James Brothers' House and Farm, also known as the Birthplace of Jesse James, is a historic home and farm complex located near Kearney,

Clay County, Missouri Clay County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 253,335, making it the fifth-most populous county in Missouri. Its county seat is Lib ...

. The original log section of the

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a men's social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 34 active chapters in the United States and Canada.FarmHouse Fraternity New Memb ...

was built about 1822; it was later enlarged with a wood-frame addition to form a "T"-plan dwelling. The James Brothers' House is significant as the birthplace of

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, Bank robbery, bank and Train robbery, train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie (Missouri), Little Dixie" area of M ...

and

Frank James Alexander Franklin James (January 10, 1843 – February 18, 1915) was a Confederate States Army, Confederate American Civil War, soldier and Guerrilla warfare in the American Civil War, guerrilla; in the Reconstruction era, post-Civil War p ...

and has been selected as the most important site related to the James Brothers in Missouri. In 1974

, bought it. The county operates the site as a house museum and historic site. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1972, with a boundary increase in 1978.

References

Historic house museums in Missouri Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Houses completed in 1822 Museums in Clay County, Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Clay County, Missouri {{ClayCountyMO-NRHP-stub