Cass County · MO
Garden City, MO
Founded 1885 · 42.4 miles from downtown Kansas City · population 1,742
The market, last twelve months
Half of the homes that sold went under contract within 28 days. The median sale closed at 100.0% of asking - at list. 47% closed at or above the original list price, which is the better measure of how much room a buyer actually has.
Aggregated from Heartland MLS closed sales, twelve months to July 2026. Individual sale prices are not shown - Kansas and Missouri are non-disclosure states and MLS rules do not permit their public display. Ask for the full report if you need them.
How it came to befounded 1885 · where the name comes from · 4 dated events
Formed as a village in August 1885 and platted the same year, on the line of the Kansas City, Clinton & Springfield Railroad. Because the town was laid out to the railroad rather than to the section lines, most of Garden City sits at an angle to the surrounding grid - still visible on any plat map. source
The name. Named for the fertility of the soil around the town site. A post office had been open under the name since 1875, a decade before the town was platted. source
Incorporated as a Missouri fourth-class city in 1897, twelve years after the village was formed. source
- 1875A post office opened under the name Garden City, a decade before the town itself was laid out. source
- 1885The village was formed in August 1885 and platted along the Kansas City, Clinton & Springfield Railroad. source
- 1885Glenn's 1917 History of Cass County records that the town was organized in 1885 by order of the county court directing its incorporation, with L. W. Burdette, J. S. Halcomb, Thomas Huett and S. K. McBride appointed as the first officers. That is a distinct and earlier event from the 1897 incorporation as a fourth-class city already in this record. source 1 source 2
- 1897Incorporated as a fourth-class city. source
The housing stockmedian built 1993
The median home sold here was built in 1993. Most of what sells was built between 1930 and 2021. That closely matches the Census figure of 1985 for all housing, so sales are broadly representative of the stock. 27% 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.
What's hereTony and Minnie Washington monuments
The street grid is set at an angle to the surrounding section lines because the town was platted along the Kansas City, Clinton & Springfield Railroad rather than to the survey. source
The name is agricultural in origin, given for the quality of the soil around the town site. source
- Tony and Minnie Washington monuments
- The city's own history singles out two monuments to Tony and Minnie Washington, longtime residents - one at the post office and one at the Garden City Cemetery, where both are buried. The city notes that people in town still keep the paper silhouettes Minnie cut. source
Practical detailschool district · highways and transit · 1 employers
- Schools
- Sherwood Cass R-VIII School District. boundaries do not follow city limits - the Sherwood campus is about seven miles southeast of Garden City, so the town's schools are not in the town Confirm the assigned school for any specific address before you rely on it. source 1 source 2
- Getting around
- Missouri Route 7 and its predecessor alignment, still signed as Old 7 Highway, run through the area, and Old 7 crosses Route F inside the city - the city names that four-way intersection as one it hopes to improve with road and bridge money. MoDOT's Kansas City District city map for Garden City shows State Highway 7 and Old 7 together with the lettered routes F, N and D around the town. The Kansas City, Clinton and Springfield Railway that the town was platted along has since closed. source 1 source 2
- Employers located here
- The Training Center. Listed as present in the city, which is not a statement about hiring.
More images1 more from the archives
Thinking about buying or selling here?
The numbers above describe the market. What they cannot tell you is what your own house is worth in it, or which of these streets fits what you need. Ask me about Garden City.