Best Web Design in Lee's Summit, MO (2026)

Web Design for Lee's Summit, Missouri

Lee's Summit began in 1865 as an 11-block railroad depot town platted just after the Civil War and named, most likely, for a slain local resident named Pleasant John Graves Lea. Sitting at the highest point on the rail line between Kansas City and St. Louis (the 'Summit' in its name), the once-tiny farming stop has grown into one of Missouri's fastest-growing suburbs and its sixth-largest city. Its downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places, and its most infamous native son is Old West outlaw Cole Younger.

AppWT works with Lee's Summit, MO businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Lee's Summit

Also known as. Strother (the town's original 1865 name before it was renamed Lee's Summit).

History. Founder William Bullitt Howard platted the town in October 1865 and it was incorporated as 'Strother'; it was renamed Lee's Summit about three years later. The town was most likely named in honor of Pleasant John Graves Lea, a prominent local citizen killed nearby in 1862, though a competing account claims it honored Confederate General Robert E. Lee; 'Summit' refers to its position as the highest point on the railroad between Kansas City and St. Louis. It grew as an agricultural community (corn, wheat, and oats) and served for over a century as a railroad junction with major Missouri Pacific and Rock Island facilities. From roughly 8,000 residents in 1960, the city grew to more than 100,000 by 2020, becoming one of the Kansas City metro's fastest-growing communities.

Local economy. The city began as a farming community, with corn, wheat, and oats as prominent crops, and remained largely agricultural into the mid-20th century. Its railroad-junction role brought long-standing Missouri Pacific and Rock Island rail facilities. The modern economy is diversified across health care, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, and information technology. John Knox Village, a large life-plan retirement community with about 1,300 residents on a 200-plus-acre campus, is a major local institution and employer.

Culture and community. Downtown Lee's Summit hosts the annual Downtown Days festival (June) and an Oktoberfest, plus the monthly Fourth Fridays Art Walk showcasing local artists and musicians. 'Music in the Park' free concerts run on summer Fridays. A Downtown Sculpture Walk lines the historic district with public art. Lee's Summit is the hometown of Grammy Award-winning jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and of actress Katherine McNamara ('Shadowhunters').

What makes Lee's Summit distinct. Old West outlaw Cole Younger, a Confederate guerrilla and member of the James-Younger Gang, was born near Lee's Summit in 1844 and, after serving 25 years in prison, returned to live out his life there as a model citizen until his death in 1916; he and brothers Jim and Bob are buried in the Lee's Summit Historical Cemetery. Neighboring Unity Village, world headquarters of the Unity spiritual movement, grew from a 58-acre farm the Fillmores bought in 1919 and features a landmark 1929 tower and a rare concrete buttress dam forming a 21-acre lake. The city sits in two counties, Jackson and Cass. It has repeatedly ranked among national 'best places to live' lists for families.

Lee's Summit Landmarks and Local Life

• Historic Downtown Lee's Summit - listed on the National Register of Historic Places, centered on its restored early-1900s commercial district and depot
• Lee's Summit History Museum - in the downtown core
• Longview Lake and its surrounding park - a popular fishing, picnicking, and trail destination
• Lee's Summit Historical Cemetery - burial place of outlaws Cole, Jim, and Bob Younger of the James-Younger Gang