Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city had an estimated population of 488,943 in 2017, making it the 37th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Kansas–Missouri state line. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a Missouri River port at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west. On June 1, 1850 the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.
History of the Kansas City metropolitan area
Kansas enacted statewide prohibition on February 19, 1881. In Kansas City, however, residents on the Kansas side of the area who wished to drink simply went across the state line to Kansas City, Missouri, to the many saloons and taverns there. 12th Street in Downtown Kansas City was known for its large number of taverns. Despite the ongoing temperance movement, however, Missouri never enacted statewide prohibition. In fact, Missourians actually "rejected" statewide prohibition in three separate referenda in 1910, 1912, and 1918, all of which were brought by citizens' initiative petitions. In April 1901, famous temperance crusader Carrie A. Nation came to Kansas City and began to enter the saloons on 12th Street and smash liquor bottles with her hatchet. When she entered Flynn's Saloon on April 15, she promptly was arrested, hauled into Police Court (known today as the Municipal Court of Kansas City), fined $500 ($11,500 in 2006 dollars), and ordered by a judge to leave Kansas City and never return.