Kansas City Public Library: KC Black History: Who Were The Pioneers Who Made Here The ‘BBQ Capital Of The World'?

Press release from the Kansas City Public Library:

February 22, 2022

When the Hannibal Bridge opened in 1869, Kansas City was one of many upstart towns lining the Missouri River. The new bridge, the first permanent rail crossing over the river, positioned the city as the stopping point between western livestock breeders and eastern markets.

How did Kansas Citians celebrate the event? With a barbecue, of course.

The Kansas City Livestock Company was established in 1871 to take advantage of the booming industry. By 1950, over 4 million head of livestock were being moved through the city every year.

Meatpackers and butchers were often left with less desirable parts (ribs anyone?), providing a source of cheap product to anyone willing to make use of them. There are even stories of early pitmasters raiding the garbage outside the packing plants and butchers for discarded cuts.

The Great Migration, the massive population shift of African Americans out of the South and into northern and Midwestern cities in the early 20th century, helped accelerate Kansas City’s culinary evolution. These new Black folks moving to the area came seeking work and business opportunities, and in the process, created KC’s signature style of barbecue.

The relationship between the Great Migration and the development of Kansas City barbecue is perfectly encapsulated in the story of King Henry Perry.

Born in Tennessee in 1875, Perry worked as a cook aboard Mississippi River steamships, where he began to develop his craft. In keeping with the Memphis barbecue style, those who tasted his sauce described it as thin, vinegar-based, and so heavy on the cayenne pepper that his customers often winced.

He rambled about the Midwest, spending time in Chicago and Minneapolis before arriving in Kansas City in 1907. First working as a porter in a Quality Hill saloon, it wasn’t long before Perry had taken to selling barbecue from a stand in the city’s Garment District.

By 1911, Perry had relocated to a tent at 18th and Vine streets, where he tended a brick-lined pit dug into the ground and already called himself the Barbecue King.

Speaking with a Kansas City Star reporter, he described having a hard time making barbecue pay the bills. He admitted, “Lots of times I just throw up my hands and quit altogether and get me a job at $8 or $10 a week.” But, he continued, “I can’t stay away from it. Every time I drift back to this little old tent and start a fire under some kind of a piece of meat.”

Perry pitched his tent where his barbecue would sell. In time, he gave up finding other jobs, settling into brick-and-mortar locations, first at 19th and Vine and later at 19th and Highland. By the time of the 1930 census, Perry reported the following: “Occupation – Barbecue; Industry – Barbecue.” The King had claimed his realm.

Despite staying close to the heart of Kansas City’s vibrant Black community, he developed a following that crossed racial barriers. In 1932, a reporter for The Kansas City Call wrote, “With a trade about equally divided between white and black, Mr. Perry serves both high and low. Swanky limousines, gleaming with nickel and glossy black, rub shoulders at the curb outside the Perry stand with pre-historic Model T Fords.”

This press release was produced by the Kansas City Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.