The Nighthawks Orchestra/Band was a musical group formed in the early 1920s by Carleton Coon and Joe Sanders. Originating in the Plantation Grill at the Muehlebach Hotel, the Nighthawks gained world-wide fame as WDAF broadcast their shows on the radio throughout the Western Hemisphere.
No. The Kansas City Stockyards, after 120 years in business, closed October 1991. Although no longer existing, the stockyards and all its concomitant industries should never be forgotten.
The identity of the oldest building in Kansas City has been hotly debated. Neither one of the prime candidates was originally in Kansas City but in Westport, a separate town until 1897. Both buildings were constructed within a few months of each other in 1850.
The origin of modern-day Kansas City, Missouri, dates back to the 1830s, when John McCoy founded the settlement of Westport at what is now Westport Road and Pennsylvania Avenue. McCoy chose this area to open an outfitting store for pioneers on the Santa Fe Trail. He then established a river boat landing on the bluffs at the bend in the Missouri River, just two miles north of his settlement. This Westport Landing was connected to the settlement of Westport by road and sparked development in the area.
The oldest book currently held in the MVSC is Mathematical tables penned by Sir Jonas Moore in 1653. As you may suppose, the pages within cover a great breadth and depth of mathematical computations. Longtime Kansas City school superintendent J. M.
The City of Fountains Foundation has registered 200 fountains in the metropolitan area. This tally does not include the numerous fountains at corporation and sub-division entrances, office atriums, private gardens and homes.
Newspapers can be a gold mine of historical and genealogical information, but are not always easy to find and use. While many libraries and archives have some amount of physical newspapers in their collections, digitized and microfilmed versions are preferred for public use and long-term preservation. The following is an overview of accessing newspapers printed in the Kansas City area and region.
Yes. Perhaps the most famous explorers to ever spend time in the area were Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and their Corps of Discovery expedition in June 1804. After following the Missouri River west for a few weeks, the group camped at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers - known as Kaw Point - for three days, making notes about the area and replinishing supplies before continuing their journey. For addtional information on the expedition, MVSC maintains a list of available resources, as well as an essay on the food the group encountered.
The two most prominent companies owned by Pendergast were Ready Mixed Concrete Co. and the T. J. Pendergast Liquor Distributing Co.
On August 17, 1927, less than three months after Charles A. Lindbergh’s historic solo flight from New York to Paris, Lindbergh landed his famous “Spirit of St. Louis” aircraft in Kansas City. The occasion—the dedication of Kansas City’s newest airport.