John Calvin McCoy

John Calvin McCoy (1811-1889) is considered the "father of Kansas City."

McCoy was born in Vincennes, Indiana. He studied at Transylvania College in Lexington, Kentucky, during 1826-1827. He accompanied his parents Isaac and Christiana (Polk) McCoy to Kansas City to perform Baptist missionary work in 1830.

In 1833, John McCoy built a two-story cabin at what is today 444 Westport Road on the northeast corner of Pennsylvania. McCoy opened a store for travelers on the Santa Fe Trail and Oregon Trail. He named the area Westport because it was the last location before travelers ventured into the Territory of Kansas.

McCoy's store was three miles from the Missouri River in the hills away from the Missouri River which was prone to floods. He established a dock at a rocky point in the river between Main and Grand Street that came to be called Westport Landing. He followed a trail that was to become Broadway to reach it.

The dock proved to be quite popular but the land surrounding it belonged to a farmer. In 1850 he and other residents banded together to buy the farm. Their company was called the Town of Kansas because the port area was the last inhabitable area before the flood-prone confluence of the Kansas River and Missouri River.

A statue of McCoy is today in Pioneer Park at Westport and Broadway. Also depicted in the statue are Alexander Majors and Jim Bridger.

He is buried in Union Cemetery.

References

* [http://www.umkc.edu/whmckc/COLLECTIONS/IKC0296.HTM UMKC resources]
* [http://www.experiencekc.com/westport.html Experinece Kansas City history]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23491 Findagrave]