The North Kansas City post office was established in 1891. The town lies just north of Kansas City and that is how it got its name. Large scale development of the area was not possible before levees were built to protect North Kansas City from flooding from the Missouri River. The city was incorporated on November 4, 1912 by the ASB Corporation. This company is a conglomeration of three notable businesses: Armour & Company meat packing, Swift & Company meat packing and Burlington Northern Railroad. Their interests were primarily financial, yet neither Armour nor Swift ever built a meat packing plant in the city. Burlington, however, created an extensive rail network around the city. They also built the first bridge to North Kansas City in 1911. It’s known as the ASB bridge. A five-member board of trustees was elected in 1914 to oversee municipal affairs. One of the original trustees was William E. Macken, who was elected as the first mayor of North Kansas City in 1924. The city's largest park, Macken Park, is named for him. In 2012 North Kansas City celebrated it Centennial with a citywide celebration. As the city said goodbye to its first 100 years, it welcomed the next century with the opening of two micro-breweries, a distillery and a new recreational opportunity called Pickleball. These new businesses are building a younger clientele fueled by the repopulation of downtown Kansas City, just across the Missouri River. North Kansas City continues to thrive and offers a wide variety of amenities to its residents and visitors including Macken Park. This 60-acre city park includes shelters, walking trails, a jogging and exercise trail, tennis, racket ball and handball courts, baseball and softball field, and playground. The city also has rock climbing, pickleball, a casino, historic theater, sprayground and a dog park. North Kansas City is about 10 minutes northeast of downtown Kansas City.