Just below the banks of a small tributary, now known as Rabbit Creek, near a spring originally named Shields, stands Louisburg. A central feature of that early settlement was the Spring House, a portion of which still stands in obscurity on the hillside on the south side of Wea Creek. The settlement was first named St. Louis but was often referred to as New St. Louis, or Little St. Louis during the period of 1866 to 1871. The name of the community was changed to Louisburg in the 1870s to avoid confusion with St. Louis, Missouri. The name change may have been prompted by officials of the M.K.T. Railroad, which had depots in both St. Louis, Mo., and St. Louis, Kan.
The current boom in residential and retail development in Louisburg will shape the city for the coming decade. The growth in population and commercial interest in Louisburg and the surrounding area can be attributed to the urban sprawl down the U.S. 69 and Metcalf Road corridors from Overland Park. Many new residents moved to the community to get out of the city and into a rural lifestyle while remaining close enough to commute to the metropolitan area for work and pleasure.
Louisburg is in northeast Miami County, 7 miles from the Johnson County line and four miles from the Kansas-Missouri border.
