Fairway, KS

First platted in 1938 by the J.C. Nichols Company, the same developer behind the Country Club District across the state line. source 1 source 2

The name. Named for the private golf courses that surrounded the original plat - the city took its name from the fairways next to it. source

Incorporated in May 1949, at which point it comprised 1,695 residents in 590 houses on 520 acres. The first city council met on July 5, 1949, and appointed a city marshal six days later. source

1. 1839The Methodist mission school opens at the present Fairway site in October, having been established by Rev. Thomas Johnson. source
2. 1854Kansas Territory is organized; Governor Andrew Reeder holds offices at the mission and the first territorial legislature meets there. source
3. 1862The mission closes. source
4. 1927Kansas acquires the mission property after a series of legal disputes; it becomes a state historic site. source 1 source 2
5. 1938The J.C. Nichols Company plats Fairway. source
6. 1949Fairway incorporates in May with 1,695 residents in 590 houses on 520 acres; the first council meets July 5. source
7. 1968The mission site is designated a National Historic Landmark, having been listed on the National Register in 1966. source

The median home sold here was built in 1948. Most of what sells was built between 1939 and 2015. That closely matches the Census figure of 1950 for all housing, so sales are broadly representative of the stock. 61% of sales included finished basement space beyond the above-grade footprint - which matters here, because square footage quoted above grade can understate a house considerably.

By property type, sales broke down as Single Family (98), Condo/Loft (2).

The Shawnee Indian Mission - a 12-acre National Historic Landmark at 3403 W. 53rd Street, owned and operated by the City of Fairway. Three of the original brick buildings survive (East, West and North). Established by Rev. Thomas Johnson, the manual labor school operated at this site from October 1839 until 1862; at its peak the establishment covered more than 2,000 acres with sixteen buildings and enrolled close to 200 students from a number of tribes. source 1 source 2

The mission grounds served as an early territorial capitol: after Kansas Territory was organized in 1854, Governor Andrew Reeder kept offices there and the first territorial legislature met at the site. It was also a supply point on the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails and a camp for Union soldiers during the Civil War. source 1 source 2

A J.C. Nichols-planned residential city: the whole of Fairway was laid out by the Nichols company in 1938 and built out in the decade that followed, which is why almost the entire housing stock dates from a single era. source

Shawnee Indian Mission Historic Site

12-acre National Historic Landmark at 3403 W. 53rd Street with three surviving brick buildings containing period rooms and exhibits; owned and operated by the City of Fairway, open Wednesday to Saturday. source

1 subdivision in Fairway had enough closed sales in the last twelve months to report on individually.

Schools

Shawnee Mission USD 512. boundaries do not follow city limits - USD 512 serves fourteen cities in northeast Johnson County Confirm the assigned school for any specific address before you rely on it. source 1 source 2

Getting around

Shawnee Mission Parkway and Mission Road frame the city; State Line Road and the Country Club Plaza are minutes east, and downtown Kansas City is about 5.8 miles away. source

Frank L. Hagaman

31st Governor of Kansas (1894-1966), listed as from Fairway source

Melissa Rooker

Kansas state legislator, listed as from Fairway source