The oldest African-American community to be incorporated in Missouri, Kinloch was home to a vibrant and flourishing black community for much of the 19th and 20th century. It began to decline in the 1980s, when the City of St. Louis began to buy up property due to an FAA noise-abatement program for nearby St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Between 1990 and 2000, Kinloch lost more than 80 percent of its population, and the city became an increasingly violent and dangerous place to live. In recent years, there have been efforts to rebuild the city.