Kansas City Photos

Home to jazz, blues and barbeque, Kansas City is a vibrant town with a rich history. The largest city in Missouri, Kansas City offers residents and visitors diverse architecture, a friendly atmosphere, great food and music. The progress of this great Midwestern city has been well documented in Kansas City photos.

While Kansas City is not known for skyscraper-style architecture, a look at Kansas City photos reveals several prominent buildings. Completed in 1988, One Kansas City Place stands over 600 feet above downtown Kansas City. The first high rise style building in downtown Kansas City was built in 1923. The Mark Twain Building, named for the famous author Samuel Clements, stands over 280 feet tall.

Kansas City is affectionately referred to as the City of Fountains. Some 200 water fountains are located throughout the city and are a commonly seen feature in may Kansas City photos. The preservation of many landmark buildings has earned Kansas City other popular nicknames including Paris of the Plains.

The city's location at the confluence of the Kansas River and the Missouri River made the area a prime location for trade between the east and western part of the country. Incorporated in 1853, the city became a focal point of tension during the American Civil War. Elements of the anti-slavery North and the pro-slavery South laid claim to the political future of the Missouri Territory and to the city itself.