Westport | |
|---|---|
Neighborhood | |
 Wagon trail replica in Westport | |
| Coordinates: 39°3′12″N 94°35′31″W / 39.05333°N 94.59194°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Missouri |
| County | Jackson |
| Website | https://westportkcmo.com/ |
Westport is a historic neighborhood and a main entertainment district in Kansas City, Missouri.
In the early 1800s, West Port was settled by a group led by American pioneer and tribal missionary Reverend Isaac McCoy, who brought his son John Calvin McCoy as surveyor, and his son-in-law Reverend Johnston Lykins who bought the land. To compete with Independence to the east, and with veteran pioneering trader François Chouteau to the north, John McCoy forged a road from West Port four miles (6.4 km) north to a Missouri River landing rock next to Chouteau's landing. McCoy's West Port Landing soon combined in the 1830s with Chouteau's Town atop the levee bluff to form the settlement called Kansas. That was incorporated as the City of Kansas, which allied with the shared origin of West Port and boomed. West Port became a gateway to the westward expansion trails through Kansas Territory, and for border ruffians into Bleeding Kansas. It suffered the American Civil War's Battle of Westport in October 1864, and wagon trails became obsolete to distant railroads, so West Port declined to rural town status. The City of Kansas became Kansas City in 1889, which annexed Westport in 1897. Historical sites include Kelly's Westport Inn, the oldest surviving building in Kansas City.