Welcome to Our City!!

From humble beginnings as a trading post in 1821 (see our history), Kansas City has become the largest city in a metropolitan area of 1.8 million people. Kansas City, Mo., is the nation's 36th largest city in population (441,500) and the eighth largest in land area (317 square miles). Located near the geographic and populations centers of the nation, it truly is the "Heart of America." The metro area straddles the Missouri-Kansas state line and includes more than 136 cities and 11 counties. Kansas City, Mo., itself takes in parts of four counties -- Jackson, Platte, Clay and Cass -- not to mention all or part of 15 school districts. Kansas City boasts more fountains than any other city except Rome and more boulevards than any except Paris. Its 1,769-acre Swope Park is the second-largest urban park in America. However, Kansas City is perhaps best known for its steaks, barbecue and jazz. With more than 60 barbecue restaurants and numerous cookoff competitions, it is arguably the nation's barbecue capital. Kansas City became a hotbed of jazz shortly after World War I in the now-famous area around 18th & Vine. Jazz is undergoing a renaissance here, a factor in the new Kansas City Jazz Museum, a complex that also includes a new Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.