This Man Paved The Way For Lee’s Summit Learn More About The Man Behind Todd George Parkway

There are two sorts of people in the world — those who are blissfully uninterested in the origin of street names, and those who are helplessly intrigued by the history behind this most basic feature of public life.When it comes to Todd George Parkway in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Sam Nau and I are on the opposite sides of the road, so to speak.

I grew up in Lee’s Summit and traveled Todd George frequently without giving the name a second thought. Nau is a St. Louis native who now lives in Lee’s Summit, and Todd George Parkway has piqued his natural curiosity about the history behind place names ever since he moved to the Kansas City area after he got married.

“It has just always been something I wonder about from time to time,” Nau said in an email. “Every name in every place in a city came from someone or something, and the odd ones always make me think there must be at least a small story behind them.”

So, he turned to Flatland and curiousKC to learn more about the man behind the road that snakes its way through Lee’s Summit.

So, here’s the scoop:

Todd Menzies George Sr. was born in Versailles, Kentucky, in 1879. He was one of 10 children.

George’s family moved from Kentucky to Lee’s Summit when George was 3 years old, a path not unlike that of another famous Lee’s Summit man, R. A. Long, who built Longview Farm and the home that would ultimately become the Kansas City Museum. It’s unclear what attracted George’s father to Lee’s Summit, but Todd George’s grandson, Kent Dicus, suggested he might have come as part of the same westward migration that drew Long.

Once the family was settled, George’s father founded the Bank of Lee’s Summit, and his mother helped establish what is now known as First Presbyterian Church. George spent the rest of his life in Lee’s Summit, serving several terms as mayor and one term as Jackson County treasurer from 1916 to 1921.

His political career coincided with another local Democrat active around the same time in Jackson County government, Harry S. Truman. A falling out derailed the two men’s friendship, according to Dicus. Nonetheless, George shared Truman’s commitment to investing in public infrastructure — particularly new roadways.

Prior to politics, while in his early 20s, George began a lifelong career in insurance and real estate. He developed properties in Raytown and in his adopted hometown of Lee’s Summit. In fact, if you stand at the corner of Third and Douglas streets in downtown Lee’s Summit today, you will see a plaque that reads “George Bldg 1909” affixed to the building that now houses The Stanley, an event space.

George was truly a man of the people, said Kathy Smith, curator for the Historical Society of Lee’s Summit Museum. “I think he really got out there and wanted to do something for the community and not sit back,” she said.

George and his wife, Florie Andrews George, had five children — four girls and one boy. Their oldest daughter, Hardage Virginia George, died from diptheria at age 12. The family owned property that’s now part of  the Prairie Lee Lake area of Lee’s Summit. Todd George Parkway runs near the area, as does Hardage Circle.