Harrisonville

History

Harrisonville was founded in 1837 upon land donated to Cass County by Congress for county purposes, and was named for Congressman Albert G. Harrison, who was instrumental in obtaining the land grant. The area suffered greatly during the American Civil War, though Harrisonville was one of the few places exempted in Union General Thomas Ewing's General Order No. 11 (1863), which ordered the depopulation of three entire Missouri counties and part of a fourth. In 1972, Harrisonville was the site of escalating tensions between a handful of mostly Vietnam veterans and town elders, which culminated in a brief rampage by 25-year-old Charlie "Ootney" Simpson. In the town square, in plain view of onlookers, he killed two police officers and a bystander before shooting himself. The victims were officers Donald Marler and Francis Wirt and local businessman Orville Allen. His motivation turned out to be personal, not political; he had saved money to buy a farm, but the seller had recently backed out of the deal, and Simpson had used the money to bail his friends out of jail. The Marler, Wirt, Allen Memorial Park honors the men and shares the history of the Harrisonville Square shooting. The Robert A. Brown House, Harrisonville Courthouse Square Historic District, and St. Peter's Episcopal Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A May 2017 report from Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway gave the city the lowest possible rating of "poor," citing complex, often overlapping tax districts, contracts awarded without appropriate bidding processes and overuse of money pulled from restricted funds.

Geography

Harrisonville is located in central Cass County at the intersection of U.S. 71, Missouri Route 2 and Missouri Route 7. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• RAYMORE-PECULIAR SR. HIGH
  High · PECULIAR · 2,091 students · 17.7:1 ratio
• HARRISONVILLE HIGH
  High · HARRISONVILLE · 746 students · 17.3:1 ratio
• RAYMORE-PECULIAR SOUTH MIDDLE
  Middle · Peculiar · 665 students · 12.5:1 ratio
• HARRISONVILLE MIDDLE
  Middle · HARRISONVILLE · 539 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• HARRISONVILLE ELEM.
  Elementary · HARRISONVILLE · 416 students · 12.6:1 ratio
• PECULIAR ELEM.
  Elementary · PECULIAR · 389 students · 12.2:1 ratio
• MCEOWEN ELEM.
  Elementary · HARRISONVILLE · 298 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• EARLY CHILDHOOD CTR.
  Elementary · HARRISONVILLE · 199 students · 12.4:1 ratio