The history of Kansas City, Missouri, dates to the early 1800s. This period was when the French fur traders, led by François Chouteau, arrived by the Missouri River and constructed rough cabins along the river. These French fur traders were the first permanent settlers in the area in 1821. Kansas City was chartered as a town on June 1, 1850, and was named for the Kansa Indians. On March 28, 1853, Kansas was later incorporated as a city and became Kansas City under an 1889 charter to differentiate it from the territory. The population of Kansas City boomed after the Civil War when many railways and the first bridge across the Missouri River were completed. The increase in population came with significant downtown development, and the wealthy and influential built their mansions on Quality Hill. The center of trade became Walnut and The City Market at 4th, as people gathered in those locations to buy and sell goods. The West Bottoms was the hub of the burgeoning cattle industry, which included warehouses, stockyards, and packing houses. As a result, Kansas City experienced economic and population growth, which continued from the last decades of the 19th century till the early 20th century. This was the era of prosperity that brought a building boom, which resulted in several iconic Kansas City buildings, including The New York Life Building in 1890, The Board of Trade Building in 1888, The Emery Bird Thayer building in 1890, The Convention Hall in 1899. Kansas City, Missouri, remains a developed and growing city to date.

Restaurant Scene
Food food food! No one would love to live in a city with little or no restaurants. Fortunately, Kansas City has thousands of restaurants serving different styles of cuisines. The city is known for the Kansas City-style barbecue (the world's best barbecue), Kansas City strip steak, and craft breweries.

Are you craving some steaks? Dine-in at the Golden Ox steak house in the West Bottoms for the tasty Kansas City strip steak. It is referred to as one of the most famous foods in the city, and a bite of this trophy steak will leave you craving for more. If you would like to grill the strip steak yourself, here are two local ranches in the Northland with the best steaks ever tasted: the Upper Cut and KC Cattle Company.

If you love Italian foods, one of the famous foods in Kansas City is the Chicken Spiedini, a traditional Italian food invented in 1989 by Mike Garozzo. The Chicken is marinated with olive oil, basil, garlic, and breadcrumbs for about six hours, then rolled and skewered. Restaurants finish up the preparation using methods of their choice. Exceptional restaurants in the city include The Original Arthur Bryant's BBQ, Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room, La Bodega, Cascone's, 801 Chophouse, and Novel Restaurant.

Parks
Kansas City's beautiful movement, which began in 1884, led to George E.Kessler's design of the parks and boulevards system by 1895. The city has 132 miles of boulevards and parkways, 152 ball diamonds, 214 urban parks, 105 tennis courts, and more. Everyone wants to live in a city that has beautiful parks so that they get to enjoy outdoor activities with friends and family.

The largest park in the city is Swope Park. It is also one of the largest municipal parks in the United States, with a total area of 3 square miles which is more than twice the size of New York City's Central Park. Also, the park has a zoo, wildlife rescue center, a woodland nature, two lakes, two golf courses, a theater, and several picnic grounds. Swope Park houses a lot of Kansas City's finest attractions, and it hosts over 2 million visitors annually.

You can also head to Vivion Rd in Kansas City North, Missouri, with your kids to see gigantic animals like a penguin, kangaroo, giraffe, and elephant at the Penguin Park. Other fun parks in the city are Jacob L. Loose Park, Penn Valley Park, Waterworks Park, and William E. Macken Park.