TheKansas City Stockyardsin theWest Bottomswest of downtownKansas City, Missouriflourished from 1871 until closing in 1991. Jay B. Dillinghamwas the President of the stockyards from 1948 to its closing in 1991.
History
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The stockyards were built to provide better prices for livestock owners.[citation needed]Previously, livestock owners west of Kansas City could only sell at whatever price the railroad offered. With the Kansas City Livestock Exchange and the Stockyards, cattle were sold to the highest bidder.
The stockyards were built around the facilities of theCentral Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Companywhich had outfitted travelers on theSanta Fe TrailandOregon Trailfollowing theKansas River.The company went out of business in 1862 following the failure of itsPony Expressbusiness fromSt. Joseph, Missouri,toSacramento, California.
The stockyards were established in 1871 on the Kansas side of theKansas Riveralong theKansas PacificandMissouri Pacificrailroad tracks. In 1878 it expanded from its original 13 acres (53,000 m2) to 55, added loading docks on both the Kansas and Missouri Pacific tracks, new sheds for hogs and sheep, and developed one of the largest horse and mule markets in the country.
According to theKansas City Kansan:[1] "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 theUnion Stock YardsinChicagowas bigger. Business dropped off dramatically after theGreat Flood of 1951which devastated the stockyards and associated businesses andslaughterhouses. After the flood, the stockyards never recovered.
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.
Recently
editIn 1974 the City of Kansas City and theAmerican Royallivestock show tried to reclaim the area by buildingKemper Arenaon the former stockyards land. The closing of the stockyards ended Kansas City's overt ties to being a cowtown. The stockyard's biggest heritage then became the annual six-weekAmerican Royalagricultural showheld each October and November nearby atKemper Arenauntil 2010. The naming rights to Kemper Arena were sold to Mosaic Life Care in 2016, but the healthcare company gave them back. In May 2018, the developers of Kemper Arena announced that it would be called Hy-Vee Arena.[2]The American Royal livestock show is moving to a new location in Kansas nearKansas Speedway.
References
edit- ^How KC became one of the great stock markets of the world(accessed June 23, 2010).
- ^"Kemper Arena will now be called Hy-Vee Arena".FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.2018-05-17.Retrieved2018-12-03.
Further reading
edit- Art Work on Eastern Kansas;Western Photogravure Company; 1900. (contains photos of stockyards)