Timeline of Kansas City, Missouri

The following is a timeline of the history of Kansas City, Missouri, United States.

19th century

• 1821
• François Chouteau set up a permanent trading post.
• Missouri became the 24th state admitted to the Union.
• 1826 - Jackson County created.
• 1833 - John Calvin McCoy founded West Port.
• 1834 - Westport Landing established on the Missouri River.
• 1839 - Settlement named Town of Kansas after the local Kaw People.
• 1840 - City Market established.
• 1846 - Population: 700.
• 1849 - Cholera pandemic of 1849 killed half the settlers of the towns of Kansas and Westport.
• 1850
• June 3: Town of Kansas formally organized municipality in Jackson County.
• Kelly's Westport Inn built.
• 1853
• March 28: City of Kansas incorporated by Missouri.
• William S. Gregory elected as first mayor.
• 1854
• First city council president, Johnston Lykins, became second mayor.
• Kansas City Journal-Post newspaper founded by a group of city fathers and businessmen.
• Bleeding Kansas - violent confrontations 1854-1859.
• 1855 - Harris-Kearney House was built in Westport.
• 1856 - Alexander Majors House built.
• 1857
• Chamber of Commerce established.
• Union Cemetery founded.
• Historic Quality Hill neighborhood developed by Kersey Coates
• Lykins Mansion built at 12th and Broadway. (The city's first mansion.)
• 1858
• John Wornall House built.
• Fr. Bernard Donnelly hires 300 Irish workers to carve streets out from the bluffs.
• 1859 - Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company sends first stagecoach to Denver.
• 1860 - Population: 4,418.
• 1861 - The American Civil War begins.
• 1863
• Union Women's Prison collapses August 13, killing four women and injuring several more. Pro-Confederate bushwhackers cite this as justification for the Sacking of Lawrence.
• General Order No. 11 removes settlers south of Brush Creek.
• 1864 - October 23: Battle of Westport.
• 1865
• Patrick Shannon becomes mayor.
• The American Civil War ends.
• Lincoln College Preparatory Academy founded.
• 1866 - St. Teresa's Academy established.
• 1867
• March 1: First meeting of the Kansas City Public Schools Board of Education.
• Central High School established.
• The Kansas City Times was founded.
• Kansas City Fire Department established.
• 1868 - George Muehlebach Brewing Company founded. (Acquired by Schlitz in 1956.)
• 1869 - July 3: Hannibal Bridge over the Missouri River opens, first railroad bridge across the river.
• 1870
• Elijah M. McGee becomes mayor.
• Coates Opera House built. (Burned down in 1901.)
• Population: 32,260.
• Tivoli Garden, a 6 acre beer garden at 24th & Main opens. (Closed 1879.)
• 1871
• Kansas City Bar Library Assoc. formed.
• The Kansas City Stockyards established.
• 1872 - Elmwood Cemetery established.
• 1873 - First St. Patrick's Day parade.
• 1874
• Kansas City Police Department created.
• St. Joseph Hospital opened.
• 1875
• Old St. Patrick Oratory built.
• Fetterman Circulating Library.
• Gallup Map founded.
• 1879 - Lawrence F. Rieger Real Estate Broker (Now Kessinger Hunter) opens at 5th and Main.
• 1880
• The Kansas City Star newspaper founded by William Rockhill Nelson and Samuel E. Morss.
• City Hospital opened.
• Population: 55,785.
• 1882
• Kansas City Club founded.
• KCP&L installs electric lights.
• William Volker founded his home furnishings business.
• Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City opened.
• 1883 - Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception built. Golden dome added in 1960.
• 1884
• Boss James Pendergast begins his political career.
• The Barstow School founded.
• 1885
• Kansas City Art Institute founded, later attended by Walt Disney
• First overhead electric trolleys in the US used here.
• 1886
• Bon Ami Company (now Faultless Brands) founded.
• Hyde Park subdivision begun.
• German Hospital (Research Medical Center) opens.
• First Hannibal Bridge severely damaged by a tornado.
• 1887
• Kansas City Southern Railway founded.
• J. Rieger & Co. distillery originally founded.
• Freight House in the Crossroads was built.
• Original Chouteau Bridge completed.
• St. Mary's Episcopal Church building built. (Church formed 1857.)
• 1888
• Forest Hill Cemetery founded.
• The Savoy Hotel opened.
• Original 8th Street cable car tunnel opened.
• 1889
• Shook, Hardy & Bacon law firm founded.
• The city of Kansas City formed by merger of Westport and City of Kansas.
• Electric streetcars begin replacing cable cars.
• Kansas City Public Library building opens.
• Unity Church founded.
• 1890
• Benjamin Holmes became mayor.
• New York Life Insurance Building becomes the city's first skyscraper.
• Population: 132,716.
• 1892
• August Meyer appointed president of the city's first park board.
• Kansas City's Parks and Boulevard system is designed by George Kessler.
• First Court House built.
• Pencoyd Railroad Bridge built.
• 1893
• City Hall built.
• Kansas City Athletic Club founded.
• The Progress Club built in Quality Hill as a social club for prominent Jewish gentlemen.
• 1895 - Kansas City School of Law founded.
• 1896
• Kansas City Country Club founded.
• Swope Park created.
• 1897
• City workhouse castle opened, old workhouse abandoned.
• Westport and Hyde Park annexed.
• Children's Mercy Hospital founded.
• 1898 - Burns & McDonnell founded.
• 1899
• The American Royal began as a cattle show in the Kansas City Stockyards.
• Dr. Generous Henderson House completed.
• The Independent, Kansas City's society journal was founded.

20th century

1900s-1940s

• 1900
• 1900 Democratic National Convention held.
• Federal Building constructed.
• Folly Theater opened.
• Population: 163,752.
• 1902
• Sunshine Biscuits (formerly The Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company) founded.
• First Orthodox synagogue built.
• Imperial Brewing Company Brewery opened on Southwest Boulevard.
• 1903
• Flood of 1903: Kansas River flooded the West Bottoms.
• Automobile Club of Kansas City active.
• 1904
• Penn Valley Park created.
• Improved 8th Street streetcar tunnel opened. (Closed 1956.)
• Mineral Hall residence completed in Hyde Park.
• 1906 - J.C. Nichols begins developing Country Club District neighborhoods.
• 1907
• Lewis and Clark Viaduct built above the West Bottoms and over the Kaw River.
• Waddell & Harrington bridge engineering company founded.
• Electric Park opened at 46th and Paseo.
• R.A. Long Building completed at 10th and Grand.
• Westport High School established.
• 1908
• General Hospital built.
• Henry Perry "Father of Kansas City barbecue" began business.
• 1909
• Kansas City Zoo opens in Swope Park
• Waldo neighborhood annexed.
• 1910
• Hall Brothers (Hallmark Cards) founded.
• Corinthian Hall was built by lumber baron Robert A. Long.
• Rockhurst University founded by Fr. Michael Dowling, S.J.
• Population: 248,381.
• 1911
• Kansas City Star Building built.
• Stuart Hall Building built.
• ASB Bridge completed.
• Union Pacific Intermodal Bridge over the Kaw River completed.
• George Washington statue installed at Washington Square.
• 1912 - Grand Avenue Temple United Methodist Church built. (Church formed 1865.)
• 1913
• City Center Bank founded (UMB Financial Corporation).
• Cook Paint and Varnish Company founded.
• 1914
• Western Auto Building built.
• Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Paseo YMCA open.
• Union Station opens, replacing the Union Depot.
• Mack B. Nelson mansion built at 55th and Ward Parkway.
• Katz Drug Store founded.
• 1915
• HNTB Corporation founded.
• Helzberg Diamonds founded.
• Black & Veatch founded.
• Kansas City Polytechnic Institute established.
• The Hotel Muehlebach opened.
• 1916 - Argentine Carnegie Library built.
• 1917
• Rockhurst College opens.
• Second Hannibal Bridge opens.
• 1918 - William Thornton Kemper Sr. acquires City Center Bank.
• 1919
• Prohibition of alcohol begins. (1919-1933)
• Truman and Jacobson's haberdashery opens downtown.
• The Call African-American newspaper founded by Chester A. Franklin.
• Guadalupe Center founded.
• Donnelly Garment Company founded.
• The Imperial Brewing Company Brewery became the Boulevard Mill after Prohibition.
• 1920
• Kansas City Monarchs baseball team established in the Negro National League.
• University of Kansas Medical Center established.
• AMC Theatres founded. (Originally Dubinsky Bros.)
• Brookside Shopping District opens.
• Population: 324,410.
• 1921
• First annual installation of the Easter Bunnies on Country Club Plaza.
• Laugh-O-Gram Studio founded by Walt Disney (closes 1923)
• Monroe Hotel built.
• 1922
• WPE radio begins broadcasting.
• The Scout statue in Penn Valley Park is dedicated as a permanent memorial to local Indian tribes.
• Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church built.
• 1923
• Country Club Plaza opens.
• Russell Stover Candies founded.
• Fairyland Amusement Park opens at 75th & Prospect.
• 1924
• New Rialto Theater opened 18th & Vine (Boone Theater)
• J.E. Dunn Construction founded.
• 1925
• Political boss Tom Pendergast becomes Chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Party.
• Hotel President built.
• Loose Park created.
• Electric Park burned down after 18 years.
• 1926
• Country Club Christian Church built at 61st & Ward Parkway. (Church formed 1920.)
• Blues shouter and KC native Big Joe Turner performs and tends bar at The Sunset.
• Ararat Shrine Temple and Bagdad Theatre open.
• Liberty Memorial dedicated to World War I veterans, opens
• 1927
• Downtown Airport opens, dedicated by Charles Lindbergh
• Pioneer Mother Memorial in Penn Valley Park dedicated.
• Southwest High School established.
• 1928
• Uptown Theater opened.
• June: 1928 Republican National Convention.
• The Blue Room jazz club opened in the Street Hotel at 18th and Paseo. (Closed 1954)
• Villa Serena Apartments (later, The Raphael Hotel) opened on the Country Club Plaza.
• F. W. Woolworth Building constructed.
• 1929 - Count Basie joins the Bennie Moten Orchestra to play Kansas City jazz.
• 1930
• Bryce B. Smith became mayor.
• First official Plaza Lighting Ceremony took place on Thanksgiving night.
• Kansas City Scottish Rite Temple completed.
• 1931
• Kansas City Power and Light Building constructed.
• Hotel Phillips built across from the Hotel Muehlbach.
• Prominent businesswoman, Nell Donnelly Reed was abducted.
• The Calvin Company began producing educational films.
• 1932 - First annual Plaza Art Fair held on the Country Club Plaza.
• 1933
• Stroud's Restaurant opened.
• The Sunset Jazz Club opened. (Closed 1938)
• Kansas City Philharmonic established. (Dissolved 1982.)
• May 27: Mary McElroy, daughter of City Manager Henry F. McElroy, was kidnapped for ransom.
• June 17: Kansas City massacre at Union Station.
• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art opened.
• Jackson County Courthouse built.
• 1934
• March 27: Election day violence leaves 4 dead, 11 wounded.
• Crime boss Johnny Lazia gunned down in front of his home.
• Swope Memorial Golf Course opens.
• 1936 - Holy Land Christian Mission founded.
• 1937
• Kansas City City Hall rebuilt.
• Southeast High School established.
• Charlie "Bird" Parker played jazz with Jay McShann in Kansas City.
• 1939 - Tom Pendergast convicted of income tax evasion and served 15 months.
• 1940
• John B. Gage becomes mayor.
• Kansas City Museum opens.
• 1942 - Hogan Preparatory Academy established.
• 1944 - Midwest Research Institute founded.
• 1945
• Mining of SubTropolis underground storage began
• Harry S. Truman Bridge (railroad bridge) completed.
• Vice President Harry S Truman sworn in as President after Franklin Roosevelt dies.
• 1946
• Linda Hall Library established.
• William E. Kemp becomes mayor.
• Gates Bar-B-Q founded by George and Arzelia Gates.
• 1948
• Harry S Truman wins 1948 United States presidential election
• First national leadership conference of the Future Homemakers of America (FHA), now Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).
• 1949
• The Golden Ox restaurant, originator of the Kansas City strip steak, opened.
• Crest Drive-In cinema active (approximate date).
• Richard Walker Bolling becomes U.S. representative for Missouri's 5th congressional district.
• Industrial Bearings Transmission, now IBT, Inc. founded at 1625 Grand

1950s-1990s

• 1950 - Starlight Theatre opened in Swope Park.
• 1951
• July: Great Flood of 1951.
• J.C.Hall commissions illustrator Norman Rockwell to paint The Kansas City Spirit in response to the flood.
• 1952 - Nell Donnelly Reed donates land for the James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife area.
• 1953 - The Donnelly Garment Company was the largest manufacturer of women's clothing worldwide.
• Kidnapping and murder of Bobby Greenlease.
• 1954
• U.S. Weather Bureau Severe Local Storms Unit relocated to Kansas City.
• Paseo Bridge opens. (1954-2010)
• First annual Jewel Ball is held.
• 1955
• H&R Block founded
• Philadelphia Athletics of the American League relocate becoming the Kansas City Athletics.
• H. Roe Bartle becomes mayor.
• TWA Corporate Headquarters Building was built in the Crossroads.
• 1956
• First runway opens at Kansas City Industrial Airport, now KCI
• Interstate Highway System begun.
• Broadway Bridge built.
• Robert Altman's first film The Delinquents shot in Kansas City.
• The Carriage Club was founded.
• 1957
• Kansas City Ballet founded.
• Ruskin Heights Tornado (F-5).
• Last electric streetcar retired.
• Russ Fiorella opens Smoke Stack Barbecue.
• KCUR-FM radio went on the air.
• Blue Ridge Mall opened.
• 1959
• Five KC firefighters killed in gas tank explosion on Southwest Blvd.
• Ward Parkway Center opened.
• 1960 - Mill Creek Fountain (created in 1910) installed on the Country Club Plaza.
• 1961
• Freedom, Inc. founded.
• Hickman Mills annexed.
• 1963
• Lamar Hunt relocates the Dallas Texans to become the Kansas City Chiefs
• University of Missouri–Kansas City established.
• Ilus W. Davis becomes mayor.
• Bruce R. Watkins elected as first African-American city council member.
• Martin City annexed.
• 1964 - Kansas City Repertory Theatre founded
• 1966 - Lockton insurance founded.
• 1967
• Kansas City Chiefs lose the first Super Bowl to the Green Bay Packers
• Kansas City Athletics relocate to Oakland at the conclusion of the season
• The Giralda Tower constructed on the Country Club Plaza.
• Sister city relationship established with Seville, Spain.
• 1968 - April: 1968 Kansas City, Missouri riot.
• 1969
• Kansas City Royals baseball team formed.,
• Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl IV
• 1970
• Universal Press Syndicate founded.
• Missouri State Representative Leon Jordan was assassinated.
• Population: 507,330.
• 1971
• Charles Wheeler becomes mayor.
• Satchel Paige of the Kansas City Monarchs inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Crown Center opens.
• 1972
• Arrowhead Stadium opens
• NBA Cincinnati Royals became the Kansas City Kings
• Kansas City International Airport becomes the city's primary passenger airport
• Sister city relationship established with Kurashiki, Japan.
• 1973
• Worlds of Fun opens.
• Kauffman Stadium opens as Royals Stadium.
• Andrews McMeel Publishing founded.
• City of Fountains Foundation founded.
• Sister city relationship established with Morelia, Mexico.
• 1974
• Revival of the Kansas City St. Patrick's Day Parade
• First Hospital Hill Run takes place with 99 runners.
• Kemper Arena opens.
• NHL comes to Kansas City with the establishment of the Scouts as an expansion team
• Black Archives of Mid-America founded by Horace M. Peterson III.
• Sister city relationship established with Freetown, Sierra Leone.
• 1975
• Kansas City Kings basketball team comes to Kemper Arena.
• Mid America Heart Institute opens.
• 1976
• Bartle Hall Convention Center opened
• 1976 Republican National Convention held in Kemper Arena.
• World Science Fiction Convention held.
• 1977
• River Quay bombings
• Fairyland Park closes after extensive damage by windstorm.
• 1978
• Coates House Hotel fire claimed 20 lives.
• Artist Christo installs "Wrapped Walk Ways" in Loose Park.
• Sister city relationship established with Tainan, Taiwan.
• 1979
• Richard L. Berkley becomes mayor.
• The Coterie Theatre is founded.
• Kansas City Comets indoor soccer team. (1979-1991)
• Kemper Arena roof collapsed.
• 1980
• Hyatt Regency hotel opens.
• The Kansas City Royals lose World Series to the Philadelphia Phillies
• The Pitch alternative newspaper founded.
• Bannister Mall opened.
• 1981 - July 17: Hyatt Regency walkway collapse.
• 1982
• Kansas City Symphony established.
• Kansas City Business Journal founded.
• Oceans of Fun opens
• National Museum of Toys and Miniatures opens
• Kansas City Chorale founded.
• 1983 - Bobby Bell of the Kansas City Chiefs inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• 1985
• World Series won by Kansas City Royals with Manager Dick Howser
• Harris-Kearney House opens as a museum.
• 1986 - Town Pavilion hi-rise built.
• 1987 - Len Dawson of the Kansas City Chiefs inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• 1988
• ACT UP chapter founded.
• One Kansas City Place built.
• Serial killer Bob Berdella apprehended as "Kansas City Butcher"
• Professional golfer Tom Watson inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
• November 29: Construction site explosion kills 6 firefighters
• 1989
• Boulevard Brewing Company founded
• Sister city relationship established with Xi'an, China.
• 1990
• Mr. & Mrs. Bridge filmed in Kansas City starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward released.
• The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum founded.
• Buck Buchanan of the Kansas City Chiefs inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• The Kansas City Times ceased publication.
• Kansas City Blades hockey team founded. (1990-2001)
• Population: 435,146.
• 1991
• Emanuel Cleaver becomes mayor.
• Kansas City Stockyards close.
• Firefighters' Memorial Fountain dedicated at 31st & Broadway
• The Arabia Steamboat Museum opens in the River Market.
• Sister city relationship established with Guadalajara, Mexico.
• 1993
• Great Flood of 1993
• Sister city relationships established with Hannover, Germany and Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
• 1994 -
• Artist Claes Oldenburg installs Shuttlecocks at the Nelson-Atkins Museum.
• Sky Stations sculptures installed on pylons of Bartle Hall.
• Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opens.
• Stowers Institute for Medical Research established.
• 1995
• Kansas City Wiz soccer team founded by Lamar Hunt.
• Sister city relationship established with Arusha, Tanzania.
• 1996
• Hilton Flamingo Riverboat Casino opened. (Now Bally's Kansas City)
• Kansas City, a Robert Altman crime film is released.
• 1997
• Station Casino opened. (Now Ameristar Casino.)
• City website goes online (approximate date).
• American Jazz Museum opens.
• Sister city relationship established with San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico.
• 1998
• Lidia's Kansas City opened in the Freight House.
• Sister city relationship established with Ramla, Israel.
• 1999
• Kay Barnes becomes mayor.
• Union Station reopens after restoration.
• George Brett of the Kansas City Royals inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Pro wrestler Owen Hart falls 70 feet to his death at Kemper arena.
• Randie Carver, North American Boxing Federation super-middleweight died defending his title.

21st century

• 2000
• Ewing and Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden opened.
• Population: 441,545.
• 2001
• New Chouteau Bridge completed.
• Regional Kansas City SmartPort economic development group established.
• 2002 - First Fridays began in the Crossroads Art District
• 2003 - First Kansas City Irish Fest at Crown Center.
• 2004
• Zona Rosa urban shopping district opened.
• Sister city relationship established with Metz, France.
• 2005
• Penn Valley skatepark opens.
• Emanuel Cleaver becomes U.S. representative for Missouri's 5th congressional district.
• 2006
• Modern glass Kansas City Star Building built.
• Historic Pencoyd Railroad Bridge moved to Union Station to become the Freight House Pedestrian Bridge.
• 2007
• Sprint Center (arena) opens.
• H&R Block World Headquarters built.
• Irish Museum and Cultural Center opens.
• Mark Funkhouser becomes mayor.
• The Bloch Building addition of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art opens.
• 2008 - Kansas City Power & Light District completed.
• 2009 - Andrews McMeel Syndication founded.
• 2010
• The Big Slick, an annual celebrity fundraiser for Children's Mercy Hospital.
• Christopher S. Bond Bridge opens, replacing demolished Paseo Bridge
• Population: 459,787.
• 2011
• Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts opens.
• Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity opened. (Remodeled from Union Station Power House, built in 1914.)
• Sly James becomes mayor.
• Population: 463,202; metro 2,052,676.
• 2012
• Google Fiber service begins.
• Legendary Kansas City broadcaster, Walt Bodine dies.
• Kansas City Startup Village established.
• 2013
• Kansas City Sculpture Park renamed to honor Donald J. Hall, Jr.
• JJ's Restaurant on the Plaza destroyed by gas explosion; 1 fatality, 15 injured.
• 2014
• Liberty Memorial officially designated The National World War I Monument and Museum.
• J. Rieger & Co. distillery re-established after 95 years
• 2015
• World Series won by Kansas City Royals
• Knuckleheads Saloon music venue opened in the East Bottoms.
• 2016
• KC Streetcar entered service.
• Broadway Bridge renamed Buck O'Neil Bridge.
• 2019
• Quinton Lucas elected mayor
• Artist Andy Goldsworthy installs "Walking Wall" at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
• 2020 - Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl LIV
• 2021
• Renovated Museum of Kansas City reopens.
• Chiefs lose Super Bowl LV
• 2022
• Buck O'Neil of the Kansas City Monarchs inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Kansas City Public Schools regain full accreditation.
• 2023
• Chiefs win Super Bowl LVII
• New KCI airport terminal opens.
• New Kansas City flag design adopted.
• 2024
• Chiefs win Super Bowl LVIII
• Kansas City Parade Shooting
• 2025
• Chiefs win AFC Championship.
• Chiefs lost Super Bowl LIX.

See also

• List of mayors of Kansas City, Missouri
• History of the Kansas City metropolitan area
• Timeline of St. Louis

References

Bibliography

19th century publications

• Business directory, 1866

20th century publications

21st century publications

External links

• Items related to Kansas City, Mo., various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)