kansas.
• K-32 – A highway that links Leavenworth County, Kansas, Wyandotte County, and Douglas County, Kansas.

Roads

• US-169, 7th Street Trafficway
• South 18th Street Expressway
• State Avenue and Parallel Parkway
• Kansas Avenue and the Turner Diagonal

Culture

Kansas City, Kansas, has a number of buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city is home to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, which covers 12,500 square miles (32,000 km2) in eastern Kansas.

Memorial Hall is a 3,500-seat indoor arena/auditorium located in the city's downtown. The venue, which has a permanent stage, is used for public assemblies, concerts and sporting events. In 1887, John G. Braecklein constructed a Victorian home for John and Margaret Scroggs in the area of Strawberry Hill. It is a fine example of the Queen Anne Style architecture erected in Kansas City, Kansas.

The Rosedale Arch, dedicated to the men of Kansas City, Kansas, who served in World War I, is a small-scale replica of France's famous Arc de Triomphe. It is located on Mount Marty in Rosedale, overlooking the intersection of Rainbow and Southwest boulevards.

Wyandotte High School is a notable public school building located at 2501 Minnesota Avenue. Built in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration project, the school was later designated as a Historical Landmark by the city in 1985 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 1986. In 1889, the Wyandotte County Museum and Historical Society was established as a permanent repository of the county's history. The Argentine Carnegie Library, the only Carnegie library that exists in the metropolitan area, was built in 1917.

Other notable points of interest in the Kansas City, Kansas, area include Fire Station No. 9, Granada Theater, Hanover Heights Neighborhood Historic District, Huron Cemetery, Judge Louis Gates House, Kansas City, Kansas Hall, Kansas City, Kansas Fire Headquarters, Great Wolf Lodge, Schlitterbahn Vacation Village, Quindaro Townsite, Sauer Castle, Scottish Rite Temple, Shawnee Street Overpass, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building, St. Augustine Hall, Theodore Shafer House, Trowbridge Archeological Site, Westheight Manor and Westheight Manor District, White Church Christian Church, Wyandotte County Courthouse and the Muncie area.

Educational institutions

Colleges and universities

• Donnelly College
• Kansas Christian College

• Kansas City Kansas Community College
• University of Kansas Medical Center (home of KU's Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health)

Public and private school districts

• Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, USD 500
• Piper, Unified School District 203
• Turner, Unified School District 202
• Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas Catholic Schools

Secondary schools

• Bishop Ward High School
• Fairfax Learning Center
• J. C. Harmon High School
• Kansas City Kansas Community College: Technical Education Center
• Piper High School, Kansas City (Piper, Kansas)
• F.L. Schlagle High School
• Kansas State School for the Blind (KSSB)
• Sumner Academy of Arts & Science
• Turner High School
• Washington High School
• Wyandotte High School, Kansas City