Bubbly Kansas City is America’s Fountain capital

Kansas City, the Midwest city that straddles the Missouri and Kansas state lines has another claim to fame aside from the many barbecue-themed eating houses for which it is best known: it boasts more public fountains than any other city in the world (except possibly Rome).

The exact number of fountains is not known as new public and private fountains are added regularly, but, the City of Fountains Foundation, which keeps a database of Kansas City fountains at www.kcfountains.org, currently lists more than 200 fountains that flow in Kansas City.

They range from the large and majestic to the small and whimsical, each with a character all its own.

The city's obsession with fountains may have to do with the importance of water to the city's development. Kansas City is located where the Kansas and Missouri rivers meet and many arrived there by steamboat to begin their overland journeys west.

Water, or the ability to get over it, was also important in the city's growth.  Kansas City was the first city to build a railroad bridge over the Missouri River (the Hannibal Bridge in 1869), ensuring that Kansas City would become the major city in the region.

www.TravelKs.com