Kansas City

Kansas City (pop. 1,758,500), name of 2 adjacent cities at the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers, one in northeast Kansas (inc. 1859) and one in northwest Missouri (inc. 1850). This area, as eastern terminus of the Santa Fe trail (1850), served as the starting point for many Western expeditions and gave rise to several settlements in the early 19th century. The building of the railroads increased the importance of Kansas City. Today the cities serve as an industrial, cultural, transportation, and commercial center, with extensive stockyards, grain elevators, mills, and refineries. Leading products include automobiles, farm machinery, and printed materials. Sights include the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum (Missouri), a Shawnee mission (1839), and an agricultural museum (Kansas).

See also: Kansas; Missouri.