Kansas City Fountain Tour: Muse of the Missouri Traditional Cache

Kansas City has long been known as the City of Fountains.  The term was coined in 1974 by Kansas City natives Harold and Peggy Rice after a trip to Rome however KC already several fountains at this time.  The first fountains were placed with function in mind offering water at different levels for dogs, horses and humans.  As the city grew and automobiles began to replace horses as the primary mode of transportation the fountains began to take on a more ornamental purpose.

Interest in fountains arose during the City Beautiful movement in the 1890s. In 1898, George Kessler, a landscape architect and urban planner, designed the first fountain built by the city of Kansas City. Although it was destroyed in 1941, another fountain designed by him in the same year continues to exist and remains the oldest in the city. Now known as The Women's Leadership Fountain, it is located at 9th and The Paseo.  Kessler had a vision to create a Kansas City with "more boulevards than Paris, more fountains than Rome".

It was J. C. Nichols, though, who began, soon after the turn of the twentieth century, to implement that civic vision into a residential reality.  He revolutionized real estate development not only in Kansas City but throughout the nation. He decorated his planned communities of intertwined residences and shopping with fountains and outdoor statuary.  Nichols's entrepreneurial expertise created the Country Club Plaza, the nation's first shopping center, an area of the city famous for its fountains.

In 1963 the Kemper family presented this memorial to the city in honor of their son, Lt. David W. Kemper, who was killed in action in Italy during World War II.

The following words are inscribed on the granite tablet:

Muse of the Missouri

Dedicated December 2, 1963 In memory of

David Woods Kemper

Well beloved

Who died defending his Country

The bronze nude depicts the Greek goddess who presided over song, poetry and many arts and sciences.  The statuary represents the Spirit of the Missouri River.  The Muse holds a net from which fish are spilling.  Two hundred sprouts of water form pools in this fountain.

The fountain underwent a restoration in 2013. 

The fountain sits on an island in the middle of Main street between 8^th and 9^th streets.  The cache you seek is on the northern most tip of the island.  Due to the tall buildings the signal can bounce and during the week traffic can be high so use caution when visiting this location. Evening and weekends (especially Sunday afternoons) provide the best opportunity to get it.