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.
[3]Kearney was unofficially 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 Kansas City and Cameron Railroad subsidiary of the Hannibal and Saint Joseph Railroad which was to build the Hannibal Bridge establishing Kansas City, Missouri as the dominant city in the region. The president of the railroad was Charles E. Kearney (although there is speculation that it was named after Kearney, Nebraska).[1] The railroad still operates as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. As they grew, the two settlements of Centerville and Kearney were effectively merged, and the town of Kearney, Missouri was officially incorporated in 1869.
Kearney is located at 39°21'57?N 94°21'37?W? / ?39.36583°N 94.36028°W? / 39.36583; -94.36028 (39.365845, -94.360239)[4]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.6&_160;square miles (17.0&_160;km²), all of it land, with the occasional lake here and there.
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 5,472 people, 1,910 households, and 1,495 families residing in the city. The population density was 833.2 people per square mile (321.6/km²). There were 1,995 housing units at an average density of 303.8/sq&_160;mi (117.2/km²). 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.
