#152 Independence, MO 10-9 thru 10-13-09

We pulled into Independence on a Saturday afternoon. The Campus RV Park was full, but they let us park along side the curb for the night. We had electric power only. Sunday we found a church to attend and then in the afternoon we moved the coach onto a site that had been vacated that morning. We had full hook-ups and a cement pad! They honor the Escapee discount so our nightly rate was under $30.00 for full hook-ups.

After we finished setting up, we took off into town and went to the Harry S. Truman museum.

The museum is very well done, and depicts the years he was in office and his famous train stop campaign.

This would have been how a typical tract home looked in the early 50’s. I remember the chrome tables and vinyl chairs. I also remember the “ice” box refrigerator. That little girl playing on the floor could have been me!

There is a replica of the Oval Office of Harry’s time. And a statue of him as you leave the museum.

By the time we left the museum, it was after 5:00 pm and everything in Independence closes down. So we back to the RV for a quiet Sunday evening.

The next day we were up bright and early for our second day of touring. Early (10:00 am)!

This is the home where Harry and Bess spent their early and final days. The home belonged to Bess’s parents and the Truman’s lived here with them, and the grandmother. An addition was built on after they moved in, that encompassed a rear screened in porch, where Harry and Bess spent many days enjoying the weather, reading the paper and planning their days.

We are standing on the front porch entry way into the home. On the tour we only saw the first floor. It still has the original wall paper and refurbished carpeting that was done in the 1950’s after Harry retired from office. As you can see, we are in our heavy winter clothes already. Of course we had a few drops of rain while we were here. I’m beginning to think of less than 3” of rain as a few drops!!!

We toured the original jail, where the Marshal and his family lived in front portion, and the cells in the rear of the same building. This is where Frank James, brother of Jesse was held. It has been restored to show how Frank was treated while incarcerated.

The other cells do not have any furniture in them. Just four plain walls and a cold, hard, cement floor.

One of the stops on our tour of Independence, was the 30-room Vaile Mansion. This home had it’s own 6,000 gallon water tank, and a 48,000 gallon wine cellar. It was built by frontier business tycoon Harvey Vaile in 1881.

The home above was once the carriage house for the Vaile Mansion. It is now a privately owned home.

We started the next day with the Bigham-Waggoner Estate. This home was once owned by the famous George C. Bigham, Civil War artist. We were the only ones on the tour and had our own docent. She made the home come alive for us.

The carriage house for this home has been restored and is used for a meeting room, it also has the gift shop inside. Very nice.

Above you are looking at what used to be the Old Santa Fe Trail. It was aligned along side of the Bingham-Waggoner Estate which was built in 1852. As you can see, it is fall here in MO, and the trees are really putting on a show for us.

While driving around town I took a picture of this “Community of Christ,Temple” church. Quite the building!

You can tour this place, but we didn't.