Bannister Road is a major east–west street in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, US, replacing 95th Street. It stretches from

State Line Road State Line Road is a major north–south street in the Kansas City metropolitan area that runs along the Kansas–Missouri state line. For much of its length, northbound traffic is in Missouri and southbound traffic is in Kansas. The major por ...

at the

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

state line in the west to Route 350 and Unity Village in the east. It continues west as 95th Street into Kansas, and east as Colbern Road into Unity Village and

Lee's Summit Lee's Summit is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri and a suburb of the Kansas City metropolitan area. It resides in Jackson County (predominantly) as well as Cass County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 101,108, making it the 6th ...

Location

*Western terminus: State Line Road *Eastern terminus: Missouri Route 350

History

The City of Kansas City, Missouri, and Jackson County began developing a dirt road into Bannister Road in 1917, to be named after local businessman Frederick James Bannister. Born in

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River, about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the t ...

, in 1869, Bannister moved to Kansas City as a child in 1877. After establishing himself as a local lumber retailer, Bannister purchased a tract of land along present-day Bannister Road in 1910. Here, he built the "La Cima" estate and operated an award-winning milk production facility for six years. Portions of the La Cima ranch were portioned off in 1945 following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to house returning soldiers and their families. Senator

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

broke ground on the Bannister Federal Complex, located at the intersection with

Troost Avenue Troost Avenue is one of the major streets in Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area. Its northern terminus is at 4th Street and its southern terminus Bannister Road, totaling . It is named after Kansas City's first resident ...

, in 1942 following the World War II

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

. The site was occupied predominantly by the

Department of Energy A ministry of energy or department of energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rela ...

and the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...

, but also intermittently hosted the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

Atomic Energy Commission Many countries have or have had an Atomic Energy Commission. These include: * National Atomic Energy Commission, Argentina (1950–present) * Australian Atomic Energy Commission (1952–1987) * Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (1973–present) * ...

National Nuclear Security Administration The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is a United States federal agency responsible for safeguarding national security through the military application of nuclear science. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, and ef ...

National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

, and government offices in the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

. Added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2013, the site was decommissioned in 2017. Bannister Road west of Wornall Road began appearing on maps published by the

Missouri State Highway Commission The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT, ) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Missouri under the guidance of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC). MoDOT ...

in 1938. By 1940, the Bannister Road-Colbern Road system was appearing as state Supplementary Route 8-S. The growing importance of the Bannister Federal Complex during World War II and standardization of state's supplemental route system led to Route 8-S being renamed Route W within Kansas City, Missouri, city limits: east of Wornall Road to

U.S. Route 71 U.S. Route 71 or U.S. Highway 71 (US 71) is a major north–south United States highway that extends for over 1500 miles (2500 km) in the central United States. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Intersta ...

in 1944, and west to State Line Road in 1945. The remaining segment, U.S. Route 71 east to State Route 350, lost supplemental route designation entirely in 1964, though Route W is maintained to the present. The land surrounding Bannister Road was incorporated into Kansas City, Missouri, in two waves: The western portion, from State Line Road east to U.S. Route 71, was annexed in 1958 followed by the eastern portion, stretching to Route 350, in 1961. From 1980 to 2007, the

Bannister Mall Bannister Mall was a shopping mall in the southeast corner of Kansas City, Missouri opened on August 6, 1980. After nearly 27 years of operation, the mall closed on May 31, 2007. It was originally anchored by Macy's (which became Dillard's in 19 ...

, one of the largest in the Kansas City area at the time, operated on Bannister Road near

Interstate 435 Interstate 435 (I-435) is an Interstate Highway beltway that encircles much of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the states of Kansas and Missouri in the United States. Route description I-435, a loop route of I-35, is long and i ...

(I-435). In 2013, the

Cerner Oracle Health, formerly Cerner Corporation, is a US-based, multinational provider of health information technology (HIT) platforms and services. , it had 27,000 customers globally and 29,000 employees, with over 13,000 at its headquarters in No ...

Corporation announced plans to redevelop the site as a corporate park.

Points of interest

* Burns & McDonnell, an architecture and engineering firm, headquartered at 9450

Ward Parkway Ward Parkway is a boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Ward Parkway begins at Brookside Boulevard on the eastern edge of the Country Club Plaza and travels west 2.8 miles along Brush Creek as U.S. Route 56 before turning sout ...

at the corner of Bannister Road and Wornall Road. * The former Bannister Federal Complex, located at 1500 E Bannister Road, between Troost Avenue and Blue River Road. * A trailhead for the Blue River Parkway Trails, offering several miles of greenspace hiking along the Blue River, located at 2701 E Bannister Road, at the corner of Blue River Road. *

, passing over Bannister Road approximately 1 mile east of the Blue River. * The

Kansas City Police Department The Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) is the principal law enforcement agency serving Kansas City, Missouri. Jackson County 16th Circuit Court Circuit Court Judge Jen Phillips swore in Stacey Graves as the 46th chief of police of the KCPD o ...

- South Patrol Station, located at 9701 Marion Park Drive, off of Bannister Road between U.S. Route 71 and

I-435 Interstate 435 (I-435) is an Interstate Highway beltway that encircles much of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the states of Kansas and Missouri in the United States. Route description I-435, a loop route of I-35, is long and i ...

. * I-435, located beneath Bannister Road approximately 0.5 miles east of U.S. Route 71. *

Missouri Route 350 Route 350 is a highway in the Kansas City, Missouri, area and is park of Blue Parkway. Its eastern terminus is at the Interstate 470 (Missouri), Interstate 470/U.S. Route 50 in Missouri, U.S. Route 50 (I-470/US 50) intercha ...

, located at Bannister Road's eastern terminus.

References

{{reflist Kansas City, Missouri Roads in Missouri