Most of Lone Jack was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2006. Below: maps from 1934 on and the census since 1880.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lone Jack is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lone Jack’s overall grade.
Missouri towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Missouri town has 2.4 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lone Jack’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of Missouri towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Lone Jack’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lone Jack was platted in 1841. Its name comes from a single black jack tree that stood as a local landmark. A post office has been in operation at Lone Jack since 1839.
On August 16, 1862, Federal troops were defeated in the Battle of Lone Jack by a much larger Confederate force. The fighting literally occurred on the main street and raged for five hours before the Federals withdrew. The Confederates were unable to hold the town following their victory because of converging Union forces from other commands.
Passages that mention Lone Jack, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The History of Jackson county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Jackson county in the late war... history of Missouri, map of Jackson county ..1881 · page 334Read the page →
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When the township was organized in 1837, the place of voting was fixed at Beattie's store, on the site of the present town of Lone Jack. The first to build a cabin on that site was 'Squire Bridges. Emigrating from Tennessee he first settled and built his cabin in 1831 on Sec. 32, Tp. 47, R. 29 — a part of the Fish or Kreeger farm, southeast of Lone Jack. In 1832 he sold to John Beeler, and in the winter of that year built north of the lone tree, on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Sec. 19, a very short distance north of George H. Shanhan's present residence. Not having teams enough to break prairie and to haul rails
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The History of Jackson county, Missouri, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., biographical sketches of its citizens, Jackson county in the late war... history of Missouri, map of Jackson county ..1881 · page 329Read the page →
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county in 1837), was called as its first pastor, and served it as such uninterruptedly for twenty years, during which time it grew from 14 to 212 members. Its first meetings were held in a school house, in private houses, or in the groves until 1849, when a comfortable frame house was built at Lone Jack, and the name of the church was changed from Basin Knob to Lone Jack. Since the close of the Civil War, it has had as its pastors, Jeremiah Farmer, Abram Weaver, A. M. "Johnson, Solomon D. Brown, Wm. Farmer, I. B. Jackson, Isaac N. Newman, and the present pastor, F. W. Leonard. It numbers
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History of Jackson County, Missouri1920 · page 631Read the page →
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He disposed of his livery business in Lees Summit in 1891, and was engaged in farming until 1911, when he became cashier of the Bank of Lone Jack, and since that time has devoted himself to that position. The Bank of Lone Jack was organized in 1909, and Mr. Yankee was one of the organizers. This bank has had a constant growth and a steady in¬ crease in its volume of business since its organization, and is one of the
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History of Jackson County, Missouri1920 · page 98Read the page →
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Sniabar Creek rises close by the little town of Lone Jack near the southeast corner of the county in Van Buren township, flows north into Sniabar township, thence east into Lafayette County and finally discharges its waters into the Missouri.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
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The Lone Jack post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lone Jack rank for history?
Lone Jack is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns. 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.
How old are the homes in Lone Jack?
4% of Lone Jack’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 points), against a typical 8.4% for a Missouri town; the median home was built in 2006.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
