Peculiar is a city in Cass County,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...

and 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 t ...

within the United States. The population was 5,621 at the 2020 census. The town motto is "Where the 'odds' are with you."

History

Early settlers of the town came to Western Missouri by riverboat from

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, and

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. Peculiar also had families coming from

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

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, and

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. On July 29, 1868, the county surveyor, Robert Cass,

platted In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

Peculiar and was filed as "The Town of Peculiar". There are at least two versions of the story on how Peculiar received its name. The first involves the community's first postmaster, Edgar Thomson. His first choice for a town name, "Excelsior," was rejected because it already existed in

Atchison County, Missouri Atchison County is the northwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 5,305. Its county seat is Rock Port. It was originally known as Allen County when it was detached from Holt ...

. Several other choices were also rejected. The story goes that the annoyed Thomson wrote to the Postmaster General himself to complain saying, among other things, "We don't care what name you give us so long as it is sort of 'peculiar'." Thomson submitted the name "Peculiar" and the name was approved. The

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was established on June 22, 1868. In an alternate version, according to Missouri folklorist Margot Ford McMillen, early settlers were searching for a location to farm. As they cleared a small rise and looked below, one remarked ''"Well that's peculiar! It's the very place I saw in a vision back in Connecticut."'' The land was purchased and eventually a village sprang up on it, which was named "Peculiar". Peculiar incorporated as a village in the 1890s and became a fourth class city of the state of Missouri in 1953. The city celebrated its

centenary A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

in July 1968. The celebrations continued for nine days and included an antique show and sale, a

Lions Club Lions Clubs International, is an international service organization, currently headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois. , it had over 46,000 local clubs and more than 1.4 million members (including the youth wing Leo clubs, Leo) in more than 200 ge ...

championship

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

, and an open class Western horse show.

Government

Peculiar is governed by a

Mayor–council government A mayor–council government is a system of local government in which a mayor who is directly elected by the voters acts as chief executive, while a separately elected city council constitutes the legislative body. It is one of the two most comm ...

system. The mayor is elected to a two-year term. The town council, called the Board of Aldermen, is composed of six members. Two members are elected from each of the three wards in the city. One alderman is elected each year for each ward to serve a two-year term.

Geography

Peculiar is located adjacent to U.S. Route 71 and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. Old Peculiar lies one mile to the east along the banks of the East Fork East Branch South Grand River. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Climate

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 4,608 people, 1,704 households, and 1,268 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 1,816 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.0%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 0.8% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.7% of the population. There were 1,704 households, of which 41.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 25.6% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.12. The median age in the city was 32.8 years. 29.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 29.9% were from 25 to 44; 22.9% were from 45 to 64; and 10% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.1% male and 50.9% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 2,604 people, 953 households, and 730 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 983 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.20%

, 0.27%

, 0.42% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.08%

, 0.19% from other races, and 1.50% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.46% of the population. There were 953 households, out of which 42.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.7% were

living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.3% were non-families. 19.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.14. In the city the population was spread out, with 31.8% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $44,769, and the median income for a family was $48,534. Males had a median income of $36,921 versus $27,885 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $19,104. About 5.7% of families and 7.5% 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 ...

, including 9.4% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public education in Peculiar is administered by Raymore-Peculiar R-II School District. This is true for the entire municipality. Peculiar has a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

, the Peculiar Branch library. Metropolitan Community College has the Raymore-Peculiar school district area in its service area, but not its in-district taxation area.

Media

Music

In 2022, folksinger Willi Carlisle created an album titled ''Peculiar, Missouri''; referencing the town of Peculiar, with one song mentioning a local Walmart and its "hideous halogen bulbs" in the general area of the same name.

Notable people

* Pete Brewster, football end, coach, and collegiate football and basketball player * Carson Coffman, AFL player for the Spokane Shock * Chase Coffman, NFL tight end for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

Paul Coffman Paul Randolph Coffman (born March 29, 1956) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a tight end for 11 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Minnesota Vikings of the National Football ...

, NFL player for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

* Brutus Hamilton, decathlete and track and field coach * Tonya Knight, bodybuilder * Austin Petersen, writer, political activist, commentator, and broadcaster

References

{{authority control Cities in Cass County, Missouri Populated places established in 1868 1868 establishments in Missouri Cities in Missouri