Brush Creek (Blue River)

Brush Creek is a 10.5mi stream that runs from Johnson County, Kansas, through Jackson County, Missouri. It is a tributary of the Blue River, and by the Blue and the Missouri rivers it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.Brush Creek begins near West 80th Street and Lamar Avenue in Overland Park, Kansas, and drains to the Blue River at Blue Banks Avenue and Hardesty Avenue in Kansas City.HistoryBrush Creek was named for the brush once lining its course.The Battle of Westport, the biggest battle in the American Civil War west of the Mississippi River, was fought on either side of it.The Country Club Plaza is built on the banks of the creek. The expansive lawn of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art runs from the steps of the museum down to the creek.Attempts to control flooding on the creek by paving it with concrete produced by companies owned by Boss Thomas Pendergast were a scandal in the 1930s.Heavy rainfall in September 1977 resulted in Brush Creek flooding the Plaza with 5to of water. The next stream westward, Turkey Creek on the Kansas side, also flooded at the same time. Twenty-five people died in the flood, and damage exceed $66 million.