Buckner, Missouri

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1894 and the latest in 1990. It stands in Fort Osage Township. It lies in ZIP code area 64016. The Survey maps it on the Buckner quadrangle. 2,945 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 751 feet above sea level.

Buckner within Jackson County

Population over time

2 figures

Buckner fell from 3,076 to 2,945 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	3,076
2020	2,945	-131 (-4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 20 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1894 USGS Independence quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
1935 USGS Buckner quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1950 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000
1954 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000
1956 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
1960 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1965 USGS Buckner quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1983 USGS Kansas City quadrangle1:100000
1990 USGS Buckner quadrangle1:24000

In the county-history sources

3,445 words on this township

The History of Jackson County, Missouri, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, Jackson County in the Late War... History of Missouri, Map of Jackson County .., published 1881 names this settlement in its chapter on Fort Osage Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

This growing town, named in honor of Mr. Buckner, who lived on a hill not far distant, is situated fifteen miles east of Independence, near the center of Fort Osage township. It was laid out by Thomas Monroe, in the spring of 1875, on the Kansas City & Eastern Railroad. The present population is 80. The first house built on the present site of Buckner was by John T. Cobb, in which he kept a general country store. This was in the year 187 1. He continued in business here till 1877, and then removed to Independence, and soon after to Blue Springs, where he is engaged in merchandising. The next store in Buckner was built by R. Wallace & Co., in the spring of 1877. It was a brick house, in which they are still engaged in a general merchandising. The religious people are building a church for Union services, under the control of the Methodists. The church will cost $700.

Passage source: The History of Jackson County, Missouri, Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc., Biographical Sketches of Its Citizens, Jackson County in the Late War... History of Missouri, Map of Jackson County .., published 1881.

It is supposed, and there is most satisfactory evidence, that the Missouri River once came through this valley, and pursued about the same course as is now pursued by Fire Prairie Creek. The bayou, or portion of the river which flowed here, came into the land at or near the mouth of Little Blue, and contmuing in a southerly direction, along the course of Little Blue, to near the southeast corner of Tp. 50, R. 31, thence east near the present site of Lake City, and thence following the course of Fire Prairie Creek, uniting again with the main current in Lafayette county. Large cottonwood trees have been found in the sand and earth twenty feet below the surface, about one-half mile northwest of Buckner station. When boring a well near the same place, cockle burs, in a good state of preservation, have been taken out eighteen or twenty feet below the surface ; also, butternut hulls were found at the same depth. Other wells dug in the ancient bed of the great river, show layers of river sand in the exact position left by the flowing current. All things show most conclusively that- nearly all of the Six Mile District was once an island in the Missouri River - the main branch on the north side, where it now flows past Sibley, and the south branch taking the course above mentioned.

Buckner is situated on a broad and level plain, averaging two miles wide north and south, and following the course of Fire Prairie Creek east and west. This valley is extremely fertile, and the alluvial deposit produces crops of corn, wheat, potatoes, and other products in great abundance. The Narrow Gauge Railroad, running from Lexington to Kansas City, was built through Fort Osage township in the fall of 1875, and finished in the spring of 1876. The road was first called the " Wyandotte, Kansas City & Northwestern," and in 1877 its name was changed to the " Kansas City & Eastern," and in 1880 the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company bought it, and now it is called the " Missouri Pacific, Kansas City & Eastern Division, Narrow Gauge Railroad."

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Fort Osage Township - it names this place 1 more 1 time.

Fires near this place

26 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Buckner between 1992 and 2020, burning about 85 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	15
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	6
Equipment and vehicle use	3
Smoking	1
Recreation and ceremony	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
30 April 1992	Debris and open burning	3.0 acres	Missouri Department of Conservation	not named
30 April 1992	Debris and open burning	5.0 acres	Missouri Department of Conservation	not named
30 April 1992	Debris and open burning	12 acres	Missouri Department of Conservation	not named
30 April 1992	Debris and open burning	2.0 acres	Missouri Department of Conservation	not named
30 April 1992	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Missouri Department of Conservation	not named
30 April 1992	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Missouri Department of Conservation	not named
30 April 1992	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Missouri Department of Conservation	not named
23 April 2018	Debris and open burning	4.3 acres	Missouri Department of Conservation	176663-04828-04232018-1634

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Jackson County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Buckner: 12 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Unknown-Sand and Gravel	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Buckner Mine	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Hutchins Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Iowa Point Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Parkville Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unknown-Ls	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unknown-Ls	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unknown-Ls	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Unknown-Ls	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Waldron Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Jackson County

Storms near this place

19 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Buckner in 19 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 8 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
March 2006	Hail	Buckner	$25,000	no account filed
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Buckner	-	Downed wires and power outages near Central Street in the Buckner area.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Buckner	-	Social media report of minor damage and downed limbs at a property in Buckner.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Buckner	-	Mping report of 3 inch tree limbs downed in Buckner.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Buckner	-	Social media report and photo of tree damage at a property in Buckner.
September 2023	Hail	Buckner	-	Half dollar sized hail was reported in Buckner.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Buckner	-	Several large tree limbs and power poles were down from strong thunderstorm wind.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Buckner	-	A storm chaser reported 59 mph wind along with the quarter sized hail.
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Buckner	-	This report was received via social media. Trees were uprooted and down near Buckner, Missouri.
May 2016	Hail	Buckner	-	This report was gathered via social media.
May 2015	Tornado (EF1)	Buckner	-	Ahead of the advancing QLCS a supercell formed and produced a tornado in northern Jackson County. It formed just southwest of Sibley, Missouri and barely missed the main part of the city just to the west. Although it remained mostly in rural parts of Jackson County it did impact some outbuildings and did plenty of tree damage to areas just west of Sibley. The tornado then moved across the Missouri River, into Ray County where it dissipated northwest of Orrick.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Buckner	-	Numerous tree limbs and several power lines were reported to be down from strong winds.
June 2005	Flash Flood	Buckner	-	Reber road closed due to flooding.
August 2004	Flash Flood	Buckner	-	Water over 24 Highway.
April 1998	Hail	Buckner	-	Dime-size hail was reported at Buckner and Sibley as a severe thunderstorm tracked along the Missouri River.
May 2018	Hail	Buckner	-	no account filed
June 2016	Hail	Buckner	-	no account filed
May 2005	Hail	Buckner	-	no account filed
June 2004	Hail	Buckner	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Jackson County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Sibley	3.2 miles	20
Lake City	3.4 miles	23
Levasy	3.5 miles	20
Hiler	3.9 miles	21
Blue Mills	5.7 miles	24
Pink Hill	5.7 miles	21
Ripley	6.2 miles	24
Atherton	6.8 miles	24

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Buckner	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q952833	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 735540. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.