Platte City, Missouri

Platte City, Missouri is the county seat of Platte County and a city of 4,784 people (2020 census) in the Northland of the Kansas City metropolitan area.¹ Founded by Zadock “Zed” Martin and incorporated September 1843, it was razed by Union forces under Colonel W. James Morgan on December 16, 1861 (the Burning of Platte City); the present Platte County Courthouse replaced the destroyed original.¹

Overview

County	Platte County, Missouri (county seat)
Population (2020)	4,7841
Founder	Zadock “Zed” Martin1
Incorporated	September 18431
Civil War	Courthouse and town burned December 16, 1861 (Union, Col. W. James Morgan)1
Fair	Platte County Fair (from 1863) — described as oldest continuously operating fair west of the Mississippi1
NRHP	Frederick Krause Mansion; Platte County Courthouse1

History

Founding and Civil War

Platte City was founded by Zadock “Zed” Martin and incorporated as a city in September 1843.¹ On December 16, 1861, Union troops under Colonel W. James Morgan burned the town, including the courthouse — the episode known as the Burning of Platte City.¹ The present courthouse was built afterward; it and the Frederick Krause Mansion are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.¹

Fair, outlaw lore, and Red Crown

The Platte County Fair, held annually near the city, began in 1863 and is widely described as the oldest continuously operating fair west of the Mississippi River.¹

Secondary accounts state that Jesse James planned a robbery of the Platte City bank for April 3, 1882, cancelled when he was killed that morning by Robert Ford.¹ On July 19, 1933, Bonnie and Clyde fought a shootout with local officers just south of town at the Red Crown Tourist Court; Blanche Barrow was later held at the jail adjoining the courthouse.¹

Sources

See also

• burning-of-platte-city
• red-crown-tourist-court-shootout
• parkville
• riverside
• kci-airport
• bleeding-kansas-and-the-border-war
• Wiki

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia — “Platte City, Missouri.” — asserts: Platte County seat; 2020 pop. 4,784; Zadock Martin founder; incorp. Sept 1843; Burning of Platte City Dec 16 1861 (Col. W. James Morgan); Platte County Fair from 1863 / oldest west of Mississippi claim; Jesse James planned Apr 3 1882 bank job; Bonnie and Clyde Red Crown Tourist Court July 19 1933; Blanche Barrow jail; Krause Mansion + courthouse NRHP; coordinates ~39.35750°N 94.76528°W. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴