Lee’s Summit, Missouri

In 1865 William B. Howard filed a plat to establish a town 25 miles southeast of Kansas City – The Town of Strother.

The founder of the Town of Strother is William Bullitt Howard. The name – Town of Strother – paid homage Howard’s late wife, Maria Strother.

The name change to Lee’s Summit? There was already another Missouri town named Strother.

The “Lee” in Lee’s Summit? That comes from Howard’s neighbors, Pleasant and Lucinda Lea.

What should have been spelled out as Lea’s Sunmit on a boxcar at the Missouri Pacific Depot in the Town of Strother was a misspelling.

That boxcar should have had “Lea’s Summit” painted on it, L – E – A. However, “Lee’s Summit” – spelled L – E – E – was painted on the boxcar. It was a misspelling.

The “Summit” in Lee’s Summit? The definition of “summit” is, the highest point of a hill or mountain. Lee’s Summit is the highest elevation point on the Missouri Pacific line. That line ran through Lee’s Summit.

Lee’s Summit: A neighbor, a misspelling and an elevation point.