The KCS is the smallest, and second oldest, class 1 railroad in America. It was founded, in 1887, by Arthur Edward Stilwell who began construction on the line in suburban Kansas City. The route was opened in 1890 serving the Argentine District in Kansas City, Kansas; Independence, Missouri; and the riverside commercial and industrial districts of Kansas City. Today (2008), KCS owns The Kansas City Southern Railway, Kansas City Southern de México, The Texas Mexican Railway Company, and The Panama Canal Railway Company., with the company's track stretching from Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico.