The History of our Public Schools
Wyandotte County, Kansas

Wyandot had no post office until 1857.  Before that time the people rode or walked to Westport Landing where the local captains deposited mail and freight on the river bank.  Passengers bound for the city of Westport went ashore there.  After 1863, the landing's name was changed to Kansas.

Several miles north of Westport Landing the town of Westport had sprung up.  Traders starting to Santa Fe stopped to buy supplies there before beginning the long journey over the Trail.  If you have been to St. Luke's Hospital, you have probably passed through Westport to get there.  Watch for the name Westport on shops along Forty-first Street east of the State Line.  There is also a street called Westport Road.

[Annotation:  Westport Landing was near what is today (Oct 2003) 3rd and Grand.
Map of E 3rd St At Grand Blvd
Kansas City, MO 64106]

A man named John C. McCoy owned a store in Westport in the days of the Santa Fe Trail.  It was difficult to get supplies.  Mr. McCoy decided to have his goods shipped by boat from St. Louis.  The captains would throw the merchandise on the rocks at the landing place.  The storekeeper plowed a road from Westport to the river and hauled his supplies over it.

Westport prospered until the Civil War and the coming of the railroad.  After that time trade slackened.  When the settlement of Kansas grew into the city of Kansas City and spread south from the river, Westport became part of it in 1899.

Westport, Missouri and the American Civil War

Jim Bridger's Store in Westport

Ewing-Boone Store in Westport

Westport Landing, 1850

Return to Index for "The Story of Kansas City, Kansas" by Nellie McGuinn