Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lake Tapawingo

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
–Not graded
History · Lake Tapawingo

40% of Lake Tapawingo’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1933 on and the census since 1970.

0on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Lake Tapawingo’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 Lake Tapawingo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Lake Tapawingo’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lake Tapawingo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lake Tapawingo’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 Lake Tapawingo came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake Tapawingo.

Read it all →

Lake Tapawingo was constructed by the Lake Tapawingo Development Company in 1926 as an "exclusive sports retreat and rest haven". The city was named after a lake within its borders. Derived from a Native American word meaning "beautiful water" or "beautiful place", it is also said to be named after a Native American princess. The City of Lake Tapawingo was officially formed in 1962 to prevent annexation by the larger cities of either Blue Springs, Missouri or Independence, Missouri.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Lake Tapawingo on the map, 1933 to 1990

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

Lake Tapawingo on the 1933 USGS mapLake Tapawingo on the 1945 USGS mapLake Tapawingo on the 1965 USGS mapLake Tapawingo on the 1970 USGS mapLake Tapawingo on the 1990 USGS map1933Blue Springs 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 Lake Tapawingo.

People over time

Lake Tapawingo, census by census

02004006008001,000198020002020Peak: 925

Between 730 and 925 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Lake Tapawingo

Nobody well known was born in Lake Tapawingo itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Ed AsnerAmerican actor · b. 1929
Ginger RogersAmerican actress and dancer · b. 1911
Jean HarlowAmerican film actress · b. 1911
Robert AltmanAmerican filmmaker · b. 1925
D
Don CheadleAmerican actor · b. 1964
Dianne WiestAmerican actress · b. 1948
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Blue Springs1 historic placeB−

Questions about Lake Tapawingo’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, 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.