Mission Hills, KS

Platted in 1912 by J. C. Nichols, who had already developed the Country Club District on the Missouri side and anticipated Kansas City's growth across the state line. He borrowed from the stockholders of the J. C. Nichols Realty Company to acquire the land and advertised '300 acres of wooded countryside transformed into an arcadia for homebuilding on large grounds 1-1/2 to 10 acres'. The Mission Hills Home Company was formed on August 18, 1914 and the first portion of the development opened on November 16, 1919. source

The name. Named after the Shawnee Methodist Mission, which operated near the area between 1839 and 1864. The name is a reference to that historic institution and to the site's hills - it is the documented origin of the place name. source

In 1949, concerned about being annexed by a surrounding city, the Mission Hills Homes Company board - then the governing entity - called a special meeting and voted unanimously to incorporate as a third-class city. The new city immediately annexed the Tomahawk Road District, and in 1956 and 1957 annexed the Kansas City Country Club, the Mission Hills Country Club, the area south of 67th Street and areas east of Belinder. source

1. 1912Platted by J. C. Nichols, who worked with Hare & Hare on the layout. source
2. 1919The first portion of Mission Hills opened on November 16, 1919, setting the pattern for the rest of the development. source
3. 1925S. Herbert Hare purchased the Verona columns, vases, fountain and urn in Verona, Italy for the J. C. Nichols Company. source
4. 1946Construction largely stopped during the Great Depression and the Second World War, then resumed with buyers wanting smaller houses with modern conveniences; Nichols reduced lot sizes and advertised houses 'on tracts of greater size and depth than usual - but not too large'. The ACS year-built data shows 442 units built in the 1950s, the single largest decade in the city. source
5. 1949Incorporated as a third-class city, followed immediately by annexation of the Tomahawk Road District and, in 1956-57, of the two country clubs and areas south of 67th Street and east of Belinder. source

The median home sold here was built in 1950. Most of what sells was built between 1930 and 1973. That closely matches the Census figure of 1953 for all housing, so sales are broadly representative of the stock. 75% 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.

A planned garden community designed with the landscape architecture firm Hare & Hare of Kansas City. The plan respected the natural topography, using curvilinear streets that meander through rolling land with cultivated vegetation, in what the city's own profile calls a rural village pattern. source

Three golf courses form a green belt around the community. Mission Hills Country Club, founded June 30, 1914, provided the original greenbelt; Nichols began the Kansas City Country Club in 1921 and Indian Hills in 1926 to extend it. The city annexed the Kansas City and Mission Hills country clubs in 1956-57. source 1 source 2

From 1923 Nichols infilled the neighborhood's 'parklets' - broad medians, green space along street edges, intersection centers and entry points - with fountains, statuary, urns and sculpture, much of it bought on his own travels or from art dealers, to give the streets a European character. source

The Verona Columns and reflecting pool at Ensley Lane, Mission Drive and Overhill Road are the city's most distinctive landmark. S. Herbert Hare traveled to Europe in 1924 with topographical maps of the valley and a commission from the J. C. Nichols Company to find art for the site, and in 1925 bought eight columns along with vases, a fountain and an urn in Verona, Italy. source 1 source 2

Verona Columns and reflecting pool

Eight columns and associated statuary bought in Verona, Italy in 1925 on S. Herbert Hare's commission, set at the intersection of Ensley Lane, Mission Drive and Overhill Road. source

Willow Lake

A pond at 63rd Street and Ensley Lane, illustrated in the city's own Community Profile as characteristic of the garden-community landscape. source

Mission Hills Country Club, Kansas City Country Club and Indian Hills

The three courses that form the green belt around the city; Mission Hills Country Club was founded June 30, 1914. source 1 source 2

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

Schools

Shawnee Mission Public Schools (Unified School District 512). boundaries do not follow city limits - USD 512 serves northeastern Johnson County across many municipalities and was itself formed in 1969 from the unification of fourteen predecessor districts Confirm the assigned school for any specific address before you rely on it. source 1 source 2

Getting around

State Line Road forms the city's eastern boundary; municipal offices sit at 6300 State Line Road. The internal street network is deliberately curvilinear rather than gridded, following the original Hare & Hare plan. source 1 source 2

Employers located here

City of Mission Hills. Listed as present in the city, which is not a statement about hiring.