Blue Springs Missouri History & Facts

Blue Springs is a city located in the U.S. state of Missouri within Jackson County. Blue Springs is located 19 miles (31 km) east of downtown Kansas City and is the 9th largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,604 making Blue Springs the 10th largest city in the state of Missouri. Per the United States Census of estimates from July 2021 the population of Blue Springs is 59,430.

Blue Springs’ history is tied to the migration of settlers on their westward journey. Pioneers found the area to be an ideal stopover due to the abundance of cool, clean water from a spring of the Little Blue River—hence the name Blue Springs. The presence of water and a need for pioneer supplies led to the construction of a grist mill and permanent settlement at the current site of the City's Burrus Old Mill Park on Woods Chapel Road.

An early settler, Franklin Smith, arrived in Blue Springs from Virginia in 1838 and became a leading figure in the community's development. He established the first post office in 1845,naming it after the well-known springs.

The settlement continued to grow near the springs until March 1878, when the Chicago and Alton Railroad announced plans to build a station about one mile east of the original settlement. To take advantage of the commerce the railroad would bring, the town moved its center to the site of the new station and continued its development as a rural trading center.The Jackson County Court granted the incorpation of Blue Springs on September 7, 1880, making the City the fourth settlement in the county to be incorporated. The Chicago & Alton Hotel built in 1878, located on Main Street west of the railroad tracks is the oldest business in the City of Blue Springs.

Until 1965, the Blue Springs City Hall was located in a very small block building under the old water tower on the northwest corner of 11th and Walnut Streets. City Hall and the water tower were torn down not long after vacating the buildings. From 1965 to 1968, the City Hall was a metal building located in the 200 block of NW 11th Street, across the street from the former Blue Springs Post Office. In 1968 the current City Hall was built at 903 W. Main Street as the Blue Springs Municipal Building. The Blue Springs Municipal Building held the Blue Springs Police Department in the lower level and city hall functions on the main level until 1988, when the Police Department moved to a new police station at 1100 SW Smith Street. The Municipal Building was remodeled in 1989 and was renamed the Blue Springs City Hall.

The June 1911 issue of Technical World magazine published an article claiming that Blue Springs "boasts of possessing the world's champion marble players," and published a picture of a competition.It named Dan Stanley, George Webb, George Binger and Lynn Pryor as the best.

In 2010, CNN/Money Magazine ranked Blue Springs 49th on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States.

Famous Peoples From Blue Springs Missouri

Ladell Betts

Ladell Betts (born August 27, 1979) is an American football coach and former running back who is currently the running backs coach at the University of Iowa. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Iowa.

Betts grew up as an only child with a single mother who worked two and three jobs to make ends meet. He and his mother moved from Kansas City, Missouri, to the suburb of Blue Springs when Betts was a child, but he remained very close to his father who has always been an active influence on Ladell over the years. He attended Blue Springs High School, where he would become a football star. He was teammates with fellow future NFL player Brandon Lloyd.

Betts, who was also a sprinter in high school, gained 1,813 yards and had 34 touchdowns as a high school junior. As a senior, he rushed for 2,183 yards and 32 touchdowns while playing most of the season with a broken right hand. Betts, who led his team to a 10-1 record, was named USA Today's Missouri Player of the Year after earning first-team all-state and all-metro honors. He also earned the Thomas Simone Award, which goes to the best high school player in the Kansas City area, and was named a Parade and SuperPrep All-American.

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