Kearney, Missouri
Kearney is a city in
Clay County,
Missouri,
United States. The population was 5,472 at the 2000 census. It is most famous for being the birthplace of
Jesse James, and there is an annual festival in the third weekend of September to honor the notorious outlaw. The Jesse James Festival has been held every year since 1970, and festivities include a carnival, rodeo, and parade, among other activities.[
1]
Kearney was unofficiallly founded in the spring of 1856 by
David T. Duncan and
W. R. Cave, and was originally called Centerville. Centerville was composed of what is now the southeastern portion of the town. In 1867, John Lawrence began laying out plans for another small settlement around the newly established Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad (now the
Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway), which he dubbed Kearney, after
Kearney, Nebraska.[
2] As they grew, the two settlements of Centerville and Kearney were effectively merged, and the town of Kearney, Missouri was officially incorporated in 1869.
On September 5, 1847, Jesse Woodson James was born on the James farm, where his family resided to the northeast of the site where Kearney would eventually be established. James formed the infamous
James-Younger gang in 1866, which operated until the Younger brothers were captured in 1876. James formed a new gang in 1879 and continued until his death on April 3, 1882, when he was shot by fellow gang-member
Robert Ford.
In 1995, forensic analysts visited Kearney and exhumed remains from the Mount Olivet Cemetery which were purportedly those of James himself, and confirmed this fact through
mitochondrial DNA testing.[
3]
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Location of Kearney, Missouri |
Kearney is located at (39.365845, -94.360239).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.0
km² (6.6
mi²), all land.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 5,472 people, 1,910 households, and 1,495 families residing in the city. The
population density was 321.6/km² (833.2/mi²). There were 1,995 housing units at an average density of 117.2/km² (303.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.3%
White, 0.90%
African American, 0.4%
Native American, 0.2%
Asian, 0.55% from
other races, and 1.15% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 1.9% of the population.
There were 1,910 households out of which 49.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.9% were
married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.7% were non-families. 18.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.24.
In the city the population was spread out with 33.6% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 16.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $56,603, and the median income for a family was $64,540. Males had a median income of $45,721 versus $26,739 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $21,147. About 1.8% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.
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Information on the Jesse James Festival and History of Kearney
