Lee's Summit, Missouri#Notable people

{{See also|History of Missouri}}Humans have occupied the region which includes present-day Lee's Summit for at least 10,000 years.Schwenk, p. 2 Archeological evidence indicates that humans have occupied settlements within the present-day boundaries of Lee's Summit during all periods as far back as roughly 9,000 years ago. For example, archaeologists have discovered stone arrowheads characteristic of the Dalton tradition in Lee's Summit, indicating that humans occupied the area at least 9,000 years ago.Schmits et al., p. 225{{Efn|Schmits et al. says of site 23JA160, "early occupations are indicated by the recovery of Dalton points". Schmits et al., p. 10, figure 3. shows that site 23JA160 is located in Lee's Summit, near the intersection of U.S. Route 40 and S Powell Avenue.}} At another site in the city, arrowheads and ceramics characteristic of the Kansas City Hopewell culture were discovered, indicating that humans had temporary campsites in the area roughly 2,000 years ago.Schmits et al., p. 14{{Efn|Schmits et al. says of site 23JA115, "Projectile point styles from these sites are predominantly expanding-stemmed forms characteristic of the middle Kansas City Hopewell period. Ceramics are plain-surfaced and more typical of late Kansas City Hopewell ceramics." Schmits et al., p. 10, figure 3. shows that site 23JA115 is located in Lee's Summit, near the intersection of Lee's Summit Road and NW Anderson Drive.}} Stone tools and organic remains suggest that temporary campsites in what is now Lee's Summit were used to hunt for deer, bison, and other small mammals, roughly 700 years ago.Schmits et al., p. 244{{Efn|Schmits et al. says of site 23JA43, "The lithic assemblage indicates that the site represents a residential extractive camp focused on the manufacture and use of chipped stone tools for hunting, butchering and hide preparation. Faunal remains indicate that subsistence was based on white-tailed deer. Bison and a number of small mammals such as raccoon, woodchuck and cottontail were of lesser importance." Schmits et al., p. 10, figure 3. shows that site 23JA43 is located in Lee's Summit, near Lee's Summit Road and NW Anderson Drive.}}

At the time of first contact between indigenous Missourians and Europeans, in the 1670s, present-day Lee's Summit represented part of the northwestern border of the territory occupied by the Little Osage people. Other nearby groups included the Missourias to the north and the Kanzas to the west.Olson, pp. 86-87Schmits et al., p. 16 The area was likely used as hunting grounds by the Osage.Schwenk, pp. 2-3Wood, p. 17

In 1682, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed for France the Mississippi River basin as the territory of Louisiana, which included present-day Lee's Summit.Olson, pp. 89-90Wood, p. 8 In 1762, France secretly ceded the territory to Spain by the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

When commissioners were deciding on where to establish the county seat, they described southern Jackson County as "useless" prairie.Shortridge, p. 11 At that time in 1827, southern Jackson County, including the area of present-day Lee's Summit, was the rural counterpart to the urbanizing north county. Beginning in the 1830s, Americans from eastern slave states came to settle what is now Lee's Summit, attracted by "its rolling prairie, fertile soil, numerous streams, and stands of timber".{{Cite web |first= |title=Lee's Summit, Missouri Past and Present |url=https://www.flipbookpdf.net/web/site/2de9e82a8671e46263348dbdbad2bd6b197a3bad202005.pdf.html#page/1 |access-date=April 15, 2025 |website=Flipbook |publisher=Lee’s Summit Historical Society}}Schwenk, p. 8 In 1844, William Bulitt Howard, the eventual founder of Lee's Summit, arrived from Kentucky with his family and slaves. Dr. Pleasant John Graves Lea, the eventual namesake of the city, was a resident of the area according to the 1850 census.{{Cite web |last=Horner |first=John Arthur |date=November 8, 2013 |title=Here a Lea, There a Lea - Everywhere a Lea, a Lea! Part 1 |url=https://kchistory.org/blog/here-lea-there-lea-everywhere-lea-lea-part-1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250118123658/https://kchistory.org/blog/here-lea-there-lea-everywhere-lea-lea-part-1 |archive-date=January 18, 2025 |access-date=May 7, 2025 |website=Kansas City Public Library}} By 1853, settlers had purchased from the federal government all of the land which now constitutes Lee's Summit. In 1860, Prairie Township was incorporated in Jackson County, and the community which would later become Lee's Summit was the largest in the new township.The History of Jackson County, pp. 130, 342

Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, thereby starting the Missouri-Kansas Border War. Many of the residents of Prairie Township held pro-slavery attitudes, and some even fought in pro-slavery bands of guerrillas. The Little Blue River valley was an important place of refuge for these guerrilla forces.{{Cite web |last=Schwenk |first=Sarah F. |last2=Parisi |first2=John M. |last3=Weston |first3=Donald E. |date=August 1986 |title=The Cultural Resources of Blue Springs, Missouri |url=https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Blue%20Springs%201986%20Report.pdf |access-date=May 7, 2025 |publisher=Archaeological Associates |page=77 |type=Submitted to the City of Blue Springs, funded by National Park Service Grant No. 29-85-93l0-020-B of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and administered by the Office of Historic Preservation of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources |publication-place=Grandview, Missouri}}{{Efn|Significant portions of Lee's Summit and the Little Blue River valley overlap. See, Shortridge, p. 3, Map 1.}} Howard, the eventual founder of Lee's Summit, was arrested by a Union officer and then spent one month in jail in 1859.{{Cite web |title=Faces of the Jail |url=https://www.jchs.org/faces-of-the-jail |access-date=April 15, 2025 |website=Jackson County Historical Society}} In July of 1862, Irvin Walley, a captain in the Union army, shot and killed Henry Washington Younger, an early settler of Lee's Summit.The History of Jackson County, p. 342{{Cite book |last=Croy |first=Homer |url=https://archive.org/details/coleyoungerlasto00home |title=Last of the Great Outlaws |publisher=Duell, Sloan and Pearce |year=1956 |location=New York |pages=16-17 |access-date=April 16, 2025}} Less than two months later, anti-slavery guerrillas from Kansas killed Dr. Lea in his home. After these men's deaths, their sons joined up with William Quantrill's pro-Confederate gang and participated in the Lawrence Massacre.{{Cite web |last=Horner |first=John Arthur |date=November 15, 2013 |title=Here a Lea, There a Lea - Everywhere a Lea, a Lea! Part 2 |url=https://kchistory.org/blog/here-lea-there-lea-everywhere-lea-lea-part-2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241215135344/https://kchistory.org/blog/here-lea-there-lea-everywhere-lea-lea-part-2 |archive-date=December 15, 2024 |access-date=May 7, 2025 |website=Kansas City Public Library}} Most notable among them was Cole Younger, a life-long resident of Lee's Summit and outlaw who would become "Jesse James's right hand".{{Cite book |last=Croy |first=Homer |url=https://archive.org/details/coleyoungerlasto00home |title=Last of the Great Outlaws |publisher=Duell, Sloan and Pearce |year=1956 |location=New York |pages=ix, 32-37 |access-date=April 16, 2025}}McCullough, p. 24 In response to the Lawrence Massacre, Union General Thomas Ewing, Jr., in 1863, issued General Order No. 11 which forced all residents living outside of Union-occupied towns in Jackson County to prove allegiance to the Union within fifteen days or else evacuate. This resulted in the desertion of the area of present-day Lee's Summit, with many residents fleeing back to their homes in the east. Union troops then burned and razed many of the abandoned farms.Schwenk, p. 10

Upon the end of the American Civil War in 1865, William Bullitt Howard returned to his home in Jackson County. He reached a deal with the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company to plat a town of {{convert|70|acre|km2}} along the path of the tracks south of Kansas City and on the way to St. Louis. Lots in the center of the town would be reserved for a train depot. The town was founded as "Strother", named after Howard's wife's family name, in October 1865.Schwenk, p. 11The History of Jackson County, p. 952Image:LS Platt 1877.JPG depot and William Bullitt Howard's land]]

In 1868, the town was officially renamed "Lee's Summit". A flier from 1865 refers to the town as "Strother, formerly known as Lee's Summit", indicating that the town was colloquially known as Lee's Summit prior to its founding by Howard.{{Efn|1=Also see a petition from the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company filed in St. Louis County and published in the [https://shsmo.newspapers.com/image/571042004/?match=1&terms=%22Lee%27s%20Summit%22 December 24, 1864 edition] of The Daily Missouri Democrat which refers to "Lee's Summit".}} It is very likely that Lee's Summit was named in honor of Dr. Pleasant John Graves Lea, who was killed nearby in 1862. Workers for the Missouri Pacific Railroad may have painted "Lees Summit" on the side of a boxcar to serve as a temporary depot in the city.Schwenk, pp. 11-12 That they wrote "Lee" instead of "Lea" is assumed to be a spelling error, while "Summit" comes from the fact that the city contains the highest point along the railroad between Kansas City and St. Louis. Contrary to this account, in 1969 Howard's grandson claimed that the town was named in honor of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and that Howard used the story about Dr. Lea as a cover. Local historians, however, have dismissed this claim.{{Cite news |last=Winkler |first=Elijah |date=June 3, 2023 |title=Where did the city of Lee's Summit get its name? The history and legacy is complicated |url=https://www.kansascity.com/news/your-kcq/article276058136.html |access-date=May 7, 2025 |work=The Kansas City Star}}

In 1877, Lee's Summit was incorporated as a fourth-class city, and by then it was the "commercial center for the surrounding agricultural community".Schwenk, pp. 14-15 The primary occupation in Lee's Summit was farming—in particular, raising hogs, growing corn, and fruit orchards.Schwenk, pp. 19, 22 In 1885, a fire destroyed much of downtown Lee's Summit.

In the early 20th century, Lee's Summit persisted as a small and rural agricultural community. The city's population growth was stunted by its proximity to Kansas City and Independence. Still, the city boundaries were expanded in 1905, and some residential development occurred in the 1900s and 1910s. Property development slowed and then ceased in Lee's Summit during the 1920s and through the Great Depression and World War II.Schwenk, pp. 16-17, 31-32

In 1912, lumber baron and Kansas City civic leader Robert A. Long began building his estate, Longview Farm, on {{convert|1780|acre|km2}}, much of which was in southwestern Lee's Summit. It took eighteen months to complete with the work of over two thousand laborers. At the time of building, it was considered the largest construction project in the country. At the time of completion, the farm employed over two hundred people who lived on the property. Long's daughter, Loula Long Combs, made a lifelong career of raising champion show horses on the farm.{{Cite web |last=Marsh |first=Joanna |date=January 14, 2021 |title=KCQ: The History of Longview Farm |url=https://kclibrary.org/news/2021-01/kcq-history-longview-farm |access-date=May 5, 2025 |website=Kansas City Public Library}} In 2004, part of the farm was developed into the New Longview neighborhood.Shortridge, p. 196

In March 1922, at the Veterans Memorial Hall in downtown Lee's Summit (now the Third Street Social restaurant), Harry S. Truman announced he was running for election as County Court judge of the eastern district of Jackson County—the first political candidacy of his career.{{Efn|According to McCullough, the County Court judge was not a judicial position, but an administrative one involving county government spending and contracting. The eastern district included towns such as Independence, Grandview, and Lee's Summit. Mike Pendergast, brother of Kansas City political boss Tom Pendergast, had "responsibility for" this position.}} Years later, in 1956, Truman said of his first political speech that it "was a flop for me". "I was more scared then than I was at any time later, even when I was on the front in the first world war in France.”{{Cite web |last=Burnes |first=Brian |date=November 7, 2022 |title=Truman’s First Campaign |url=https://www.jchs.org/jchs-e-journal/2022/11/7/trumans-first-campaign |access-date=May 5, 2025 |website=Jackson County Historical Society}}McCullough, pp. 153-154 During the primary campaign, Truman briefly pursued Ku Klux Klan membership thinking it would help him secure more votes, in part because of prominent cross burnings in Lee's Summit.McCullough, pp. 156-157 Two years later, during his reelection campaign, he faced public opposition from Jackson County treasurer and Lee's Summit mayor, Todd George, who may have been affiliated with the Klan.{{Efn|McCullough refers to George as "the local head Klansman". George's family disputes this characterization, saying that they "had independent research conducted, and it found there is no evidence of any such affiliation" and that "in a 1959 memoir, George stated he wanted nothing to do with the KKK". The editorial board of The Kansas City Star points out, however, that "While reports that George was a local leader of the Ku Klux Klan were a matter of some debate, his belief in a racist ideology was indisputable." See Dicus, Todd C. (July 17, 2020). [https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article244272432.html "Discussion about Todd George's name on Lee's Summit roads requires context"]. Kansas City Star. Retrieved May 5, 2025. See also, [https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article244264797.html "'A memorial to hatred': Lee's Summit should rename streets honoring racist former mayor"]. Kansas City Star. July 16, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2025.}} Truman claimed that the Klan threatened to kill him, and in response he disrupted a Klan rally in Lee's Summit, shaming the roughly one thousand attendees for their anti-Catholic and antisemitic views.McCullough, p. 162 In 1928, Truman as the presiding judge of the County Court undertook the construction of many roads, connecting Lee's Summit to the rest of the metro area, and of a hospital just outside Lee's Summit (later named Truman Medical Center-East, now University Health Lakewood Medical Center).{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=David W. |date=Spring 2004 |title=Jackson County's Poor Farm Transformed into a Rich Healthcare Center |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51181e81e4b04512ec820440/t/5150f49ee4b00303002f5b18/1364259998819/Vol45-1.pdf |journal=Jackson County Historical Society Journal |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=9-10}}McCullough, pp. 167-168

Upon the conclusion of World War II in 1945, there was enormous demand for single-family housing across the United States. This demand, combined with the recently built roads, Federal Housing Administration policy, and the G.I. Bill initiated the rapid suburbanization of Lee's Summit. Developers began building entire neighborhoods in the city, but were interrupted from 1950 to 1953 because of the Korean War. After the war, however, the number of people living in and around Lee's Summit grew significantly. According to the 1950 census, about 2,500 people lived in Lee's Summit, but by 1960 over 8,000 people did. This population growth was a consequence of white Kansas City residents relocating to the suburbs as well as large annexations by the city. By the late 1950s, Lee's Summit was no longer an agricultural community, but instead a commuter suburb—nearly sixty percent of residents worked outside the city, and almost no farming took place.Schwenk, pp. 140-146

In 1961, Western Electric opened a factory in Lee's Summit and within a year employed about three thousand people. The Western Electric plant, which was in operation until 2002, encouraged the further growth of the city by providing a tax base for additional annexations and a well-funded public school district.{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.westernelectric.com:80/history.html#expand |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819100135/http://www.westernelectric.com:80/history.html#expand |archive-date=August 19, 2016 |access-date=May 7, 2025 |website=Western Electric}}Schwenk, pp. 46-48Shortridge, p. 154 The city's rapid growth continued through the 1970s and 1980s, reaching over 46,000 residents by 1990. John Knox Village, a long-term care facility, was completed in 1970 and has remained a top employer for the city since. In 1985, the Little Blue River was dammed, creating Longview Lake, the site of other amenities such as the Fred Arbanas Golf Course and the MCC-Longview community college. In 2001, the Summit Woods Crossing retail center was developed in Lee's Summit, and in 2007 the Summit Fair retail center was built nearby. Construction of the Downtown Market Plaza, which will include a farmer's market and event space, began in 2023.{{Cite web |title=2023 Annual Report |url=https://cityofls.net/annual-reports/2023-annual-report |access-date=May 8, 2025 |website=City of Lee's Summit}}

According to criteria set forth by sociologists Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton, the Kansas City metro area was "hypersegregated" between white and Black residents as recently as the 1980s.{{Cite book |last=Massey |first=Douglas S. |title=American Apartheid |last2=Denton |first2=Nancy A. |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1993 |isbn=9780674018211 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=75-77}} Lee's Summit, as a second-ring white flight suburb, contributed to a dynamic of racial segregation between Kansas City and its outlying region. The government policies which helped suburbanize the city in the post-war period excluded Black people from participating in them, effectively making Lee's Summit available exclusively to white people. The Federal Housing Administration even encouraged suburban developers to include legally unenforceable racially restrictive deed covenants with the sale of their homes.Schwenk, p. 41 According to sociologist Kevin Fox Gotham, residents of Lee's Summit successfully resisted efforts to locate federally subsidized housing in the suburb, meant to integrate the metro area, in the 1970s and up through the 1990s.{{Cite journal |last=Gotham |first=Kevin Fox |date=October 1998 |title=Suburbia Under Siege: Low-Income Housing and Racial Conflict in Metropolitan Kansas City, 1970-1990 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02732173.1998.9982207 |journal=Sociological Spectrum |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=459 |via=Taylor & Francis}} In 1988, 134 Black students in the Kansas City public school district sued the Lee's Summit school district for racial discrimination. In 1990 this case was made part of Missouri v. Jenkins, which resulted in the creation of the Kansas City magnet school system and an unprecedented court order doubling the local tax rate, only to be overturned by the Supreme Court in 1995.{{Cite court|litigants=Lee's Summit Reorganized School District v. Naylor|opinion=89-1957|court=8th Cir.|date=May 23, 1990|url=https://archive.org/details/micro_IA40385020_2763/micro_IA40385020_2763%201.%20Petition%20for%20Writ%20of%20Certiorari/page/n40/mode/1up}}{{Cite news |last=O'Connor |first=Tim |date=October 30, 1990 |title=Court opens way for blacks |url=https://kansascity.newspapers.com/image/681517838/ |access-date=May 7, 2025 |work=The Kansas City Star |pages=1, 7}}{{Cite news |date=August 8, 2016 |title=Kansas City's Magnet Schools Were A Dream Realized, Then Gone In A Generation |url=https://www.kcur.org/community/2016-08-08/kansas-citys-magnet-schools-were-a-dream-realized-then-gone-in-a-generation |access-date=May 7, 2025 |work= Kansas City Public Radio}}

Lee's Summit is located near Missouri's western border with Kansas and is in the northern half of the state. The city borders Kansas City to the west and northwest, Independence to the north, unincorporated Jackson County to the east, Greenwood to the southeast, and Lake Winnebago as well as unincorporated Cass County to the south.Shortridge, p. 192 It is part of the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Lee's Summit resides partially within and to the south and east of the Little Blue River valley. The north-westernmost boundary of the city follows the course of the Little Blue River. There are six major human-made reservoirs in and around Lee's Summit: Lake Jacomo (1959), Lake Winnebago (1960s), Raintree Lake (1970s), Lakewood Lakes (1976), Longview Lake (1986), and Blue Springs Lake (1989).{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.makeyourdayhere.com/About-Us/History |access-date=May 8, 2025 |website=Jackson County MO Parks + Rec}}{{Cite news |date=October 6, 1963 |title=Big Private Lake Plan on Cass Site |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/648125301/?match=1&terms=%22lake%20winnebago%22%20-wisconsin%20-wis%20-wisc |access-date=May 8, 2025 |work=The Kansas City Star |pages=88}}{{Cite news |title=Raintree Lake |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/676258083/?match=1&terms=%22raintree%20lake%22 |access-date=May 8, 2025 |work=The Kansas City Star |pages=40}}{{Cite web |date=April 18, 2024 |title=Our History |url=https://lpoa.com/about-us/our-history/ |access-date=May 8, 2025 |website=Lakewood Property Owners Association}} Bethany Falls, a 20-foot-thick limestone formation, runs underneath Lee's Summit, resulting in bluffs near Longview Lake.Shortridge, p. 3

Lee's Summit experiences a four-season humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa) with cold days and nights during the winter, and hot days and muggy nights during the summer. No physical features obstruct the flow of air, allowing moist currents from the Gulf of Mexico, dry currents from the semiarid southwest, and cold polar continental currents to interact and affect the weather in the area. This causes the weather to be highly variable, sometimes producing tornadoes and storms. Spring is the season when variation is the highest. Spring is also characterized by high precipitation and moderate temperatures. Summer has warm to hot temperatures and is humid. Precipitation is also high during the summer. Fall has mild days and cool nights, with low precipitation. Winters are dry and moderately cold.{{Cite journal |last=Hasan |first=Syed E. |last2=Moberly |first2=Richard L. |last3=Caoile |first3=John A. |date=1988 |title=Geology of Greater Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas, United States of America |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/aeg/eeg/article-abstract/xxv/3/277/137356/Geology-of-Greater-Kansas-City-Missouri-and-Kansas?redirectedFrom=PDF |journal=Bulletin of the Association of Engineering Geologists |volume=XXV |issue=3 |pages=284-285}}{{Weather box

| width = auto

| location = Lee's Summit Municipal Airport{{efn|Data used to calculate the average daily high temperatures, the average daily low temperatures, and the overall daily average temperatures of each month are from the Lee's Summit Municipal Airport (1991 to 2020).

{{cite web

|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USW00053879&format=pdf

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|title = Station: LEES SUMMIT MUNI AP

|work = U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020)

|access-date = October 6, 2023}}}} and James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area{{efn|

Record high temperatures, record low temperatures, and the data used to calculate the mean monthly high temperatures, the mean monthly low temperatures, the average monthly precipitation and snowfall, the average days with precipitation of each month, and the average days with snowfall of each month are from the James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area (1962 to 2011).{{cite web

|url = https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=eax

|title = NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data |publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|access-date = October 6, 2023}}

}}

| single line = Y

| Jan record high F = 73

| Feb record high F = 80

| Mar record high F = 87

| Apr record high F = 91

| May record high F = 91

| Jun record high F = 103

| Jul record high F = 108

| Aug record high F = 107

| Sep record high F = 107

| Oct record high F = 95

| Nov record high F = 82

| Dec record high F = 73

| year record high F = 108

| Jan avg record high F = 59

| Feb avg record high F = 65

| Mar avg record high F = 77

| Apr avg record high F = 83

| May avg record high F = 88

| Jun avg record high F = 93

| Jul avg record high F = 98

| Aug avg record high F = 98

| Sep avg record high F = 92

| Oct avg record high F = 85

| Nov avg record high F = 73

| Dec avg record high F = 63

| year avg record high F = 99

| Jan high F = 39.0

| Feb high F = 44.3

| Mar high F = 55.4

| Apr high F = 65.5

| May high F = 74.8

| Jun high F = 84.0

| Jul high F = 88.3

| Aug high F = 86.9

| Sep high F = 79.0

| Oct high F = 67.1

| Nov high F = 54.0

| Dec high F = 43.2

| year high F =

| Jan mean F = 30.6

| Feb mean F = 35.1

| Mar mean F = 45.4

| Apr mean F = 55.5

| May mean F = 65.3

| Jun mean F = 74.7

| Jul mean F = 79.0

| Aug mean F = 77.3

| Sep mean F = 69.0

| Oct mean F = 57.2

| Nov mean F = 45.1

| Dec mean F = 34.7

| year mean F =

| Jan low F = 22.1

| Feb low F = 25.9

| Mar low F = 35.4

| Apr low F = 45.5

| May low F = 55.9

| Jun low F = 65.4

| Jul low F = 69.7

| Aug low F = 67.6

| Sep low F = 59.0

| Oct low F = 47.2

| Nov low F = 36.2

| Dec low F = 26.3

| year low F =

| Jan avg record low F = -3

| Feb avg record low F = 2

| Mar avg record low F = 13

| Apr avg record low F = 27

| May avg record low F = 39

| Jun avg record low F = 50

| Jul avg record low F = 56

| Aug avg record low F = 54

| Sep avg record low F = 40

| Oct avg record low F = 28

| Nov avg record low F = 16

| Dec avg record low F = 2

| year avg record low F = -6

| Jan record low F = −19

| Feb record low F = −15

| Mar record low F = −5

| Apr record low F = 11

| May record low F = 28

| Jun record low F = 35

| Jul record low F = 48

| Aug record low F = 43

| Sep record low F = 29

| Oct record low F = 7

| Nov record low F = 0

| Dec record low F = −25

| year record low F = −25

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation inch = 0.96

| Feb precipitation inch = 1.43

| Mar precipitation inch = 2.14

| Apr precipitation inch = 4.19

| May precipitation inch = 5.70

| Jun precipitation inch = 4.95

| Jul precipitation inch = 4.57

| Aug precipitation inch = 4.54

| Sep precipitation inch = 3.07

| Oct precipitation inch = 3.39

| Nov precipitation inch = 2.05

| Dec precipitation inch = 1.35

| year precipitation inch =

| Jan snow inch = 2.7

| Feb snow inch = 2.8

| Mar snow inch = 1.3

| Apr snow inch = 0.2

| May snow inch = 0.0

| Jun snow inch = 0.0

| Jul snow inch = 0.0

| Aug snow inch = 0.0

| Sep snow inch = 0.0

| Oct snow inch = 0.0

| Nov snow inch = 0.5

| Dec snow inch = 1.8

| year snow inch = 4.5

| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

| Jan precipitation days = 5

| Feb precipitation days = 5

| Mar precipitation days = 8

| Apr precipitation days = 10

| May precipitation days = 12

| Jun precipitation days = 10

| Jul precipitation days = 9

| Aug precipitation days = 9

| Sep precipitation days = 8

| Oct precipitation days = 9

| Nov precipitation days = 7

| Dec precipitation days = 6

| year precipitation days =

| unit snow days = 0.1 in

| Jan snow days = 2

| Feb snow days = 2

| Mar snow days = 1

| Apr snow days = 0

| May snow days = 0

| Jun snow days = 0

| Jul snow days = 0

| Aug snow days = 0

| Sep snow days = 0

| Oct snow days = 0

| Nov snow days = 0

| Dec snow days = 2

| year snow days = 9

| source 1 = NOAA

}}

{{US Census population

|1880= 693

|1890= 1369

|1900= 1453

|1910= 1455

|1920= 1467

|1930= 2035

|1940= 2263

|1950= 2554

|1960= 8267

|1970= 16230

|1980= 28741

|1990= 46418

|2000= 70700

|2010= 91364

|2020= 101108

|estyear= 2023

|estimate= 104638

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}} {{Deep link needed|date=March 2023}}

}}

File:Census Dots, Race and Ethnicity Map Lee's Summit, MO.png. Each dot is one person: {{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(115, 178, 255)|White}}

{{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(159, 212, 0)|Black}}

{{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(255, 0, 0)|Asian}}

{{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(255, 170, 0)|Hispanic}}

{{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(140, 81, 181)|Multiracial}}

{{legend inline|outline=white|white|text=⬤|textcolor=rgb(153, 102, 51)|Native American/Other}}]]

The 2020 United States census{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov| access-date=2023-12-17 |website=data.census.gov}} counted 101,108 people, 37,664 households, and 27,316 families in Lee's Summit. The population density was 1,582.3 per square mile (611.0/km{{sup|2}}). There were 39,495 housing units at an average density of 618.1 per square mile (238.7/km{{sup|2}}). The racial makeup (including Hispanics in the racial counts) was 78.64% (79,516) white, 8.92% (9,019) black or African-American, 0.32% (321) Native American, 2.37% (2,401) Asian, 0.15% (147) Pacific Islander, 1.7% (1,714) from other races, and 7.9% (7,990) from two or more races.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}} Hispanic or Latino of any race was 5.3% (5,398) of the population.

Of the 37,664 households, 34.9% had children under the age of 18; 58.6% were married couples living together; 23.3% had a female householder with no husband present. Of all households, 22.9% consisted of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.6 and the average family size was 3.1.

25.8% of the population was under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.4 years. For every 100 females, the population had 90.7 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older, there were 88.5 males.

The 2016-2020 5-year American Community Survey{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov|access-date=2023-12-17|website=data.census.gov}} estimates show that the median household income was $93,295 (with a margin of error of +/- $3,679) and the median family income was $108,397 (+/- $3,999). Males had a median income of $61,941 (+/- $2,306) versus $41,989 (+/- $1,903) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $50,625 (+/- $1,528). Approximately, 3.5% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.2% of those under the age of 18 and 4.6% of those ages 65 or over.

As of the 2010 census{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=2012-07-08}}{{Deep link needed|date=March 2023}}, there were 91,364 people, 34,429 households, and 25,126 families living in the city. The population density was {{convert|1442.2|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 36,679 housing units at an average density of {{convert|579.0|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 86.1% White, 8.4% African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.1% from other races, and 2.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.9% of the population.

There were 34,429 households, of which 39.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 27.0% were non-families. Of all households, 22.8% were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.11.

The median age in the city was 37.2 years. 28% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27% were from 25 to 44; 26.6% were from 45 to 64; and 11.5% were 65 years of age or older. The sex makeup of the city was 47.9% male and 52.1% female.

As of the 2000 census,{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}} there were 70,700 people, 26,417 households, and 19,495 families living in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,188.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 27,311 housing units at an average density of {{convert|458.9|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. 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. Of all households, 22.0% 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, 29.2% of the population was under the age of 18, 6.6% was from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% was 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 the town's Economic Development Council,{{cite web|url=https://www.leessummit.org/site-selection/major-employers/|title=Lee's Summit Economic Development Council Workforce Major Employers |access-date=September 21, 2020}} the top employers in the city are:

Lee's Summit is a charter and council-manager form of government, represented by a mayor and a city council. The city council appoints a city manager. Each of the four districts are represented by two councilmembers whose terms are staggered and expire every four years. No councilmember may serve more than two consecutive terms.{{cite web |title = City Council |url = https://cityofls.net/city-council |publisher = City of Lee's Summit |access-date = March 23, 2023}}

• William A. Baird

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 four religious private schools as well: Summit Christian Academy (formerly Lee's Summit Community Christian School), Our Lady of Presentation Catholic School, Lee's Summit Academy (formerly Libby Lane Academy), and St. Michael the Archangel Catholic High School. Longview Community College is located on the western edge of Lee's Summit and is part of Metropolitan Community College (Kansas City) system. It also is home to the Summit Technology Center which is a branch campus of the University of Central Missouri.

Lee's Summit has three public libraries, branches of the Mid-Continent Public Library, on Oldham Parkway, Colbern Road, and Blue Parkway.{{cite web | url=https://www.mymcpl.org/locations | title=Locations | publisher=Mid-Continent Public Library | access-date=8 July 2020}}

The Historic Jefferson Highway (known as the "Palm to Pine" highway) runs through Lee's Summit.

• 25px I-470 is an Interstate 70 spur through Lee's Summit into southern Kansas City.
• 20px US 40: Forms half of Lee's Summit's northern border with Independence.
• 20px US 50: Follows I-435 from the west to I-470 then spurs off in Lee's Summit and becomes just US 50.
• 25px Route 150: A highway linking southern Lee's Summit, and Grandview to the Kansas suburbs at State Line Road.
• 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, KCI Airport and northern Kansas City. It fuses with I-470 through parts of Lee's Summit.
• 25px Route 350: Connector highway that brings together I-435 with I-470 and US 50.

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

Two general medical and surgical hospitals which provide emergency services—Lee's Summit Medical Center and Saint Luke's East Hospital—are both located in Lee's Summit.

• Lee's Summit Journal
• The Kansas City Star
• The Lee's Summit Tribune

List of people from Lee's Summit, Missouri

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028846505 |title=The History of Jackson County, Missouri |publisher=Union Historical Company |year=1881 |location=Kansas City, Missouri |access-date=May 7, 2025}}
• {{Cite book |last=McCullough |first=David |title= Truman |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1992 |isbn=9780743260299 |location=New York}}
• {{Cite book |last=Olson |first=Greg |title=Indigenous Missourians: Ancient Societies to the Present |publisher=University of Missouri Press |year=2023 |isbn=9780826222824 |location=Columbia}}
• Schmits, Larry J.; Mandel, Rolfe D.; Brooks, Ralph E.; Kost, Ed; Neas, John; Bailey, Bruce C. (1989). [https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA216614.pdf "Prehistory of the Little Blue River Valley, Western Missouri: Archaeological Investigations at Blue Springs Lake"] (PDF) (Report submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District). Shawnee Mission, Kansas: Environmental Systems Analysis, Inc. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
• Schwenk, Sally F. (June 30, 2005). [https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Historic%20Resources%20of%20Lee%27s%20Summit%2C%20MO.pdf "Historic Resources of Lee's Summit, Missouri"] (PDF) (This Multiple Property Documentation Form was prepared for the National Register of Historic Places). Kansas City, Missouri: Historic Preservation Services LLC. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
• {{Cite book |last=Shortridge |first=James R. |title=Kansas City and How It Grew, 1822-2011 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |year=2012 |isbn=9780700618828 |location=Lawrence}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Wood |first=W. Raymond |date=December 2013 |title=Ethnohistory and Euro-American Contact in Missouri |url=https://www.academia.edu/15306373/Ethnohistory_and_Euro_American_Contact_in_Missouri |journal=The Missouri Archaeologist |volume=74 |via=Academia.edu}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Portal|Missouri}}

{{Wikivoyage|Lee's Summit}}

• {{Official website|https://cityofls.net/}}
• [http://www.lschamber.com Lee's Summit Chamber of Commerce]

{{Kansas City MSA}}

{{Cass County, Missouri}}

{{Jackson County, Missouri}}

{{Missouri}}

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Category:Cities in Cass County, Missouri

Category:Cities in Jackson County, Missouri

Category:Cities in Kansas City metropolitan area

Category:Populated places established in 1865

Category:Cities in Missouri

Category:Satellite cities

Category:1865 establishments in Missouri