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The Kansas City Stockyards in the West Bottoms west of downtown Kansas City, Missouri flourished from 1871 until closing in 1991. According to the Kansas City Kansan {Link without Title} : "In the heyday year of 1923, 2,631,808 cattle were received at the Kansas City yards. Of these, 1,194,527 were purchased for use in Kansas City by the packing houses and local markets; the remainder or about 55 percent was shipped out. Of 2,736,174 hogs received, 879,031 were shipped out; of 377,038 calves, 199,084 were shipped out; of 1,165,606 sheep, 445,539 were shipped and of 42,987 horses and mules, all but 1,664 were shipped out." The stockyards flourished through the 1940s. At its peak only the Union Stock Yards in Chicago was bigger. Business dropped off dramatically after the Great Flood Of 1951 which devastated the stockyards and associated businesses and Slaughterhouses . The stockyards straddled the state line across the Kansas river with two thirds of it in Kansas and one third in Missouri. At its peak 16 railroads converged at the yards. In the 1974 the City of Kansas City and the American Royal which hosts an annual 6-week livestock show tried to reclaim the area by building Kemper Arena on the former stockyards land. The closing of the stockyards ended Kansas City's overt ties to being a cowtown. The stockyards biggest heritage is the huge American Royal Agricultural Show held each October and November nearby at Kemper Arena . EXTERNAL LINKS Kansas City Star Article on 1991 Closing of Stockyards {Link without Title} |
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