From the Vault: How the Tenth District's footprint took shape

By STAN AUSTIN and ETHAN ANDERSON

The Tenth Federal Reserve District comprises Colorado, Kansas, western Missouri, Nebraska, northern New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

The District’s footprint evolved over a span of nearly 70 years, adding some territory along the way.

Throughout the first several decades of the Federal Reserve, it was not unusual for counties to transfer from one Reserve Bank district to another, with approval from the Board of Governors and usually at the request of banks in those regions. For the Kansas City Fed, there were four such instances:

1915 – In the year after the Kansas City Fed opened, 26 Oklahoma counties transferred from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas to Kansas City’s territory after the petition of the banks in those counties. Three additional counties had been discussed as candidates to transfer, but banks in those counties stated a preference to remain with the Dallas Fed.

1926 – Two counties and three banks in New Mexico transferred from the Dallas Fed to Kansas City.

1972 – In the Federal Reserve’s first boundary change in more than 40 years, 24 counties and 118 banks in Missouri transferred from the St. Louis Fed to Kansas City. “The Western Missouri area affected by the transfer is economically aligned with metropolitan KC. The transfer would result in shorter distances for check and cash delivery routes,” the banks’ petition said.

1984 – Eight counties in southern Oklahoma transferred from the Dallas Fed to Kansas City, leaving the Tenth District’s footprint as it is today.