The Municipal Auditorium, nicknamed the Municipal, is a historic event center in Kansas City. The Art Deco structure was built in the 1930s as part of a Ten Year Plan to revive the city’s economy with construction jobs and new public buildings. Over the decades it has hosted many community and national events, including national basketball championship games and two speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, the historic structure is part of the overall Kansas City Convention Center Complex.
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, occupies about one-third of the College Basketball Experience at the Sprint Center. This hall of fame compliments the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame by recognizing coaches, players, and teams that have made significant contributions to college basketball. Visitors can honor college basketball legends and learn about the history of the game by not just observing but by experiencing college basketball for themselves.
Starting in the mid 1880s, this site was home to Association Park where the Kansas City Cowboys of the National League played home games from 30 April to 18 September in 1886. Two years later, in 1888, the Cowboys joined another major league, the American Association. A local newspaper that had eagerly praised the creation of the ballpark soon referred to it as the worst in the country owing to it's low-lying and swampy land--the result of building over what had once been in the pond. The street boundaries of the ballpark were from Lydia Avenue (east, first base) to Sixth Street (south, third base) to John Street and Tracy Avenue (west, left field) to and Independence Avenue (north, right field). The infield of the former ballpark is now the home of the Al-Taqwa Islamic Center.
Located near the founding site of the Negro Leagues, this museum preserves and shares the history of African Americans in baseball from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement when MLB teams and Southern minor league teams began to hire Black players, coaches, and front office personnel. The museum includes a replica of Kansas City's Muehlebach Stadium with statues of the game's greatest players. Visitors begin their tour with a documentary film narrated by actor James Earl Jones that shares the general history of Black baseball and the Negro Leagues. The museum then follows a timeline, created by historian and co-founder Larry Lester, that places the history of the Negro Leagues within the larger narrative of American history. Other founders included Phil Dixon, Buck O'Neil, Alfred Surratt, Sr., Bob Motley and Horace Peterson. Static exhibits include original equipment, jerseys, photographs, and several interactive displays. The museum concludes with exhibits about the hiring of Black coaches and managers, and a gift shop that includes replica jerseys, books, pennants, and posters.
Located on the side of the historic Paseo YMCA where the Negro Leagues were founded in 1920, this mural depicts members of the Kansas City Monarchs along with team owner J. L. Wilkinson. A second and larger mural honors one of the most influential baseball lives of the 20th century, Hall of Famer John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil. The players called O'Neil "Skip," a term of respect for the man who served as team captain and later manager of the Monarchs, a veritable Mothership that sent more Negro League veterans to the once white-only Major Leagues than any other team in history. O'Neil shaped the baseball careers of major leaguers such as George Altman, Gene Baker, Ernie Banks, Willard “Home Run” Brown, J.C. Hartman, Pancho Herrera, Elston Howard, Connie Johnson, Sweet Lou Johnson, Hank Mason, Satchel Paige, Hank Thompson and Bob Thurman, to name a few. O'Neil played in four East-West All-Star Games in three seasons and two Negro World Series, 1942 and 1946.
Kansas City's Muehlebach Field was built at this location in 1923 at a cost of $400,000 to the George Muehlebach Brewing Company. The stadium was built for the Kansas City Blues of Major League Baseball's American Association. The ballpark was also home to the Kansas City Monarchs, the longest-operating and arguably the most successful franchise in Negro League history. From 1923 to 1955, the stadium housed the Monarchs and also featured four Colored World Series. In addition, the stadium was home to three NFL teams throughout its history. The stadium changed its name to Municipal Stadium in 1955 when it became home to the Kansas City Athletics, a team that was part of Major League Baseball's American League between 1955 and 1967. The Athletics left Kansas City for Oakland in 1968 but Municipal Stadium once again hosted Major League baseball when Kansas City and Seattle secured expansion teams in 1969. The Kansas City Royals called Municipal Stadium home for two years, moving to Royals Stadium (known as Kaufmann Stadium today) in 1971. Municipal Stadium also hosted home games of the Kansas City Chiefs between 1963 and the creation of Arrowhead Stadium in 1971. Today, the ballpark is gone and the area is home to several private residences, but there is a small park known as Monarch Plaze that recognizes the history of the field.
The second version of Association Park was home to the minor league Kansas City Blues of the American Association from 1902 to 1922. The park was also home to the major league Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1922. A semi-pro multi-racial team called the All Nations played here in 1916 and 1917. Street boundaries were Prospect Avenue (east, left field); East 20th Street (south, right field); Olive Street (west, first base); and railroad tracks (north, third base). Today it is known as Blues Park, a playground with an historical marker honoring the original ballfield.
Although golf dates back to middle of the 15th century in Scotland, the sport didn’t arrive in the United States until 1888. At the time, the first course rested in New York, but golf quickly drew traction as a popular sport and it soon spread west. Known as the third oldest golf course west of the Mississippi, the informal Kenwood Golf Links brought the sport to Kansas City. The course was built in Hyde Park by Scottish immigrants in 1894, and it stretched between 34th and 36th streets and from Gillham to Charlotte. According to the Historical Marker inscription, the ninth hole of this course ended in the backyard of the famous architect and writer, Henry Van Brunt. Two years after play began at the and with the popularity of the sport growing, the Kenwood Golf Links reorganized into the Kansas City Country Club.
Opened in 1910 by sporting goods retailers Arthur F. Gordon and Hugo M. Koppel, this ballpark operated until 1917 and was notorious for flooding. Known initially as Gordon and Koppel Field and later as Federal League Park, this stadium hosted baseball games as well as football, including a legendary game between the University of Kansas and University of Missouri. The stadium was just south of what was then 47th Street and home to the Kansas City Packers baseball team when they joined the Federal league in the spring of 1913. The Federal League was short-lived, lasting only two seasons, but during those years it was one of three organizations whose members were considered a Major League team. The Packers’ first game was played on 16 April 1914 and the team's last game was played on 28 September 1915.
Originally known as the Catholic Youth Council Athletic Field, Satchel Paige Memorial Stadium is situated on East 51st Street near Swope Parkway. At the age of 75 Satchel Paige made his last public appearance on 5 June 1982. Only three days before his death and speaking from a wheelchair with the aid of a respirator, the future Hall of Famer thanked the crowd who had gathered at the rededication of the $250,000 renovated Satchel Paige Memorial Stadium. On that day, Paige greeted numerous well-wishers. The baseball diamond is surrounded by concrete bleachers with an awning overhead and a small press box at the back. The stadium is part of the Kansas City Parks Department's Cultural Mall, along with the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Center, the Spirit of Freedom Fountain, and a nearby public garden. Initial development of the site began in the early 1900s, with the construction of athletic fields maintained by a group known as the Kansas City Field Club. The stadium was renamed in honor of the famed Monarchs pitcher after the city purchased it from the Catholic Youth Council. The stadium has played host to numerous leagues and smaller games. In 2012, the field was renovated as part of Major League Baseball's All Star Legacy Project. Efforts to touch up or improve the structures surrounding the field, including the bleachers and awnings, have been ongoing since 2019.
Named in symbolic honor of its home team, Arrowhead Stadium has been the home to the National Football League franchise the Kansas City Chiefs since its opening in 1972. After the Chiefs' arrival to Kansas City in 1963, they spent years sharing Municipal Stadium with the city’s Major League Baseball teams. To withstand the growing fan base of the two sports, the Truman Sports Complex was concepted as a dual-stadium complex with side-by-side baseball and football stadiums. Arrowhead Stadium opened on August 12, 1972 with a nearly sell-out crowd, and since then, enthusiasm for the Chiefs has continued to grow. Known as the loudest stadium in the world, Chiefs fans at Arrowhead set the Guinness World Record in 2014 at 142.2 decibels. Arrowhead Stadium offers one of the most energetic sports experiences in the nation and is also host to collegiate football games, music performances, festivals and events.
Kauffman Stadium opened in 1973 and is home to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. It was built to replace Municipal Stadium, which was constructed in the 1920s and was home to the Kansas City Blues and the Kansas City Monarchs. Kauffman Stadium is part of the Truman Sports Complex along with Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. The stadium first opened as Royals Stadium but since 1993, the ballpark has been named in honor of the late Ewing Kauffman, the founder and first owner of the Royals, as well as a leading businessman and philanthropist in the Kansas City area. Upon his passing, Kauffman donated the team to the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation under the condition that the team would be sold to owners who would keep the team in Kansas City with all proceeds from the sale of the team benefiting local charities. The stadium is well known for the water fountains along the outfield fence which formed the largest privately-funded water fountain in the world when the stadium opened. The stadium also features a ten-story scoreboard topped by a gold crown that can be seen by traffic along I-70.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This tour includes current and historic ballparks and arenas as well as museums dedicated to the history of sport. The tour includes the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, and former venues such as Muehlebach Field before concluding at the current home of the Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs, Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium.
