Sugar Creek is a city in
Clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
and
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
counties in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
. The population was 3,271 at the
2020 census. It is part of the
Kansas City metropolitan area
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...
.
Geography
Sugar Creek is located at (39.118014, -94.435630).
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
History
Like many cities along the
Missouri River, Sugar Creek shows evidence of having once been the home of the
Osage people
The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: ππ» ππΌπ°ππΌπ°Ν ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along ...
. The city takes its name from nearby
Sugar Creek.
On June 25, 1804, the
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
camped on an island in the Missouri River opposite what is modern day Sugar Creek.
In the mid-1800s, the area now known as Sugar Creek served as an important link in America's westward expansion. Known as Upper Independence Landing originally, the territory along the Missouri River served as a port to receive supplies for early pioneers.
It was renamed Wayne City Landing after an army lieutenant, Anthony Wayne.
Wayne City, which is now on the national historic register, also received travelers who were headed west along the
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...
s. In 1850, the first railroad west of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
was constructed to join Wayne City and nearby
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metro ...
.
From the early 1890s to the 1930s, the Sugar Creek area was home to a first-class pleasure resort,
Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...
. Among the park's attractions were a hotel, theater, lake, and carnival rides, including a
roller coaster
A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...
that at one time was the world's largest. A
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
line brought visitors to the park from nearby
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
.
In 1903,
Standard Oil of Indiana
Amoco () is a brand of filling station, fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and petroleum, oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a oil re ...
purchased land at the northern edge of the city. A new oil refinery was opened a year later and quickly spurred growth in the townsite of Sugar Creek. A number of immigrants from Eastern Europe came to work in the plant, and by 1918, the town had grown to more than 800 residents.
Shortly after World War I, businessmen and residents founded the Sugar Creek Improvement Association. The Association installed streetlights, set city limits and petitioned for incorporation as a city. On November 15, 1920, the City of Sugar Creek was officially born. The new town consisted of and had a population of around 1,800 residents. The city continued to grow and prosper in its early years. In 1958, an additional were annexed on the eastern side of the city, bringing new opportunities for development.
The
Liberty Bend Bridge
The Liberty Bend Bridge is the common name for the two continuous truss bridges on Route 291 over the Missouri River in Sugar Creek, Missouri in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Although the bridges cross over the Missouri River, they do no ...
, in northeastern Sugar Creek, carries
Route 291 across the Missouri River. The northbound bridge was built in 1949 when a new channel for the river was completed, and replaced the 1927 Liberty Bend Bridge which was about two miles to the north and crossed over the former river channel. Construction began in 1996 on the southbound bridge, which opened in 2001, and the northbound bridge was completely rehabilitated. It was part of an upgrade that changed Route 291 into a four-lane divided highway.
In the 2000s,
BP America was involved in over 24 multimillion-dollar lawsuits for extreme polluting and causing unusual cancers in many people caused by its predecessors Amoco and Standard Oil at its Sugar Creek refinery which closed in 1982.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2010, there were 3,345 people, 1,420 households, and 852 families living in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was . There were 1,627 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 90.9%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 2.5%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.5%
Native American, 0.6%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.6%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 2.4% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 2.5% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 7.1% of the population.
There were 1,420 households, of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.0% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.0% were non-families. 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.96.
The median age in the city was 41.2 years. 21.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.1% were from 25 to 44; 30.4% were from 45 to 64; and 15.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.3% male and 49.7% female.
2000 census
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 3,839 people, 1,633 households, and 1,048 families living in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 465.0 people per square mile (179.4/km
2). There were 1,753 housing units at an average density of 212.4 per square mile (81.9/km
2). The racial makeup of the city was 93.83%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.81%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.78%
Native American, 0.52%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.44%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 1.67% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.95% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 4.06% of the population.
There were 1,633 households, out of which 24.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the city the population was spread out, with 22.1% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $39,967, and the median income for a family was $46,208. Males had a median income of $35,341 versus $23,686 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $20,784. About 10.3% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 15.2% of those under age 18.
Education
The majority of the city is within the
Independence Public School District
Independence Public School District (usually referred to as the Independence School District, acronym is the ISD) is a school district headquartered in Independence, Missouri, United States. The district serves most of Independence and Sugar Cre ...
. The far eastern portions of Sugar Creek are in the
Fort Osage School District.
Schools serving Sugar Creek residents include: Elm Grove, Abraham Mallinson, Sugar Creek and Mill Creek Elementary Schools; Bingham Middle School,
Nowlin Middle School and Osage Trail Middle School; and
Fort Osage High School
Fort Osage High School is a high school located at 2101 N. Twyman Rd. in unincorporated area, unincorporated Jackson County, Missouri, in the Kansas City metropolitan area, adjacent to Independence, Missouri, Independence. It belongs to the Fort ...
,
Van Horn High School and
William Chrisman High School
William Chrisman High School is a high school located in Independence, Missouri, United States, as part of the Independence School District.
History
The school was founded in 1888 and was known as Independence High School. The first building was ...
. Prior to Fall 2008, some of Sugar Creek and its schools were within the
Kansas City, Missouri School District
Kansas City 33 School District, operating as Kansas City Public Schools or KCPS (formerly Kansas City, Missouri School District, or KCMSD), is a school district headquartered at 2901 Troost Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, United States.
The di ...
.
Forum explores potential transfer of seven KC schools to Independence district. , Kansas City Star (Kansas City, MO) (September, 2007)
/ref>
Kansas City Public Library
The Kansas City Public Library is a public system headquartered in the Central Library in Kansas City, Missouri.
The system operates its Central Library and neighborhood branches located in Kansas City, Independence, and Sugar Creek. Founde ...
operates the Sugar Creek Library.
Culture
* Sugar Creek Slavic Festival
See also
*Big Sugar Creek
Big Sugar Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 31, 2011 waterway in the Ozark Mountains of southwest Missouri. The creek starts near the Arkansas state line. B ...
which is also in Missouri.
References
External links
City homepage
Sugar Creek Herald & Business Journal
History of Fairmount Park
{{authority control
Cities in Jackson County, Missouri
Cities in Clay County, Missouri
Missouri populated places on the Missouri River
1920 establishments in Missouri
Cities in Missouri