Kansas City

Kansas City, the second city of Missouri, and one of the great towns of the west, is situated on the south bank of the Missouri (here crossed by a fine railway bridge), where the river makes a sharp bend to the east, 283 miles by rail W. by N. of St. Louis. The notable part of the city is built upon a series of steep hills, but the site has been greatly improved by grading. Large sums have been spent in laying sewers and water and gas pipes; and cable-tramways extend in all directions, the lines having a total length of at least 35 miles. The state frontier-line bounds the city on the west, and consequently a large suburb on this side, also called Kansas City, is in the adjoining state of Kansas. This suburb, connected with Kansas City by a remarkable elevated railway, has a population of some 40,000, and contains great stock-yards and pork-packing establishments. The larger Missouri town possesses numerous fine streets, and handsome residences on the hills. Its public buildings include many well-designed churches, a fine United States court-house, the imposing building of the Board of Trade, and several hospitals; there are two medical colleges here, and about thirty public schools. The city is the terminus of a number of important railways, and is a principal distributing centre for the rich agricultural region to the south and west. The sales of farming implements alone in 1887 reached 15,000,000. There are great grain-elevators and stock-yards, and pork-packing is a principal industry; while the manufactories, mostly in the lower section of the city, turn out railroad iron and car-wheels, shot, flour, beer, butterine, soap, furniture, &c. Pop. (1860) 4418; (1870) 32,260; (1880) 55,785; (1890) 132,618. The assessed valuation in this last year was 53,017,290. See a paper by Charles Dudley Warner in Harper for October 1888.