Shawnee Mission is a region of northern

Johnson County, Kansas Johnson County is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas, on the border with Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 609,863, making it the most populous county in Kansas. Its county seat is Olathe. Largely suburban, the county conta ...

, part of the

Kansas City metropolitan area The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

in the United States. Since August 1, 1960, the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

has used the name to denote a large postal coverage area ( ZIP Codes 662xx) at the northeastern tip of Johnson County. It contains numerous towns, and the name was created to structure management of the post offices located therein. Effectively, these towns' post offices are subsidiaries of the Shawnee Mission Main Post Office in

Mission, Kansas Mission is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 9,954. History An Indian mission was established in 1829 at the town's site, hence ...

. Properly, a mailing address may indicate the delivery "place" as either Shawnee Mission, or the actual town name, and be treated the same. The following towns are included in the postal area known as Shawnee Mission: *

Countryside In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

(Incorporated into the City of Mission in January, 2003) *

Fairway Fairway may refer to: * Fairway (golf), part of a golf course *Fairway (navigation), a part of a water body with navigable channel *Fairway (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse *Fairway, Gauteng, South Africa *Fairway, Kansas, United States *Fairway, ...

Lake Quivira Lake Quivira is a city in Johnson and Wyandotte counties in the State of Kansas, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,014. History Lake Quivira had its start in the 1920s wh ...

(the northern part is in

Wyandotte County, Kansas Wyandotte County (; county code WY) is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,245, making it Kansas's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat and most populous city is Kansas City, with which ...

) * Leawood * Lenexa *

Merriam Merriam can refer to: People * Alan P. Merriam (1923–1980), American ethnomusicologist * Charles Edward Merriam (1874–1953), American political scientist * Charles W. Merriam (1877–1961), American insurance businessman and politician * Clinto ...

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

* Mission Hills * Mission Woods *

Overland Park Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As ...

(except some southern parts) *

Prairie Village Prairie Village is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,957. History After the successful development of the Country ...

Roeland Park Roeland Park is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and located within the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,871. History The community was named after John Roe, an immigrant f ...

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

* Stanley (unincorporated) * Westwood * Westwood Hills Parts of southern Overland Park are not part of Shawnee Mission, as they were later annexed from the town of

Stillwell Stillwell is an American rock band formed by Q-Unique from The Arsonists and Kings Bounty, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu from Korn, and Wuv from P.O.D. The band has released three albums and one EP. They released their third studio album, ''Su ...

which was already covered by ZIP Code 66085. Additionally, delivery to the eastern edge of Overland Park was assigned to the Post Office in Prairie Village, with ZIP Code 66208, and the Prairie Village post office was not managed under the Shawnee Mission designation until 2012.

History

The name Shawnee Mission derives from the

Shawnee Methodist Mission Shawnee Methodist Mission, also known as the Shawnee Mission, which later became the Shawnee Indian Manual Labor Boarding School, is located in Fairway, Kansas, United States. Designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1968, the Shawnee Method ...

, a mission to the

tribe, founded in 1830 in present-day

by the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

church. The mission was moved to what is now Johnson County in 1839. Shawnee Mission subsequently became a local, informal designation for the region surrounding the actual mission, especially before the development, expansion and conjoint boundarying of the various towns in northeast Johnson County. The Shawnee Mission School District and Blue Valley School District encompass most of the area. Shawnee Mission is part of the

Kansas City Metropolitan Area The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

. If the independent cities that constitute Shawnee Mission were to incorporate into a single municipality, its 2015 population estimate would be 402,662 (up from 325,147 in 2000), and would surpass

Wichita Wichita ( ) may refer to: People *Wichita people, a Native American tribe *Wichita language, the language of the tribe Places in the United States * Wichita, Kansas, a city * Wichita County, Kansas, a county in western Kansas (city of Wichita i ...

as the largest city in Kansas.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Shawnee Indian Mission
1839 establishments in the United States Geography of Johnson County, Kansas Kansas City metropolitan area