KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.
—
Inside a building that was saved from demolition nearly 70 years ago, a dedicated group of volunteers works to save Jackson County’s rich history from demolition as well.
“We have to preserve what's here for future generations,” said Gloria J. Smith, president of the Jackson County Historical Society Board of Directors.
It’s a volunteer organization aside from the full-time archivist.
Based out of the Historic Truman Courthouse, the Jackson County Historical Society, or JCHS, also owns and operates the 1859 Jail Museum, located on the northeast corner of Historic Independence Square.
The museum includes the original marshal’s home and office, which sat in front of and was connected to a two-story jail with 12 cells.
“There were people shot right here at the front door when they were having jail, attempted jail escapes,” Smith said.
A 1907 addition to the jail, which was used for chain gangs and work crews, has been converted into exhibition space.
“Educate and preserve,” Smith said, “and you can do both at the same time.”
That’s been the mission for JCHS since it was founded in 1909 — and so much of the county’s history took place in Independence.
When a contractor wanted to tear down the jail, which was decommissioned in 1933, a grassroots effort stopped it.
"It's a legend, but I think it's based in fact,” Smith said.
The legend goes that word spread that the jail would be demolished at a restaurant as couples at dinner overheard another table's conversation.
“Several of the women, they marshaled,” Smith said. “They came up here, and they started a sort of a, ‘You're not tearing this down. You have to come through us.’”
President Harry S. Truman, who returned to Independence after his term ended in 1953, placed a call to Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark Cards, to secure the first donation to a capital-improvement campaign, which led to the jail being turned over to JCHS.
Now, whether it’s the cells that once housed outlaw Frank James and infamous Confederate guerrilla William Quantrill or an old one-room schoolhouse that was added in recent years, JCHS breathes life into history for new generations.
“I've actually heard people, as they leave, say this was the best thing on the Square,” Smith said of the reaction during SantaCaliGon Days. “When people find us, they like us. There's so much here for so many different tastes or interests.”
But it’s not just JCHS members. Longtime Independence residents recognize and appreciate Independence’s history.
Carol A. Roberts has lived in town for 70 years and said Independence has more history than “people realize” and more than most other cities in the Kansas City region.
The Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails originated in Independence, and there are several historic sites related to Truman, including his presidential library and various homes where he lived. But it doesn’t stop there.
“My goodness, if you look out at the corner, if you look out the window, you see where the Battle of Independence was fought,” Smith said, gesturing from the jail toward Main Street and Truman Road. “If you look three blocks down the street from where we sit, that’s where Harry Truman lived, so we are surrounded by history.”
It’s why perhaps no city in the area is better positioned to entice FIFA World Cup 26 fans or America250 revelers, hoping to celebrate the semiquincentennial since the Declaration of Independence, than Independence.
“We're going to be launching a new Visit Independence website by May — showcasing all of the attractions, community assets and events happening during the World Cup,” said Visit Independence Executive Director Alison Calvin.
Roberts hopes people will take notice of Independence.
“I saw the Truman Library being built, and I love the mansions,” she said. “The Vaile Mansion, I used to live over by it. ... I just encourage people to come and do a vacation here or stop by here on a vacation.”
It’s also a big year for Jackson County, which was founded on Dec. 15, 1826.
“Our county's 200th birthday is coming up as well, so there's a lot of celebrations that will be great for the World Cup tourists to see and experience,” Calvin said.
But it’s also a chance for people who live here to get to know the Kansas City area better.
—
