Zip Trip: FOX4 travels northwest to Platte City to enjoy the small town and its county fair

PLATTE CITY, Mo. — About 30 minutes northwest of Kansas City, you’ll find Platte City, Missouri. Today, the population is just short of 5,000. It’s quite a jump from its humble beginnings in the early 1840s with only six stores and 400 residents. Now, Main Street is buzzing with local businesses such as the family-run Bee Creek Café and Bakery. “Bee Creek is a great place to get some coffee,” Sergeant Mike Mand with the Platte City Police Department said. Or you can check out the local dive next door, the Pool Hall, that has more than just beer and games. “We have the best cheese burgers there are,” owner Sherry Hunt said. “We’ve got handmade tenderloins. We’re serving Cajun fried fish now. It’s just an old building with a lot of history.” Main Street is also home to the oldest newspaper in Platte County, The Landmark. It rolled out its first publication hot off the press in the final days of the Civil War in 1865. Overall, people tend to describe Platte City with one word: “It’s wonderful. I love it,” Abby Low with the Bee Creek Café and Bakery said. Hunt echoed Low’s feelings, “Oh Platte City’s just wonderful.” “It goes back to the people. When I drive down the street, we go through a lot of communities, everybody waves at us, everybody is happy to see us patrolling around. We stop a lot to talk to people, play with kids, it’s fun,” Sergeant Mand said. Police Chief Joe Wellington was sworn in earlier this year. He said Platte City is a quiet and extremely safe community. “You’re still in the big city but you’re far enough away that you have the small town feel,” Chief Wellington said.