Raytown Map
Raytown is a city in Jackson County, Missouri, United States, and is a suburb of Kansas City. The population was at 29,526 in 2010 census. The mayor of Raytown is David Bower.
The area where Raytown now lies was developed throughout the 19th century and early 20th century as pioneers moved westward along the Three Trails in search of available fertile lands and water. It was added to the state of Missouri at a cost of $800 by a treaty signed in 1826. Jackson County, named after President Andrew Jackson, was formed in 1827. A large area of the county, Township 49, was accidentally not offered for sale when the other townships were, and so was called "The Lost Township". People moved into the township and squatted until the township was surveyed and the land sold in 1843.
The pioneers and travelers moving westward down the Three Trails discovered an area of high, wooded ridges, in the Raytown area, that reminded them of their former homes in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The land was named Blue Ridge, with the bordering bodies of waters called the Big Blue and the Little Blue rivers.
Nearby cities include Leawood, Blue Springs, Mission, Lake Lotawana, Randolph.