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24-834: The American Royal began as a cattle show in 1899 in the Kansas City Stockyards . The name "American Royal" was inspired by a 1901 editorial in beef industry publication Kansas City Drovers Telegram titled "Call it the American Royal". The editorial said the Royal Agricultural Society of England has a similar event called the Royal Show . The first American Royal horse show was added in 1907, and has grown to include five shows ( Quarter Horse Show , Hunter-Jumper Horse Show , Arabian Horse Show , American Saddlebred , Youth Horse Show , and

48-752: A Cutting Horse show). In 1926, the American Royal invited vocational agriculture students to judge livestock. During the 1928 American Royal, 33 of the students meeting at the Baltimore Hotel in downtown Kansas City formed the Future Farmers of America . Now, the National FFA Organization has 579,678 members. The group proceeded to hold a convention every year during the Royal in Kansas City until 1998. The original home of

72-525: A red-light district , with numerous saloons, gambling dens, and brothels catering to the high volume of railway passengers passing through Kansas City daily. In 1876, James "Jim" Pendergast , son of Irish immigrants who had settled in St. Joseph, Missouri , moved to the West Bottoms to find employment. Pendergast lived in boarding houses and worked in meatpacking and then in several iron foundries in

96-471: A theater, a full-service restaurant and concession stand, and the administrative offices. In 1993, the new facilities were flooded but were restored in time for the American Royal livestock shows to continue late that year. Hale Arena has since been replaced by Hy-Vee Arena and the Sprint Center as arenas where the livestock and rodeo shows are held each year. The barbecue competition had been held on

120-567: Is one of the oldest areas of the metro along with Westport . Its neighboring Quality Hill neighborhood is a historical center of the pioneer Town of Kansas, which became Kansas City, Missouri. The West Bottoms is mostly characterized by brick high-rise historical industrial buildings, built in the early 1900s for major regional stockyards, train yards, and factories. Most of these were converted into art galleries, restaurants, shops, apartments, and corporate offices. Its antique shops and haunted house attractions are very popular. The West Bottoms

144-711: The Santa Fe Trail and Oregon Trail following the Kansas River . The company went out of business in 1862 following the failure of its Pony Express business from St. Joseph, Missouri , to Sacramento, California . The stockyards were established in 1871 on the Kansas side of the Kansas River along the Kansas Pacific and Missouri Pacific railroad tracks. In 1878 it expanded from its original 13 acres (53,000 m ) to 55, added loading docks on both

168-560: The landing craft tanks (LCTs) for various amphibious invasions. The plant built one craft per day and floated them more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, Louisiana , prompting their "Prairie Ships" nickname. Darby's plant at the mouth of the Kansas River could hold eight 135í LCTs and 16 LCMs in various stages of construction. The American Royal livestock show at Kemper Arena

192-493: The "Strawberry Patch" near the meatpacking plants. Then, after the flood of 1903, they founded the nearby historic neighborhood of Strawberry Hill uphill from the "Strawberry Patch." Serbs founded St. George Serbian Orthodox Church on April 18, 1906. The community purchased two houses on North 1st Street. One was converted to a church and the other used as a parish home. The parish stayed in the West Bottoms until 1925. During World War II , Darby Steel Corporation built most of

216-646: The American Royal Association announced its relocation to Wyandotte County, Kansas. It had secured the land by December 2019. Groundbreaking was expected to start in early 2020. The complex was expected to open in November 2021. The American Royal is an annual eight-week season of barbecue competition, rodeos, livestock shows, equestrian events and agricultural activities benefiting youth and education. One of Kansas City's premier late-year events with annual economic impact of more than $ 62 million,

240-416: The American Royal was destroyed by fire in 1925 during an Automobile Show. The structure was rebuilt in time for the event that year and served as the center for events until the American Royal complex was built across from Kemper Arena in 1992. During World War II , the Royal complex was converted into a glider factory. No event was held in 1917–18 nor 1942–45. In 2011 American Royal officially "obtained

264-472: 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 the Kansas City Kansan : "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

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288-592: The Royal hosts the world's largest barbecue contest, one of the Midwest's largest livestock exhibitions, one of the top five ranked rodeos in the nation, and is home of the national championship horse competition. The barbecue contest is divided into several categories: brisket , pork ribs, pork shoulder, chicken, sausage, side dishes, and dessert. The American Royal is a not-for-profit, community volunteer-based service organization which raises funds for endowments contributions, sponsorships, and event revenues. In 2005,

312-539: The border of Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas . At the confluence of the Missouri River and the Kansas River , it faces Kaw Point , an early campsite of the Lewis and Clark Expedition . The region was originally settled by the native tribes , and this spot was permanently settled as French Bottoms in the early 1800s by François Chouteau for his trade with the tribes and early American pioneers . It

336-496: The complex grounds, but was moved to the Arrowhead Stadium parking lots in 2015 and then to Kansas Speedway in 2016. The American Royal Museum is open by appointment and for extended hours during the American Royal season. Exhibits include horses, veterinary medicine, the history of the American Royal, agriculture in Kansas City, and horse, rodeo and livestock show clothing, saddles, and memorabilia. In October 2016,

360-446: The developers of Kemper Arena announced that it would be called Hy-Vee Arena. The American Royal livestock show is moving to a new location in Kansas near Kansas Speedway . West Bottoms 39°06′10″N 94°36′12″W  /  39.102755°N 94.603441°W  / 39.102755; -94.603441 The West Bottoms is a historic industrial neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri , immediately west of downtown and straddling

384-409: 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-week American Royal agricultural show held each October and November nearby at Kemper Arena until 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,

408-566: The legal rights to the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2011". In 2020, some events moved online because of the COVID-19 pandemic . The new American Royal Complex was constructed in 1992 to replace the outdated facility constructed in 1926. The complex was designed by the engineering design firm Black and Veatch and constructed by Walton Construction. The new complex consists of a museum and visitor center, three exhibition halls, Hale Arena ,

432-716: The neighborhood. In 1881, Pendergast purchased the American House saloon and hotel on St. Louis Avenue. This West Bottoms establishment served as a gambling den, informal bank, and headquarters for political organizing for Jim and his brother Tom Pendergast , architects of the Pendergast political machine that controlled Kansas City for the next four decades. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, immigrants from Eastern and Central Europe were recruited to work in West Bottoms meatpacking facilities due to strikes by local workers . These immigrants first settled in an area known as

456-523: The organization contributed more than $ 1.3 million in the form of scholarships, educational awards, educational programs, community donations, competitive awards, and prize monies and premiums. Kansas City Stockyards The Kansas City Stockyards in the West Bottoms west of downtown Kansas City, Missouri flourished from 1871 until closing in 1991. Jay B. Dillingham was the President of

480-531: The stockyards and associated businesses and slaughterhouses . 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. In 1974 the City of Kansas City and the American Royal livestock show tried to reclaim the area by building Kemper Arena on

504-707: The stockyards from 1948 to its closing in 1991. The stockyards were built to provide better prices for livestock owners. 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 the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company which had outfitted travelers on

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528-707: Was founded as a livestock and meatpacking district in 1871. It was home to the Kansas City Live Stock Exchange , Kansas City Stockyards , and the city's first Union railway depot . The stockyards occupied more than two hundred acres and were surrounded by hotels, offices, shops, and banks for cattle buyers and cowboys. As the industrial center of Kansas City, the West Bottoms attracted unskilled laborers seeking employment. Recent European immigrants, native-born white and African Americans arrived to work in West Bottoms factories and settled in tenements and boarding houses there. The area became known as

552-601: 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 the Union Stock Yards in Chicago was bigger. Business dropped off dramatically after the Great Flood of 1951 which devastated

576-529: Was the site of the 1976 Republican National Convention . The low-lying area of the West Bottoms, close to the Missouri River, has always been prone to floods. In 1903, a major flood damaged West Bottoms businesses, shut down water and power in the city, and persuaded developers to choose a new location for the Union station railway depot. In 1946, construction began on a $ 1.5 billion flood wall to protect

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