Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Leawood

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C−History
History · Leawood

1 of Leawood’s places is on the National Register

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns · #129 of 151 in Kansas. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Herman J. and Ella B. Voigts House. Most of Leawood was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Its Register listing is the Herman J. and Ella B. Voigts House. Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 1950.

1on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

About Leawood’s history

How historic is Leawood?

C−

More historic than 17% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Leawood’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Leawood is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #129 of 151 in Kansas. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Leawood’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.5) · typical KS town 10.3% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.3 per 10,000 residents · typical KS town 5.1 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 17%
NewerOlder
Kansas towns of 2,500+ (151)Ahead of 15%

Kansas towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Kansas town has 5.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Leawood’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (38% of Kansas towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Leawood’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Leawood are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Leawood’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Leawood’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Leawood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Leawood.

Read it all →

After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the area east of present-day Leawood opened for settlement. The Santa Fe Trail which ran through the area also contributed to the development of the area. The Border Ruffian War (1855–1857), part of a larger conflict known as Bleeding Kansas, damaged the local economy as pro-slavery activists from the slave state of Missouri attacked settlers, traders, and those traveling along the Santa Fe Trail. Conditions improved with the founding of Oxford, Kansas, the predecessor of Leawood. The township was destroyed by the American Civil War, and there was little left by 1865.

Leawood was named for Oscar G. Lee, the original land owner of the town site.

Chapters19th century20th century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Leawood, 1923 to 1986

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1923BuiltHerman J. and Ella B. Voigts House is built
  3. 1934On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1971Born hereJeffrey L. Fisher is born here
  5. 1981Born hereHolley Fain is born here
  6. 1983Born hereRyan Raybould is born here
  7. 1986Born hereSean Plott is born here
By decade

Leawood, decade by decade

Today17 recent
Snout house Leawood KS 222026Snout house Leawood KS 22Snout house Leawood KS 212026Snout house Leawood KS 21Snout house Leawood KS 202026Snout house Leawood KS 20Snout house Leawood KS 22026Snout house Leawood KS 2Snout house Leawood KS 192026Snout house Leawood KS 19Snout house Leawood KS 182026Snout house Leawood KS 18Snout house Leawood KS 172026Snout house Leawood KS 17Snout house Leawood KS 162026Snout house Leawood KS 16Snout house Leawood KS 152026Snout house Leawood KS 15Snout house Leawood KS 142026Snout house Leawood KS 14Snout house Leawood KS 132026Snout house Leawood KS 13Snout house Leawood KS 122026Snout house Leawood KS 12Snout house Leawood KS 112026Snout house Leawood KS 11Snout house Leawood KS 102026Snout house Leawood KS 10Snout house Leawood KS 12026Snout house Leawood KS 1Snout House Leawood KS 82026Snout House Leawood KS 8KSMap-doton-Leawood2004KSMap-doton-Leawood
On the map

Leawood on the map, 1934 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Leawood. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Leawood on the 1934 USGS mapLeawood on the 1957 USGS mapLeawood on the 1964 USGS mapLeawood on the 1970 USGS mapLeawood on the 1991 USGS map1934Grandview sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Leawood.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Leawood

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Herman J. and Ella B. Voigts House
Herman J. and Ella B. Voigts House, built 1923
Buildings
Herman J. and Ella B. Voigts HouseBuilt 1923

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Leawood, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,000196019802000202033,902

Grew from 1,167 people in 1950 to 33,902 in 2020, more than tenfold.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Leawood’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Leawood

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Sean PlottStarCraft commentator · b. 1986
Holley FainActress · b. 1981
R
Ryan RaybouldAmerican soccer player · b. 1983
J
Jeffrey L. FisherAmerican lawyer · b. 1971
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Gone or out of use
Little Santa FelocaleState Line AirparkairportW B Royse Farm Airportairport
1cemetery inside Leawood
Linwood Pioneer

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Overland Park4 historic placesC−Prairie Village1 historic placeC−

Questions about Leawood’s history

How does Leawood rank for history?

Leawood is more historic than 17% of U.S. towns, #129 of 151 in Kansas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Leawood?

One place: the Herman J. and Ella B. Voigts House (listed 1995).

How old are the homes in Leawood?

0.5% of Leawood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 10% for a Kansas town; the median home was built in 1989.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.