Lee's Summit Missouri History & Facts

Lee's Summit is a city located within the counties of Jackson (primarily) and Cass in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2020 census its population was 101,108, making it the sixth-largest city in both the state and in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area.

The "Town of Strother" (not to be confused with a town of the same name in Monroe County) was founded by William B. Howard in October 1865. He named it for his wife, Maria D. Strother, the 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 acres (3.37 km2) and a homestead five miles (8 km) north of town. Howard 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 acres (280,000 m2) in the fall of 1865 as the town of Strother.

In November 1868,the town's name was changed to the "Town of Lee's Summit", most likely to honor early settler Dr. Pleasant John Graves Lea, who had moved to Jackson County in 1849 from Bradley County, Tennessee. Lea was listed as the postmaster of nearby 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 highest elevation on the Missouri Pacific Railroad between St. Louis and Kansas City. But they misspelled the name "Lees Summit" 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. Legend states that the name was spelled wrong on the side of the Missouri Pacific depot and has remained Lee's Summit ever since.

Others claim that the town was named after famed Civil War General Robert E. Lee after Southerners began moving north into Missouri after the war due to the timing of General Lee's death compared to Dr. Lea's death. This is attributed to a quote 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 legislature and incorporated its name in 1868 as: "Town of Lee's Summit".

The spelling is unusual because apostrophes are typically not included in place names due to potential confusion regarding whether the place is owned by the namesake person. Most possessive place names lack an apostrophe, such as Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and Boardmans Point, New Hampshire.

Famous Peoples From Lee's Summit Missouri

Megan Anderson (fighter)

Anderson was born and raised on the Gold Coast, Queensland.She attended All Saints Anglican School throughout her upbringing and moved to Canberra at the beginning of 2008 to join the Australian Army upon graduation from high school. After serving two and a half years in the military, she was discharged when it was discovered she had attempted to take her own life and was subsequently hospitalised. She then returned to the Gold Coast and worked as a receptionist while getting involved in the local boxing scene. Through her boxing connections, she was introduced to mixed martial arts and began training in 2013.

In November 2013, Anderson made her professional MMA debut, losing to Zoie Shreiweis. Over the next two years, Anderson would build her record to four wins and one loss before signing to Invicta Fighting Championships.

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