KANSAS CITY 



KANSAS CITY 



.ANSAS CITY, Mo., the second city 

 of the state in population, ranking next to 

 Saint Louis, and one of the most rapidly- 

 growing cities of the Union, noted primarily 

 for its prominence in the grain and live-stock 

 markets. It is situated on the western border 

 of the state, in Jackson County, at the point 

 where the Missouri River is joined by the Kan- 

 sas (or Kaw) River and ceases to be the western 

 boundary of the state, turning its course east- 

 ward. Adjoining the city on the west is Kansas 

 City, Kan. The two towns, in different states, 

 form one great metropolitan district. Saint 

 Louis is 280 miles southeast and Chicago is 483 

 miles northeast, by rail. Through the service of 

 the following thirteen railway trunk lines the 

 city has become one of the largest distributing 

 points in the United States: The Atchison, 

 Topeka & Santa Fe; Chicago, Burlington & 

 Quincy ; Chicago & Alton ; Chicago Great West- 

 ern; Chicago, Milwaukee & Saint Paul; Chi- 

 cago, Rock Island & Pacific; Kansas City 

 Southern ; Missouri Pacific ; Missouri, Kansas & 

 Texas; Quincy Omaha & Kansas City; Saint 

 Louis & San Francisco; Union Pacific, and 

 Wabash. 



The Kansas City, Mexico & Orient and the 

 Missouri, Oklahoma & Gulf railways are in 

 course of construction to this point. Eight 

 interurban lines are in operation to the city. 

 To facilitate railroad transit, four fine bridges 

 have been constructed across the river. Water 

 transportation to the sea, by way of the Mis- 

 souri and Mississippi rivers, is provided by the 

 Kansas City-Missouri Navigation Company. 

 The foreign born comprise only ten per cent 

 of the population, which increased from 248,- 

 381 in 1910 to 297,847 (Federal estimate) in 

 1916. In number of inhabitants the city ranks 

 twenty-first among the cities of the United 

 States. It has an area of fifty-eight and one- 

 half square miles. 



Commerce and Industry. Kansas City, Mo., 

 Kansas City, Kan., and Rosedale, Kan., to- 

 gether known locally as Greater Kansas City 



(population in 1915 exceeding 405,000), are all 

 one family industrially and commercially, hav- 

 ing the same freight and passenger terminals, 

 the same street-car system and the same tele- 

 phone service. The strongest bond, however, 

 between Kansas City, Mo., and the sister city 

 in Kansas, is formed by their grain, live-stock 

 and meat-packing interests. The live-stock 

 industry of the two cities combined is second 

 only to that of Chicago. Among the cities 

 of the Union, Kansas City ranks first as a 

 winter-wheat market and third as a primary 

 grain market. It has an elevator capacity of 

 more than 18,000,000 bushels and the enormous 

 capital necessary for handling its grain busi- 

 ness, and it controls an extensive wholesale 

 and jobbing trade as the distributing point of 

 a rich agricultural territory to the west and 

 southwest. 



It is also a foremost hay, mule and lumber 

 market, and does an extensive business in coal, 

 lime, cement and flour, milling being one of 

 its rapidly-growing industries. An important 

 factor in the prosperity of the city in recent 

 years is its location near the great oil fields 

 in Oklahoma, and its nearness to raw material 

 and vast deposits of coal and its excellent 

 facilities for transportation have greatly stimu- 

 lated manufacturing. 



Parks and Boulevards. Since the early days 

 of the city, when settlers began to build homes 

 on the rugged bluffs towering above the river, 

 so much has been done to improve natural 

 surface conditions that Kansas City is now 

 classed with the most beautiful cities of the 

 Union. It is built on three terraces, the whole- 

 sale and manufacturing districts occupying the 

 lowest part, and the business section the eleva- 

 tion above, the two being connected by via- 

 ducts and tunnels. The upper part of the city 

 is reserved for the residential district, and here, 

 where hilly surface permits magnificent land- 

 scape treatment, possibly the greatest improve- 

 ment in the city is noticed. The park and 

 boulevard system of Kansas City, comprising 



