Welcome to Leawood
With more than 70 years of tradition, Leawood, set in northeast Johnson County, is both a premier residential community and a prestigious business address. Leawood is home to Kansas’ wealthiest zip code. The City features an inviting mix of elegant established neighborhoods, new high-profile developments, and distinctive office buildings. With a population of 35,000 and 15 square miles, it resembles an elongated rectangle running north and south and is bordered on three sides by the cities of Overland Park and Prairie Village, Kansas, and on the fourth by Kansas City, Missouri. Lively retail communities, beautiful parkland, water features, and public art provide something for everybody to enjoy in Leawood.
Fun Facts About Leawood
Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the area. In the early 1700,s Daniel Boone explored the land with French and American traders. Leawood was named for Oscar G. Lee, a retired police officer and an original owner of the townsite who arrived in Johnson County in 1922 from Oklahoma. Oscar Lee’s purchase became the foundation of present-day Leawood.
Notable individuals who were born in or have lived in Leawood include the co-founder of Garmin Corporation Min Kao, romance novelist Julie Garwood, baseball pitcher Dan Quisenberry, and founder of Hallmark Cards, Joyce C. Hall.
Blue Valley School District has grown to encompass five high schools, nine middle schools, twenty-one elementary schools, an alternative high school, the Center for Advanced Professional Studies, and Hilltop Campus, all serving 23,000 students. The graduation rate is 96.6 percent, and teaching staff with a master’s degree or higher is 73 percent. The five Blue Valley high schools were named to the U.S. News & World Report’s best high schools list.
The Tomahawk Creek Greenway
The Tomahawk Creek Greenway is a perfect place to exercise while taking in a peaceful afternoon in the woods. Walk, jog, or bike down the trail as it winds along Tomahawk and Indian Creeks. You can stop to fish at any of the three lakes stocked with channel catfish, green sunfish, and largemouth bass. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks stock it every month between April and September.
Ironwoods Park
Ironwoods Park is home to Outdoor Recreation & Education Programs. Amenities include the Prairie Oak Nature Center, Alpine Towers Challenge Course, and four cabins for overnight camping. A wide variety of programs are offered such as team-building opportunities on the challenge course, scout merit badge programs taught by the outdoor education staff, classes for adults such as bird watching, and rain garden construction.
From the start, the residents of Leawood hoped and planned for a tightly knit community with the convenience of a big city and the peacefulness of a small town. Today, with picturesque parks and streets, highly rated schools, the best of shopping and dining, Leawood is all that the founders had envisioned. Leawood is continuing to progress as an exciting city with a prospering business climate and quality of life. Leawood is widely recognized as a desirable place to live and work.
