A guide to exploring Kansas City's French influences and history

A few hundred years ago, rather than “hello” or “howdy,” many folks living in and around the Kansas City area would have greeted each other with a hearty “bonjour.”

Like many cities along river corridors in the midwest, Kansas City shares a French heritage dating back to the 1700s. French fur trading families founded the first permanent white settlements in the area in the early 1800s, trading (and sometimes intermarrying) with Native American people, and established the basis for what would become the largest city in Missouri.

But unlike St. Louis, St. Joseph or New Orleans, that French heritage is a bit harder to spot nowadays. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of French culture to experience and French heritage to explore about town.

Bon voyage!