The West Bottoms is a historic industrial neighborhood of

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, immediately west of downtown and straddling the border of Kansas City, Missouri and

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

. At the confluence of the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

and the

Kansas River The Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, is a meandering river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is potentially the southwestern most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is sometimes in turn the northwesternmost portion of ...

, it faces Kaw Point, an early campsite of the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

. The region was originally settled by the native tribes, and this spot was permanently settled as French Bottoms in the early 1800s by François Chouteau for his trade with the tribes and early

American pioneer American pioneers, also known as American settlers, were European American,Asian American, and African American settlers who migrated westward from the British Thirteen Colonies and later the United States of America to settle and develop areas ...

s. It is one of the oldest areas of the metro along with Westport. Its neighboring Quality Hill neighborhood is a historical center of the pioneer Town of Kansas, which became Kansas City, Missouri. The West Bottoms is mostly characterized by brick high-rise historical industrial buildings, built in the early 1900s for major regional stockyards, train yards, and factories. Most of these were converted into art galleries, restaurants, shops, apartments, and corporate offices. Its antique shops and haunted house attractions are very popular.

History

Founding and early history

The West Bottoms was founded as a livestock and meatpacking district in 1871. It was home to the Kansas City Live Stock Exchange, Kansas City Stockyards, and the city's first Union railway depot. The stockyards occupied more than two hundred acres and were surrounded by hotels, offices, shops, and banks for cattle buyers and cowboys. As the industrial center of Kansas City, the West Bottoms attracted unskilled laborers seeking employment. Recent European immigrants, native-born white and African Americans arrived to work in West Bottoms factories and settled in tenements and boarding houses there. The area became known as a red-light district, with numerous saloons, gambling dens, and brothels catering to the high volume of railway passengers passing through Kansas City daily. In 1876, James "Jim" Pendergast, son of Irish immigrants who had settled in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri, Buchanan County, Missouri, United States. A small portion of the city extends north into Andrew County, Missouri, Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the princ ...

, moved to the West Bottoms to find employment. Pendergast lived in boarding houses and worked in meatpacking and then in several iron foundries in the neighborhood. In 1881, Pendergast purchased the American House saloon and hotel on St. Louis Avenue. This West Bottoms establishment served as a gambling den, informal bank, and headquarters for political organizing for Jim and his brother

Tom Pendergast Thomas Joseph Pendergast (July 22, 1872 – January 26, 1945), also known as T. J. Pendergast, was an American political boss who controlled Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri, from 1925 to 1939. Pendergast only briefly held elected ...

, architects of the Pendergast political machine that controlled Kansas City for the next four decades. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, immigrants from Eastern and Central Europe were recruited to work in West Bottoms meatpacking facilities due to strikes by local workers. These immigrants first settled in an area known as the "Strawberry Patch" near the meatpacking plants. Then, after the flood of 1903, they founded the nearby historic neighborhood of Strawberry Hill uphill from the "Strawberry Patch." Serbs founded St. George Serbian Orthodox Church on April 18, 1906. The community purchased two houses on North 1st Street. One was converted to a church and the other used as a parish home. The parish stayed in the West Bottoms until 1925.

World War II and postwar history

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Darby Steel Corporation built most of the landing craft tanks (LCTs) for various amphibious invasions. The plant built one craft per day and floated them more than down the Missouri and

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

s to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, prompting their "Prairie Ships" nickname. Darby's plant at the mouth of the Kansas River could hold eight 135í LCTs and 16 LCMs in various stages of construction. The American Royal livestock show at

Kemper Arena Hy-Vee Arena, previously known as Kemper Arena, is an indoor arena located in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to conversion to a youth sports and community gymnasium facility, Kemper Arena was previously a 19,500-seat professional sports arena. It ...

was the site of the

1976 Republican National Convention The 1976 Republican National Convention was a United States political convention of the Republican Party that met from August 16 to August 19, 1976, to select the party's nominees for president and vice president. Held in Kemper Arena in Kansa ...

Historic floods

The low-lying area of the West Bottoms, close to the Missouri River, has always been prone to floods. In 1903, a major flood damaged West Bottoms businesses, shut down water and power in the city, and persuaded developers to choose a new location for the Union station railway depot. In 1946, construction began on a $1.5 billion flood wall to protect the meatpacking and livestock business, as part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program. However, the Great Flood of 1951 severely damaged the West Bottoms stockyards, and the meatpacking industry in Kansas City never fully recovered.

Notable people

* Ed Asner, actor

References

{{Reflist Economy of Kansas City, Missouri Neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri Pendergast era