Lee's Summit, Missouri

Lee's Summit is a city in Jackson and Cass Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The U.S. Census of 2010 found the population at 91,364 making it the sixth-largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area and the sixth-largest city in Missouri. In 2006 CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Lee's Summit 44th on its list of the 100 Best Cities to Live in the United States. That ranking improved to 27th on the 2010 list.

Origin of name


Founded as the "Town of Strother", by William B. Howard for his wife, Maria D. Strother (daughter of William D. Strother formerly of Bardstown, Kentucky). Howard came to Jackson County in 1842 from Kentucky, married Maria in 1844, and by 1850 he and Maria had 833 acre and a homestead five miles (8 km) north of town. He was arrested for being a Confederate in October 1862, near the beginning of the Civil War, and after being paroled he took his family back to Kentucky for the duration of the war. After the war ended he returned and, knowing that the Missouri Pacific Railroad was surveying a route in the area, platted the town with 70 acre in the fall of 1865 as the town of Strother.

In 1865 the town of Strother changed its name for early settler Dr. Pleasant John Graves Lea, who moved to Jackson County in 1849, from Bradley County, Tennessee. Lea was listed as the postmaster of Big Cedar in the 1855 United States Official Postal Guide. Dr. Lea was killed in August 1862 by Kansas Jayhawkers (or Redlegs).

When the surveyors for the Missouri Pacific Railroad came through, the local people and the railroad wanted to name the town in Dr. Lea's honor. He had a farm on the highest point and near the path of the tracks, and his murder had taken place near the site of the proposed depot. So they chose the name of "Lea's Summit", the "summit" portion to reflect its relatively highest elevation on the Missouri Pacific Railroad between St. Louis and Kansas City. But they misspelled the name "Lees Summit" (with two "e's"; "Lee" instead of "Lea"; and leaving out the apostrophe) on a boxcar that was serving as a station and donated by the Missouri Pacific, then a sign next to the tracks, and finally in the printed time schedule for the railroad. Also the name was misspelled on the stone culvert near the station, on the side of the Missouri Pacific depot, but on the other side it was spelled correctly, accordingly the railroad used this spelling, as did travelers.

Others, those with Southern sympathies, claim that the town was named after famed Civil War General Robert E. Lee after Southerners began moving north into Missouri after the war. Attributed to a misquote in the Louisville Journal, January 3, 1866.

Since the name was already being circulated and published with two "e's", the town petitioned the state capitol and incorporated its name in 1868 as: "Town of Lee's Summit".

History
Growth of the town can be studied through historic Sanborn Maps, which document building types and uses in the city during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1912, R.A. Long, the owner of a lumber company, began building his estate, named Longview Farm, on the western edge of the city and into part of Kansas City. When complete, it had a mansion, five barns and 42 buildings in the 1700 acre. The farm also had a church, Longview Chapel Christian Church, which was completed in 1915. It soon became internationally known as a showplace farm. Today, one of the horse barns is home to Longview Farm Elementary, and the site of Longview Community College. The church and mansion are on the National Register of Historic Places. Other parts of the farm have been turned into Longview Lake, Longview Community College, and a development called New Longview. Lee's Summit is also home to Lee's Summit Historical Cemetery.

Geography
Lee's Summit is located at °N, °W (38.922607, -94.374127). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 61.7 square miles (159.7 km²), of which, 59.5 square miles (154.1 km²) of it is land and 2.2 square miles (5.6 km²) of it (3.50%) is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 70,700 people, 26,417 households, and 19,495 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,188.0 people per square mile (458.7/km²). There were 27,311 housing units at an average density of 458.9 per square mile (177.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.17% White, 3.47% African American, 0.36% Native American, 0.99% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.52% from other races, and 1.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.97% of the population.

There were 26,417 households out of which 40.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.1% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.2% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $60,905, and the median income for a family was $70,702. Males had a median income of $49,385 versus $32,837 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,891. About 2.8% of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $71,821, and the median income for a family was $82,737.

Education
Lee's Summit is served by parts of three public school districts: Lee's Summit R-VII School District, Blue Springs R-IV School District, Raymore-Peculiar R-II School District. Lee's Summit has two religious private schools as well: Summit Christian Academy and Our Lady of Presentation Catholic School. Longview Community College is located on the extreme western edge of Lee's Summit. The college is part of Metropolitan Community College (Kansas City) or MCC for short. It also is home to the Summit Technology Center which is a branch campus of the University of Central Missouri. Lee's Summit is also home to a branch of Baker University.

Notable residents

 * Fred Arbanas - Former Kansas City Chiefs tight end
 * Woody Austin - PGA Tour golfer
 * Matt Bartle - State senator
 * Deron Cherry - a former Kansas City Chiefs player
 * Paul Coverdell - Former United States Senator from Georgia
 * William S. Cowherd - Former Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri
 * Mark Curp - Former half-marathon world record holder
 * Tim Foecke - Scientist and author
 * Terry Garrity - Author
 * Derrick Johnson -Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker
 * Robert T. Johnson - City Council member
 * Bill Kenney - Former Chiefs quarterback and state senator
 * Angela Lindvall - Model and actress
 * Audrey Lindvall - Model
 * Courtney McCool
 * Pat Metheny - Jazz musician
 * Mike Metheny - Jazz musician and journalist
 * Ryan C Morehead - Theatre director and human rights activist
 * Rick Roeber (barefoot runner)
 * Larry Stewart (philanthropist)
 * Sam B. Strother
 * Rick Sutcliffe - 1979 National League Rookie of the Year and 1984 Cy Young Award winning pitcher for the Chicago Cubs
 * Matt Tegenkamp
 * Frank White (baseball player)
 * Freddie Williams II
 * Bob Younger
 * Cole Younger
 * Jim Younger
 * John Younger

Climate
Lee's Summit experiences a colder variation of a four season humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with mild days and cold nights during the winter, and hot days and muggy nights during the summer.

Major roads

 * [[Image:I-470 (MO).svg|25px]] I-470 is an Interstate 70 bypass around Kansas City.
 * [[Image:US 40.svg|20px]] US 40 - Forms half of Lee's Summit's northern border with Independence.
 * [[Image:US 50.svg|20px]] US 50 - Follows I-435 from the west to I-470 then spurs off in Lee's Summit and becomes just US 50.
 * [[Image:MO-150.svg|25px]] Route 150 - A highway linking southern Lee's Summit, and Grandview to the Kansas suburbs at State Line Road.
 * [[Image:MO-291.svg|25px]] Route 291 - Formerly an eastern bypass route of US 71, the minor freeway connects Harrisonville and Lee's Summit to Independence, Sugar Creek, Liberty and Northern Kansas City. It is follows I-470 in parts of Lee's Summit.
 * [[Image:MO-350.svg|25px]] Route 350 - Connector highway that brings together I-435 with I-470 and US 50.

Other

 * Lee's Summit (Amtrak station)
 * Lee's Summit Municipal Airport

Facts

 * The feature film All Roads Lead Home has parts filmed in Lee's Summit.
 * The film Jesus Camp features footage of a children's prayer conference held at Christ Triumphant Church located at 401 NE Chipman Road.
 * The film Full Count was filmed around Kansas City with a good portion being filmed in Lee's Summit.
 * The Historic Jefferson Highway (known as the "Palm to Pine" highway) runs through town.