Kansas City (Kansas) is a city in northeastern Kansas and seat of Wyandotte County. The city is located at the confluence of the Kansas (Kaw) River and the Missouri River. The city is next to Kansas City, Missouri, in which it features a high degree of economic interdependence; the cities together are at the center of one of the primary metropolitan regions of the central United States. Kansas City is a commercial, manufacturing, and distribution center for the surrounding crop-farming and livestock-raising area. Leading manufactures include processed food (especially meat), automobiles, building materials, telecommunications equipment, machinery, chemicals, and refined petroleum.
The city is the site of the Medical Center (founded within 1905) of the University of Kansas and three junior colleges. Although most of the area's museums and interesting attractions are on the Missouri side of the state line, the attractions in Kansas are the National Agricultural Hall of Fame, displaying farm implements and machinery; the Shawnee Indian Methodist Mission, dating from 1830; Woodlands, a track for greyhound racing; and Grinder House, a home constructed in 1867 that housed the first civilian post office in the Kansas Territory. A 19th-century Native American cemetery has been preserved in downtown Kansas City. A Renaissance Festival is held yearly.
Settled in 1843 by the Wyandot people, the site was sold to the federal government in 1855. The community of Wyandotte was plotted two years after and incorporated as a city in 1859. The area developed as a major cattle market and meat-packing center after 1869, when Wyandotte became a station on the first transcontinental railroad. During 1886 the communities of Wyandotte, Armstrong, and Armourdale were joined to build Kansas City.
Later, adjoining settlements such as Argentine, Quindaro, Rosedale, and Turner were annexed by the city. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the cities and towns that comprise Kansas City's suburban area developed their very own industries, businesses, and corporate bases. Consequently, the population of the city declined, while nearby suburban communities progressed. Kansas City is named for the state, which in turn took its name from the Kansa people.
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