Originally Posted by TransWorld

KCMO was established and named before Kansas became a state. It was named for the Kansa Indian Tribe. Later, 6 small villages on the Kansas Side formed a town of KCK, hoping to grow on the coat tails of the bigger city in Missouri. It did not. It has always been lower middle class neighborhoods and looked down upon.

My father grew up in KCK. His father worked on the hog kill floor of Armour Packing Company and was one of the few who could read and write.

I grew up in KCMO, half way between downtown KCMO and MCI airport. When my parents built, north of downtown was all unincorporated, we were red headed step children and resented “Kansas City PROPER” downtown and to the south who got all of our tax revenue and delivered little services. They built before MCI airport existed.

Don’t even get me started about the Jayhawkers of Free Kansas and the Bushwackers of Slave (but not seceding) Missouri during the Civil War. Them’s still fighting words.