Located at the southern tip of Platte County ten miles northwest of Kansas City, Missouri, it was originally known by the name of English Landing. This small settlement began in 1837 when two brothers named David and Stephen English erected a log warehouse as a steamboat landing on Main Street. Many who settled here did so due to the promise of a constant water supply because English Landing was located at the Missouri and Platte River basins. In 1840, Colonel George Park, a Mexican War veteran, purchased their holdings and quickly named the town Parkville. George Park quickly proved to be a serious entrepreneur for Parkville. He became the first postmaster in Parkville, began a tavern with his brother-in-law and in 1844 he plated land for a college and later that same year constructed a number of stone buildings at the foot of Main Street. Slowly over time, this growth attracted many settlers. Parkville became incorporate in 1858. However, a fire destroyed almost all of Parkville later that same year and with the start of the Civil War, dawning prosperity came to an abrupt halt. With the development of the Missouri Valley, the town’s first railroad in 1869 and with the founding of Park College in 1875, the town began to thrive once again. John McAfee was a firm believer in diversity and created an annex to the college to ensure inclusion amongst the ethnic community. Due to his untimely death, his son carried on with this inclusion by building a church. The construction of many new homes also generated migration of ethnicities from all parts of Parkville to move into the area located into the valley west of Main Street. Bruce R. Watkins, a predominant social and political activist was born in Parkville in 1924. Mr. Watkins served as one of the infamous Tuskegee Airman in WW2. He was the first African-American to be elected for both Kansas City’s City Council in 1963 and the county’s administration in 1966. Mr. Watkins formed Freedom, Inc., an organization designed to help African-Americans secure a voice in politics. Watkins Drive is a little over 10-mile section of interstate I-49 that links downtown to southtown and was named in his honor in 2002. Today Parkville continues to prosper and offers a wide variety of conveniences for all to enjoy including: two nature sanctuaries, parks that include two stages; boat ramp, playgrounds, disc golf course, picnic shelters, soccer and baseball fields, volleyball sand pit, dog park, basketball court and horseshoe pit. The city also has two seasonal farmers markets with one on Saturdays from April through October and another on Wednesdays from June through September. Come and visit Parkville today for its amazing town history, the local scenery and all of its unique shops. Parkville is located 15 minutes northwest of downtown Kansas City.