Lee's Summit, Missouri

City of Lee's Summit, Missouri
Country	United States
State	Missouri
County	Jackson
Government
• Mayor	Karen Messerli
Population  (2005)
• Total	80,388
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Website	http://www.lees-summit.mo.us/

Lee's Summit is a city in Jackson County and Cass County, Missouri. Lee's Summit is also a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. In 2005, the city had a total population of 80,338. It is the sixth largest city in Missouri.

History

The original name of Lee's Summit was "The Town of Strother" when it was incorporated in 1865 by founder William B. Howard, but in 1868 the city changed its name to the current name, "The Town of Lee's Summit". The "Lee's" part has an unknown origin but locals think it has to do with either Robert E. Lee from the Civil War or Dr. Pleasant Lea. "Summit" is based from the city's elevation compared to the surrounding area.

In 1912, R.A. Long, the owner of a lumber company, began building his estate on the western edge of the city and into part of Kansas City, named Longview Farm. When it was completed it had a mansion, five barns and 42 buildings in the 1,700 acres. 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 developer David Gale is working on a development named New Longview, which will include shopping, single family homes and apartments. 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.

In March 2006 a new City Hall was dedicated replacing one that was considered insufficient for the size of the city. The downtown city hall has shut down portions of 2nd street, Main Street, and Green Street. Currently, the city is working on a streetscaping project for downtown called "Diggin It".

Geography

Lee's Summit is located at 38°55′21″N 94°22′27″W (38.922607, -94.374127)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 159.7 km² (61.7 mi²). 154.1 km² (59.5 mi²) of it is land and 5.6 km² (2.2 mi²) of it (3.50%) is water.

Demographics

City Population [1]
Census year	Population
1960	8,267
1965	12,813
1970	16,204
1975	21,765
1980	28,742
1985	33,846
1990	46,418
1995	57,466
1996	59,879
1997	62,657
1998	64,718
1999	67,079
2000	70,700
2001	73,128
2002	76,043
2003	79,515
2004	82,528

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 70,700 people, 26,417 households, and 19,495 families residing in the city. The population density was 458.7/km² (1,188.0/mi²). There were 27,311 housing units at an average density of 177.2/km² (458.9/mi²). 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.

Education

Lee's Summit is served by three school districts:

Lee's Summit R-VII School District

• The current enrollment in the Lee's Summit R-VII School District is approximately 19,000 students. The district also serves parts of Kansas City, Missouri, Unity Village, Greenwood, Lake Winnebago , Lake Lotawana and rural eastern Jackson County. A bond was passed in 2006 plans are underway for a new elementary school to be placed near M-150 and Horridge Road.

Blue Springs R-IV School District

• The Blue Springs R-IV School District has a current enrollment of around 13,000 students. The district serves parts of Blue Springs, Independence, Northern Lee's Summit and Rural Eastern Jackson County.

Raymore-Peculiar R-II School District

• The Raymore-Peculiar R-II School District has a current enrollment of around 5,200 students. The district serves Raymore, Peculiar, and Lee's Summit south of County Line Road (Cass County). There are ten schools in the school district.

Private Schools

• Lee's Summit has two religious private schools. Lee's Summit Community Christian School serves over 750 students from grades Kindergarten through 12th grade and is made up of families from over 80 area churches from 20 religious denominations. The school has completed a multi-million dollar high school facility that opened in the fall of 2006. The Our Lady of Presentation Catholic School has also serves the community as well.

Colleges and Universities

• Lee's Summit has one college, Longview Community College which is located on the extreme western edge of Lee's Summit. The college is part of Metropolitan Community Colleges of Kansas City or MCC for short.

Famous Residents

• Pat Metheny
• Cole Younger
• Slimfast

Transportation

Some of Lee's Summit's interstates and highways are:

• I-470- Which connects South Kansas City with Lee's Summit and Independence.
• US 50 - Follows I-435 from the west to I-470 then spurs off in Lee's Summit and becomes just U.S. 50.
• MO-150 - A highway linking southern Lee's Summit, and Grandview to the Kansas suburbs at State Line Road.
• MO-291 - Formerly an eastern bypass route of U.S. 71, the minor freeway connects Harrisonville and Lee's Summit to Independence, Sugar Creek, Liberty and Kansas City North. It is follows I-470 in parts of Lee's Summit.

External links

• City of Lee's Summit
• Diggin It Website