Kansas City Missouri MO Warrant Search

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, informally called 'KC' or 'KCMO,' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metro area in Missouri. It encompasses 318 square miles (820 km2) in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, which is to the city's east. As of February 6, 2009, it was revealed that the US census had underestimated Kansas City's population, and re-released it to be 475,830, with a metro area of over two million. Kansas City was founded in 1838 as the 'Town of Kansas' at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers and was incorporated in its present form in 1850. Situated opposite Kansas City, Kansas, the city was the location of several battles during the Civil War, including the Battle of Westport. The city is well known for its contributions to the musical styles of jazz and blues as well as to cuisine (Kansas City-style barbecue). Abbreviations and nicknames Kansas City, Missouri, is often abbreviated as 'KCMO', or simply 'KC' (both abbreviations often refer to the metro area). It is officially nicknamed the City of Fountains. With over 200 fountains, the city claims to have the second most in the world, just behind Rome. The fountains at Kauffman Stadium, commissioned by original Kansas City Royals owner Ewing Kauffman, are the largest privately-funded fountains in the world. The city also has more boulevards than any city except Paris and has been called 'Paris of the Plains.' Residents are known as Kansas Citians. It is sometimes referred to colloquially as the Heart of America as it is near both the population center of the United States and the geographic center of the 48 contiguous states. History Kansas City, Missouri officially incorporated on March 28, 1853. The territory straddling the border between Missouri and Kansas at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers was considered a good place to build settlements. Exploration and settlement The first documented European visit to Kansas City was Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont, who was also the first European to explore the lower Missouri River. Criticized for his handling of a Native American attack of Fort Détroit, he had deserted his post as commander of the fort and was avoiding the French authorities. Bourgmont lived with a Native American wife in the Missouri village about 90 miles (140 km) east near Brunswick, Missouri, and illegally traded furs.In order to clear his name, he wrote 'Exact Description of Louisiana, of Its Harbors, Lands and Rivers, and Names of the Indian Tribes That Occupy It, and the Commerce and Advantages to Be Derived Therefrom for the Establishment of a Colony' in 1713 followed in 1714 by 'The Route to Be Taken to Ascend the Missouri River.' In the documents he describes the junction of the 'Grande Riv[ière] des Cansez' and Missouri River, being the first to refer to them by those names. French cartographer Guillaume Delisle used the descriptions to make the first reasonably accurate map of the area.The Spanish took over the region in the Treaty of Paris (1763), but were not to play a major role in the area other than taxing and licensing all traffic on the Missouri River. The French continued their fur trade on the river under Spanish license. The Chouteau family operated under the Spanish license at St. Louis in the lower Missouri Valley as early as 1765, but it would be 1821 before the Chouteaus reached Kansas City, when François Chouteau established Chouteau's Landing.After the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark visited the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, noting it was a good place to build a fort.In 1831 a group of Mormons from New York settled in an area that would later be part of Kansas City. They built the first school within the current boundaries of the city, but were forced out by mob violence in 1833 and their settlement was left vacant.In 1833 John McCoy established West Port along the Santa Fe Trail, three miles (5 km) away from the river. Then in 1834, McCoy established Westport Landing on a bend in the Missouri River to serve as a landing point for West Port. Soon after, the Kansas Town Company, a group of investors, began to settle the area, taking their name from an English spelling of 'Cansez.' In 1850 the landing area was incorporated as the Town of Kansas.By that time, the Town of Kansas, Westport, and nearby Independence, had become critical points in America's westward expansion. Three major trails – the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon – all originated in Jackson County.On February 22, 1853, the City of Kansas was created with a newly elected mayor. It had an area of 0.70 square miles (1.8 km2) and a population of 2,500. The boundary lines at that time extended from the middle of the Missouri River south to what is now Ninth Street, and from Bluff Street on the west to a point between Holmes Road and Charlotte Street on the east. Civil War The Kansas City area was rife with animosity during the period popularly known as 'Bleeding Kansas', which immediately preceded the Civil War. Already situated just inside a state bitterly divided on the issue of slavery, southern sympathizers in the area immediately recognized the threat posed by neighboring Kansas petitioning to enter the Union under the new doctrine of popular sovereignty. Infuriated by the idea of Kansas becoming a free state, many from the area crossed into Kansas to sway the state towards allowing slavery, at first by ballot box and then by bloodshed.During the Civil War, the City of Kansas and its immediate environs were the focus of intense military activity. Although the First Battle of Independence in August 1862 resulted in a Confederate victory, the Southerners were unable to follow up their win in any significant fashion, as the City of Kansas was occupied by Union troops and proved too heavily fortified for them to assault. The Second Battle of Independence, part of Sterling Price's Missouri expedition of 1864, also resulted in a Confederate triumph. Once again the Southern victory proved hollow, as Price was decisively defeated in the pivotal Battle of Westport the next day, effectively ending Confederate efforts to occupy the city.Moreover, General Thomas Ewing, in response to a successful raid on nearby Lawrence, Kansas, led by William Quantrill, issued General Order No. 11, forcing the eviction of residents in four western Missouri counties—including Jackson—except those living in the city and nearby communities and those whose allegiance to the Union was certified by Ewing. Post-Civil War After the Civil War, the City of Kansas grew rapidly. The selection of the city over Leavenworth, Kansas, for the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad bridge over the Missouri River brought about significant growth. The population exploded after 1869, when the Hannibal Bridge, designed by Octave Chanute, opened. The boom prompted a name change to Kansas City in 1889 and the city limits to extend south and east. Westport became part of Kansas City on December 2, 1897. In 1900, Kansas City was the 22nd largest city in the country, with 163,752 residents.Kansas City, guided by architect George Kessler, became a forefront example of the City Beautiful movement, developing a network of boulevards and parks around the city. The relocation of Union Station to its current location in 1914 and the opening of the Liberty Memorial in 1923 gave the city two of its most identifiable landmarks. Robert A. Long, president of the Liberty Memorial Association, was a driving force in the funding for construction. Long was a long time resident and wealthy businessman having built the R.A. Long Building for the Long-Bell Lumber Company, his home, Corinthian Hall now the Kansas City Museum, and Longview Farm, he was known and respected.Further spurring Kansas City's growth was the opening of the innovative Country Club Plaza development by J.C. Nichols in 1925 as part of his Country Club District plan. Pendergast era At the turn of the century, political machines attempted to gain clout in the city, with the one led by Tom Pendergast emerging as the dominant machine by 1925. A new city charter passed that year made it easier for his Democratic Party machine to gain control of the city council (slimmed from 32 members to nine) and appoint a corrupt city manager.[citation needed] Several important buildings and structures were built during this time, including the Kansas City City Hall and the Jackson County Courthouse—both added new skyscrapers to the city's growing skyline. The machine fell in 1939 when Pendergast, riddled with health problems, pleaded guilty to tax evasion. The machine, however, gave rise to Harry S. Truman, who quickly became Kansas City's favorite son.[citation needed] Post-World War II development Kansas City's suburban development originally began with the implementation of streetcars in the early decades of the 20th century. The city's first suburbs were in the neighborhoods of Pendleton Heights and Quality Hill. After World War II, many relatively affluent residents left for suburbs like Johnson County, Kansas, and eastern Jackson County, Missouri. Many also went north of the Missouri River, where Kansas City had incorporated areas between the 1940s to 1970s. The population of the urban core significantly dipped, while the metropolitan area as a whole gained population.[citation needed]The sprawling characteristics of the city and it environs today mainly took shape after the race riots of the 1960s in Kansas City. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. was a catalyst for the 1968 Kansas City riot. At this time, slums were also beginning to form in the inner city, and those who could afford to leave, left for the suburbs and outer edges of the city. The post-World War II idea of suburbs and the 'American Dream' also contributed to the sprawl of the area. As the city's population continued to grow, the inner city also continued to decline.In 1940, the city had about 400,000 residents; by 2000, the same area was home to only about 180,000. From 1940 to 1960, the city more than doubled its physical size, while increasing its population by only about 75,000. By 1970, the city had a total area of approximately 316 square miles (820 km2), more than five times its size in 1940.The Hyatt Regency walkway collapse was a major disaster that occurred on 17 July 1981 killing 114 people and injuring more than 200 others during a tea dance. At the time it was the deadliest structural collapse in U.S. history. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 318.0 sq mi (823.7 km²). 313.5 sq mi (812.1 km²) of it is land and 4.5 sq mi (11.6 km²) of it (1.41%) is water. Much of urban Kansas City sits atop bluffs overlooking the rivers and river bottoms areas. Kansas City proper is bowl-shaped and is surrounded to the north and south by limestone and bedrock cliffs that were carved by glaciers. Kansas City is situated at the junction between the Dakota and Minnesota ice lobes during the maximum late Independence glaciation of the Pleistocene epoch. The Kansas and Missouri rivers cut wide valleys into the terrain when the glaciers melted and drained. A partially filled spillway valley crosses the central portion of Kansas City, Missouri. This valley is an eastward continuation of Turkey Creek valley. Union Station is located in this valley. The city's municipal water was recently rated the cleanest among the 50 largest cities in the United States, containing no detectable impurities.[citation needed] Climate Kansas City lies near the geographic center of the contiguous United States, at the confluence of the second largest river in the country, the Missouri River, and the Kansas River (also known as the Kaw River). This makes for a climate that can, depending on the criteria used, be classified as a humid continental climate (Koppen Dfa), with moderate precipitation and extremes of hot and cold. Summers can be very humid, with moist air riding up from the Gulf of Mexico, and during July and August daytime highs can reach into the triple digits, doing so on an average of about 5 days per year, and surpassing 90 °F (32 °C) 44 days per year. Winters vary from mild to bitterly cold, with lows dipping below 0 °F (−17.8 °C) for 5 to 10 nights a year. Snowfall averages at 12.6 inches (32 cm), but this figure varies widely, as the median amount is 5.9 inches (15.0 cm).Kansas City is situated in 'Tornado Alley', a broad region where cold air from the Rocky Mountains and Canada collides with warm air from the Gulf of Mexico, leading to the formation of powerful storms. Kansas City has had many severe outbreaks of tornados, including the Ruskin Heights tornado in 1957, and the May 2003 tornado outbreak sequence, as well as other severe weather, most notably the Kansas City derecho in 1982. The region is also prone to ice storms, such as the 2002 ice storm during which hundreds of thousands lost power for days and (in some cases) weeks. Kansas City and its outlying areas are also subject to flooding, including the Great Flood of 1993 and the Great Flood of 1951. Cityscape Kansas City, Missouri, is organized into a system of more than 240 neighborhoods, some with histories as independent cities or the sites of major events. Downtown, the center of the city, is currently undergoing major redevelopment with new condos, apartments, offices and The Power & Light District (shopping/entertainment development) complete with bars, restaurants, a grocery store with a tony roof-top pool club called The Jones, a theatre and The Sprint Center. All these things have made downtown/midtown a more viable residential option more than ever. Near Downtown, the urban core of the city has a variety of neighborhoods, including historical Westport, Ivanhoe, Hyde Park, Squire Park, the Crossroads Arts District, 18th and Vine Historic District, Pendleton Heights, Quality Hill, the West Bottoms, and the River Market; one up-and-coming 'newer' neighborhood just minutes from downtown is upscale Briarcliff, though it is in the so-called 'North-land' or simply 'North of the River'. Two other 'near' downtown neighborhoods that are very popular and have unique appeal include the Country Club Plaza (or simply the 'Plaza'), south Plaza and nearby Brookside. Architecture The city's skyline is what one might envision for a major Midwest city, with some notable exceptions. The Nelson-Atkins Museum opened the stunning Euro-Style Bloch addition in 2007. The towering Power and Light Building is influenced by the Art Deco style and contains a glowing sky beacon. The new world headquarters of H&R Block is a 20 story all glass oval which is bathed from top to bottom in a soft green light. The four Industrial art works atop the support towers of the Kansas City Convention Center (Bartle Hall) were once the subject of ridicule but now define the night skyline near the new Sprint Center along with One Kansas City Place (the tallest office tower structure in Missouri), the KCTV-Tower with its hundreds of lit bulbs (the tallest freestanding structure in Missouri), and the Liberty Memorial, a WWI memorial and museum, which flaunts simulated flames and smoke billowing into the night skyline. Kansas City is home to significant national and international architecture firms including ACI/Boland, BNIM, 360 Architecture, Ellerbe Becket, HNTB, Populous. Frank Lloyd Wright designed two private residences and the Community Christian Church.Kansas City contains a collection of over 200 working fountains, second only to Rome.[citation needed] Some of the most notable are on the Country Club Plaza. From French inspired traditional to modern, these fountains offer visitors to the city an unexpected bonus. Among the most notable: the Black Marble H&R Block fountain in front of Union Station with its synchronized water jets shooting high into the air, the Nichols Bronze Horses at the corner of Main and JC Nichols Parkway at the entrance to the Plaza Shopping District and the unique 'family friendly' walk through fountain at Hallmark Cards World Headquarters in Crown Center. City Market Since its inception in 1857, the City Market has been one of the largest and most enduring public farmers' markets in the midwest, linking growers and small businesses to the Kansas City community. In addition, more than 30 full-time merchants are open year-round and offer specialty foods, fresh meats and seafood, restaurants and cafes, floral, home accessories and much more. Downtown Downtown Kansas City is an area of 2.9 square miles (7.5 km2) bounded by the Missouri River to the north, 31st Street to the south, Bruce R. Watkins Drive (U.S. Highway 71) to the east and I-35 to the west. Areas near Downtown Kansas City include the 39th Street District is known as Restaurant Row and features one of Kansas City's largest selections of independently owned restaurants and boutique shops. It is a center of literary and visual arts and bohemian culture. Crown Center is the headquarters of Hallmark Cards and a major downtown shopping and entertainment complex. It is connected to Union Station by a series of covered walkways. The Country Club Plaza, or simply 'the Plaza', is an upscale, outdoor shopping and entertainment district. It was the first suburban shopping district in the United States, designed to accommodate shoppers arriving by automobile, and is surrounded by apartments and condominiums, including a number of high rise buildings. The associated Country Club District to the south includes the Sunset Hill and Brookside neighborhoods, and is traversed by Ward Parkway, a landscaped boulevard known for its statuary, fountains and large, historic homes. Kansas City's Union Station is home to Science City, restaurants, shopping, theaters, and the city's Amtrak facility.After years of neglect and seas of parking lots, Downtown Kansas City currently is undergoing a period of change. Many residential properties recently have been or currently are under redevelopment. The Power & Light District, a new, nine-block entertainment district comprising numerous restaurants, bars, and retail shops, was developed by the Cordish Company of Baltimore, Maryland, Its first tenant opened on November 9, 2007. It is anchored by the Sprint Center, a 19,000 seat complex that has become a top draw for sports and musical entertainment. Elton John was the first performer to play at the Sprint Center. Parks and boulevard system Kansas City has 132 miles (212 km) of spacious boulevards and parkways, 214 urban parks, 49 ornamental fountains, 152 ball diamonds, 10 community centers, 105 tennis courts, five golf courses, five museums and attractions, 30 pools, and 47 park shelters, all overseen by the city's Parks and Recreation department.The parks and boulevard system winds its way through the city. Much of the system, designed by George E. Kessler, was constructed from 1893 to 1915. Cliff Drive, in Kessler Park on the North Bluffs, is a designated State Scenic Byway. It extends 4.27 miles (6.87 km) from The Paseo and Independence Avenue through Indian Mound on Gladstone Boulevard at Belmont Boulevard with many historical points and architectural landmarks. Ward Parkway, on the west side of the city near State Line Road, is lined by many of the city's most handsome homes. The Paseo is a major north–south parkway that runs 19 miles (31 km) through the center of the city beginning at Cliff Drive. It was modeled on the Paseo de la Reforma, a fashionable Mexico City boulevard.Swope Park is one of the nation's largest city parks, comprising 1,805 acres (2.82 sq. mi.), more than twice as big as New York's Central Park. It features a full-fledged zoo, a woodland nature and wildlife rescue center, two golf courses, two lakes, an amphitheatre, day-camp area, and numerous picnic grounds. Hodge Park, in the Northland, covers 1,029 acres (1.61 sq. mi.). This park includes the 80-acre (320,000 m2) Shoal Creek Living History Museum, a village of more than 20 historical buildings dating from 1807 to 1885. Riverfront Park, 955 acres (3.86 km2) on the banks of the Missouri River on the north edge of downtown, holds annual Fourth of July celebrations and other festivals during the year.At one time, nearly all residential streets were planted with a solid canopy of American elms, but Dutch elm disease devastated them.[citation needed] Most were replaced with varieties of other handsome shade trees. A program went underway to replace many of the fast-growing sweetgum trees with hardwood varieties. Performing arts The Kansas City Repertory Theatre, the metropolitan area's top professional theatre company and the Starlight Theatre, 8,105-seat outdoor theatre designed by Edward Delk are a popular theatre company and theatre respectively. The Kansas City Symphony, founded by R. Crosby Kemper Jr. in 1982 to superseded the Kansas City Philharmonic, which was founded 1933. The symphony currently is located at the Lyric Theatre in Downtown Kansas City, but will move to the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, also downtown, when it is completed in December 2010. The current music director and lead conductor of the symphony is Michael Stern. Lyric Opera of Kansas City, founded in 1970, offers one American contemporary opera production during its annual season consisting of either four or five productions. The Lyric Opera also is located at the Lyric Theatre, and also will move to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in 2010. The Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City, performs at the Folly Theater in downtown, and the UMKC Performing Arts Center.The Kansas City Ballet, founded in 1957 by Tatiana Dokoudovska, is a ballet troupe comprising 25 professional dancers and apprentices. Between 1986 and 2000, it was combined with Dance St. Louis to form the State Ballet of Missouri, although it remained located in Kansas City. From 1980 to 1995, the Ballet was run by dancer and choreographer Todd Bolender. Today, the Ballet offers an annual repertory split into three seasons which ranges from classical to contemporary ballets. The Ballet also is located at the Lyric Theatre, and also will move with the Symphony and Opera to the Kauffman Center in 2010.Kansas City jazz in the 1930s marked the transition from big bands to the bebop influence of the 1940s. In the 1970s, Kansas City attempted to resurrect the glory of the jazz era in a sanitized family friendly atmosphere. In the 1970s, an effort to open jazz clubs in the River Quay area of City Market along the Missouri ended in a gangland war in which three of the new clubs were blown up in what ultimately resulted in the removal of Kansas City mob influence in the Las Vegas casinos. The annual 'Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival', which attracts top jazz stars nationwide and large out-of-town audiences, has been rated Kansas City's 'best festival.' by pitch.com Live music venues can be found throughout the city, with the highest concentration in the Westport entertainment district centered on Broadway and Westport Road near the Country Club Plaza, as well as the 18th & Vine area (jazz music). A variety of music genres can be heard and have originated in Kansas City metro area, including: Rock groups Puddle of Mudd, Isaac James, Shooting Star, The Get Up Kids, Shiner, Flee The Seen, The Life and Times, Reggie and the Full Effect, Coalesce, The Casket Lottery, The Gadjits, The Rainmakers, Vedera, The Elders, Blackpool Lights and The Republic Tigers and Rappers Tech N9ne, Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Calhoun, Skatterman & Snug Brim, Mac Lethal, and Solè. Irish culture There is a large community of Irish-Americans in Kansas City which numbers around 250,000. The Irish Community includes a large number of bands, multiple newspapers, the numerous Irish stores, including Browne's Irish Market, the oldest Irish owned business in North America, and the Irish Museum and Cultural Center is the new center of the community. The first book that detailed the history of the Irish in Kansas City was Missouri Irish, Irish Settlers on the American Frontier, published in 1984. Casinos Missouri voters approved riverboat casino gaming on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers by referendum with a 63% majority on November 3, 1992. The first casino facility in the state opened in September 1994 in North Kansas City by Harrah's Entertainment. The combined revenues for the four casinos successfully operating in Kansas City exceeded $153 million per month in May 2008. The four casinos are Ameristar Kansas City, Argosy Kansas City, Harrah's North Kansas City, Isle of Capri Kansas City. A fifth area casino, the 7th Street Casino, opened in Kansas City, KS in 2008. Cuisine Kansas City is most famous for its steak and barbecue.During the heyday of the Kansas City Stockyards, the city was known for its Kansas City steaks or Kansas City strip steaks. The most famous of the steakhouses is the Golden Ox in the Kansas City Live Stock Exchange in the stockyards in the West Bottoms. The stockyards, which were second only to those of Chicago in size, never recovered from the Great Flood of 1951 and eventually closed. The famed Kansas City Strip cut of steak is largely identical to the New York Strip cut, and is sometimes referred to just as a strip steak. Along with Texas, Memphis & North Carolina, Kansas City is a 'world capital of barbecue.' There are more than 90 barbecue restaurants in the metropolitan area and the American Royal each fall hosts what it claims is the world's biggest barbecue contest.The classic Kansas City-style barbecue was an inner city phenomenon that evolved from the pit of Henry Perry from the Memphis, Tennessee, area in the early 1900s and blossomed in the 18th and Vine neighborhood. Arthur Bryant's was to take over the Perry restaurant and added molasses to sweeten the recipe. In 1946 Gates and Sons Bar-B-Q was opened by one of Perry's cooks. The Gates recipe added even more molasses. Although Bryant's and Gates are the two definitive Kansas City barbecue restaurants they have just recently begun expanding outside of the Greater Kansas City Area. Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue is well-regarded by many both locally and nationally. In 1977 Rich Davis, a psychiatrist, test-marketed his own concoction called K.C. Soul Style Barbecue Sauce. He renamed it KC Masterpiece and in 1986 he sold the sauce to the Kingsford division of Clorox. Davis retained rights to operate restaurants using the name and sauce. Sports Professional sports teams in Kansas City include the Kansas City Chiefs in football, the Kansas City Royals in baseball, and Sporting Kansas City in soccer.In college athletics, Kansas City has been the home of the Big 12 College Basketball Tournaments. Men's basketball has been played at Sprint Center since March 2008, and women's basketball is played at Municipal Auditorium. Arenas in Dallas and Oklahoma City have also historically hosted the tournament. Arrowhead Stadium serves as the venue for various intercollegiate football games. It has hosted the Big 12 Championship Game five times. On the last weekend in October, the Fall Classic rivalry game between Northwest Missouri State University and Pittsburg State University takes place here. The Bearcats of Northwest and Gorillas of Pitt State are frequently ranked one-two in the MIAA conference. In 2005, other games at Arrowhead included Arkansas State playing host to Missouri, and Kansas hosting Oklahoma.Kansas City used to have an NBA team, which was itself originally located first in Rochester, New York (as the Rochester Royals), and then in Cincinnati (as the Cincinnati Royals). The team was originally called the Kansas City-Omaha Kings because it played home games in both Kansas City and Omaha. However, after 1975 the team would exclusively play in Kansas City. After 1985, the Kansas City Kings would move to Sacramento to become today's Sacramento Kings.In 1974, the NHL continued its expansion period by adding teams in Kansas City and Washington, D.C. Although they were better than their expansion brethren the Washington Capitals (who won only eight games in their inaugural season), the Kansas City Scouts began to suffer from an economic downturn in the Midwest. For their second season, the Scouts sold just 2,000 of 8,000 season tickets and were almost $1 million in debt. Due to their various on- and off-ice disappointments, the franchise moved to Denver and was renamed the Colorado Rockies. Today they are known as the New Jersey Devils. Roman Catholic Kansas City's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the cathedral seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City and St. Joseph; nearby Kansas City, Kansas is the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. Eastern and Oriental Orthodox The Kansas City area is home to nine Eastern Orthodox churches, including three Serbian Orthodox churches, two Greek Orthodox parishes, two parishes of the Orthodox Church in America, an Antiochian Orthodox church, and a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.The area is home to two Orthodox mission groups, one local and one national. Reconciliation Services is a local mission group aimed at providing assistance and therapeutic services to those in need. It is also the national headquarters of FOCUS North America, a missions group aimed at helping other national Orthodox charities and providing assistance to those in need.Kansas City is also home to one Oriental Orthodox church, a parish of the Coptic Church. Protestant bodies All major Protestant denominations are represented in Kansas City.[citation needed] The Kansas City metropolitan area is the seat of the Unity Church, a Christian denomination claiming approximately two million members. The church's headquarters is located in Unity Village, a self-contained, incorporated municipality lying east of the city near Lee's Summit. The Church of the Nazarene, another Christian denomination claiming two million members, is headquartered in Lenexa, where it moved in 2008 from its longtime headquarters on the The Paseo in Kansas City itself. The Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri has its headquarters at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, downtown. Latter Day Saint groups Several Latter Day Saint organizations make their headquarters in Independence, just east of the city. The largest of these is the Community of Christ, with a worldwide membership of approximately 250,000. Others include the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), the Church of Christ (Fettingite), the Church of Christ with the Elijah Message, the Church of Christ (Restored), the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ, and the Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite). Movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr. told his earliest followers that the Garden of Eden had been located in Jackson County, and that the New Jerusalem where Jesus will come in the Second Coming would be built in Independence. Some early Latter Day Saints settled west of Independence, inside what are now the boundaries of Kansas City itself. The Latter Day Saints were violently driven from the area in late 1833, after protracted conflict with local settlers, but returned in the late 1860s to a much better welcome. Recently The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest LDS denomination, announced plans to build a temple in the Shoal Creek area of North Kansas City. Non-Christian Kansas City is home to a large and vibrant Jewish community, with several synagogues in the city and adjacent communities. Muslims are served by three mosques within the city limits, the largest of which is the Islamic Society of Greater Kansas City, plus additional mosques in nearby towns