The following is a timeline of the history of Kansas City, Missouri, United States.
19th century
1821 François Chouteau set up a permanent trading post. Missouri became the 24th state admitted to the Union. 1826 - Jackson County created. 1833 - John Calvin McCoy founded West Port. 1834 - Westport Landing established on the Missouri River. 1839 - Settlement named Town of Kansas after the local Kaw People. 1840 - City Market established. 1846 - Population: 700. 1849 - Cholera pandemic of 1849 killed half the settlers of the towns of Kansas and Westport. 1850 June 3: Town of Kansas formally organized municipality in Jackson County. Kelly's Westport Inn built. 1853 March 28: City of Kansas incorporated by Missouri. William S. Gregory elected as first mayor. 1854 First city council president, Johnston Lykins, became second mayor. Kansas City Journal-Post newspaper founded by a group of city fathers and businessmen. Bleeding Kansas - violent confrontations 1854-1859. 1855 - Harris-Kearney House was built in Westport. 1856 - Alexander Majors House built. 1857 Chamber of Commerce established. Union Cemetery founded. Historic Quality Hill neighborhood developed by Kersey Coates Lykins Mansion built at 12th and Broadway. (The city's first mansion.) 1858 John Wornall House built. Fr. Bernard Donnelly hires 300 Irish workers to carve streets out from the bluffs. 1859 - Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company sends first stagecoach to Denver. 1860 - Population: 4,418. 1861 - The American Civil War begins. 1863 Union Women's Prison collapses August 13, killing four women and injuring several more. Pro-Confederate bushwhackers cite this as justification for the Sacking of Lawrence. General Order No. 11 removes settlers south of Brush Creek. 1864 - October 23: Battle of Westport. 1865 Patrick Shannon becomes mayor. The American Civil War ends. Lincoln College Preparatory Academy founded. 1866 - St. Teresa's Academy established. 1867 March 1: First meeting of the Kansas City Public Schools Board of Education.Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.), July 4, 1897. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063615/1897-07-04/ed-1/seq-3/> Central High School established. The Kansas City Times was founded. Kansas City Fire Department established. 1868 - George Muehlebach Brewing Company founded. (Acquired by Schlitz in 1956.) 1869 - July 3: Hannibal Bridge over the Missouri River opens, first railroad bridge across the river. 1870 Elijah M. McGee becomes mayor. Coates Opera House built. (Burned down in 1901.) Population: 32,260. Tivoli Garden, a 6 acre beer garden at 24th & Main opens. (Closed 1879.) 1871 Kansas City Bar Library Assoc. formed. The Kansas City Stockyards established. 1872 - Elmwood Cemetery established. 1873 - First St. Patrick's Day parade. 1874 Kansas City Police Department created. St. Joseph Hospital opened. 1875 Old St. Patrick Oratory built. Fetterman Circulating Library. Gallup Map founded. 1879 - Lawrence F. Rieger Real Estate Broker (Now Kessinger Hunter) opens at 5th and Main. 1880 The Kansas City Star newspaper founded by William Rockhill Nelson and Samuel E. Morss. City Hospital opened. Population: 55,785. 1882 Kansas City Club founded. KCP&L installs electric lights. William Volker founded his home furnishings business. Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City opened. 1883 - Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception built. Golden dome added in 1960. 1884 Boss James Pendergast begins his political career. The Barstow School founded. 1885 Kansas City Art Institute founded, later attended by Walt Disney First overhead electric trolleys in the US used here. 1886 Bon Ami Company (now Faultless Brands) founded. Hyde Park subdivision begun. German Hospital (Research Medical Center) opens. First Hannibal Bridge severely damaged by a tornado. 1887 Kansas City Southern Railway founded. J. Rieger & Co. distillery originally founded. Freight House in the Crossroads was built. Original Chouteau Bridge completed. St. Mary's Episcopal Church building built. (Church formed 1857.) 1888 Forest Hill Cemetery founded. The Savoy Hotel opened. Original 8th Street cable car tunnel opened. 1889 Shook, Hardy & Bacon law firm founded. The city of Kansas City formed by merger of Westport and City of Kansas. Electric streetcars begin replacing cable cars. Kansas City Public Library building opens. Unity Church founded. 1890 Benjamin Holmes became mayor. New York Life Insurance Building becomes the city's first skyscraper. Population: 132,716. 1892 August Meyer appointed president of the city's first park board. Kansas City's Parks and Boulevard system is designed by George Kessler. First Court House built. Pencoyd Railroad Bridge built. 1893 City Hall built. Kansas City Athletic Club founded. The Progress Club built in Quality Hill as a social club for prominent Jewish gentlemen. 1895 - Kansas City School of Law founded. 1896 Kansas City Country Club founded. Swope Park created. 1897 City workhouse castle opened, old workhouse abandoned. Westport and Hyde Park annexed. Children's Mercy Hospital founded. 1898 - Burns & McDonnell founded. 1899 The American Royal began as a cattle show in the Kansas City Stockyards. Dr. Generous Henderson House completed. The Independent, Kansas City's society journal was founded.
20th century
1900s-1940s 1900 1900 Democratic National Convention held. Federal Building constructed. Folly Theater opened. Population: 163,752. 1902 Sunshine Biscuits (formerly The Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company) founded. First Orthodox synagogue built. Imperial Brewing Company Brewery opened on Southwest Boulevard. 1903 Flood of 1903: Kansas River flooded the West Bottoms. Automobile Club of Kansas City active. 1904 Penn Valley Park created. Improved 8th Street streetcar tunnel opened. (Closed 1956.) Mineral Hall residence completed in Hyde Park. 1906 - J.C. Nichols begins developing Country Club District neighborhoods. 1907 Lewis and Clark Viaduct built above the West Bottoms and over the Kaw River. Waddell & Harrington bridge engineering company founded. Electric Park opened at 46th and Paseo. R.A. Long Building completed at 10th and Grand. Westport High School established. 1908 General Hospital built. Henry Perry "Father of Kansas City barbecue" began business. 1909 Kansas City Zoo opens in Swope Park Waldo neighborhood annexed. 1910 Hall Brothers (Hallmark Cards) founded. Corinthian Hall was built by lumber baron Robert A. Long. Rockhurst University founded by Fr. Michael Dowling, S.J. Population: 248,381. 1911 Kansas City Star Building built. Stuart Hall Building built. ASB Bridge completed. Union Pacific Intermodal Bridge over the Kaw River completed. George Washington statue installed at Washington Square. 1912 - Grand Avenue Temple United Methodist Church built. (Church formed 1865.) 1913 City Center Bank founded (UMB Financial Corporation). Cook Paint and Varnish Company founded. 1914 Western Auto Building built. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Paseo YMCA open. Union Station opens, replacing the Union Depot. Mack B. Nelson mansion built at 55th and Ward Parkway. Katz Drug Store founded. 1915 HNTB Corporation founded. Helzberg Diamonds founded. Black & Veatch founded. Kansas City Polytechnic Institute established. The Hotel Muehlebach opened. 1916 - Argentine Carnegie Library built. 1917 Rockhurst College opens. Second Hannibal Bridge opens. 1918 - William Thornton Kemper Sr. acquires City Center Bank. 1919 Prohibition of alcohol begins. (1919-1933) Truman and Jacobson's haberdashery opens downtown. The Call African-American newspaper founded by Chester A. Franklin. Guadalupe Center founded. Donnelly Garment Company founded. The Imperial Brewing Company Brewery became the Boulevard Mill after Prohibition. 1920 Kansas City Monarchs baseball team established in the Negro National League. University of Kansas Medical Center established. AMC Theatres founded. (Originally Dubinsky Bros.) Brookside Shopping District opens. Population: 324,410. 1921 First annual installation of the Easter Bunnies on Country Club Plaza. Laugh-O-Gram Studio founded by Walt Disney (closes 1923) Monroe Hotel built. 1922 WPE radio begins broadcasting. The Scout statue in Penn Valley Park is dedicated as a permanent memorial to local Indian tribes. Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church built. 1923 Country Club Plaza opens. Russell Stover Candies founded. Fairyland Amusement Park opens at 75th & Prospect. 1924 New Rialto Theater opened 18th & Vine (Boone Theater) J.E. Dunn Construction founded. 1925 Political boss Tom Pendergast becomes Chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Party. Hotel President built. Loose Park created. Electric Park burned down after 18 years. 1926 Country Club Christian Church built at 61st & Ward Parkway. (Church formed 1920.) Blues shouter and KC native Big Joe Turner performs and tends bar at The Sunset. Ararat Shrine Temple and Bagdad Theatre open. Liberty Memorial dedicated to World War I veterans, opens 1927 Downtown Airport opens, dedicated by Charles Lindbergh Pioneer Mother Memorial in Penn Valley Park dedicated. Southwest High School established. 1928 Uptown Theater opened. June: 1928 Republican National Convention. The Blue Room jazz club opened in the Street Hotel at 18th and Paseo. (Closed 1954) Villa Serena Apartments (later, The Raphael Hotel) opened on the Country Club Plaza. F. W. Woolworth Building constructed. 1929 - Count Basie joins the Bennie Moten Orchestra to play Kansas City jazz. 1930 Bryce B. Smith became mayor. First official Plaza Lighting Ceremony took place on Thanksgiving night. Kansas City Scottish Rite Temple completed. 1931 Kansas City Power and Light Building constructed. Hotel Phillips built across from the Hotel Muehlbach. Prominent businesswoman, Nell Donnelly Reed was abducted. The Calvin Company began producing educational films. 1932 - First annual Plaza Art Fair held on the Country Club Plaza. 1933 Stroud's Restaurant opened. The Sunset Jazz Club opened. (Closed 1938) Kansas City Philharmonic established. (Dissolved 1982.) May 27: Mary McElroy, daughter of City Manager Henry F. McElroy, was kidnapped for ransom. June 17: Kansas City massacre at Union Station. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art opened. Jackson County Courthouse built. 1934 March 27: Election day violence leaves 4 dead, 11 wounded. Crime boss Johnny Lazia gunned down in front of his home. Swope Memorial Golf Course opens. 1936 - Holy Land Christian Mission founded. 1937 Kansas City City Hall rebuilt. Southeast High School established. Charlie "Bird" Parker played jazz with Jay McShann in Kansas City. 1939 - Tom Pendergast convicted of income tax evasion and served 15 months. 1940 John B. Gage becomes mayor. Kansas City Museum opens. 1942 - Hogan Preparatory Academy established. 1944 - Midwest Research Institute founded. 1945 Mining of SubTropolis underground storage began Harry S. Truman Bridge (railroad bridge) completed. Vice President Harry S Truman sworn in as President after Franklin Roosevelt dies. 1946 Linda Hall Library established. William E. Kemp becomes mayor. Gates Bar-B-Q founded by George and Arzelia Gates. 1948 Harry S Truman wins 1948 United States presidential election First national leadership conference of the Future Homemakers of America (FHA), now Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). 1949 The Golden Ox restaurant, originator of the Kansas City strip steak, opened. Crest Drive-In cinema active (approximate date). Richard Walker Bolling becomes U.S. representative for Missouri's 5th congressional district.