Independence, MO

Independence grew by outfitting departures. The town was platted in 1827 near the eastern end of the Santa Fe trade route, and later became a principal starting point for the Oregon and California trails. Migrants arriving in western Missouri bought wagons, livestock, food, and tools around the Square before heading across the plains. The city's first log courthouse, also built in 1827, was constructed with enslaved labor, an important part of the civic center's history. Commerce created other, very different stories. By 1860, formerly enslaved entrepreneur Hiram Young operated the city's largest factory, making wagons and ox yokes for westbound travelers. The Square served as a courthouse, an outfitting district, and a production center long before its storefronts became historic attractions.

Harry S. Truman tied national political history to ordinary blocks near that older center. He moved to Independence with his family in 1890, married Bess Wallace in 1919, and lived at 219 North Delaware Street from that year until his death in 1972. The National Park Service now preserves the house and neighboring family properties. A short distance away, the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum stands on land donated by the city. Dedicated in 1957, it was the first presidential library created under the Presidential Libraries Act and contains Truman's papers, museum exhibits, research facilities, and the graves of Harry and Bess Truman. Together, the house, library, courthouse, and surrounding Truman Heritage District weave presidential history into a residential neighborhood and functioning city center.

A second national story occupies nearby ground. Joseph Smith arrived in 1831 and designated Independence as the center of a proposed Latter Day Saint Zion; mob violence forced the early church community out of Jackson County in 1833. Several church bodies later returned or established institutions here. The Community of Christ Temple and Auditorium now house that denomination's international headquarters near the Square. The Temple's spiral form, completed in 1994 and modeled on the interior of a nautilus shell, is one of the city's most recognizable structures. Nearby, the open Temple Lot and a Latter-day Saint visitors' center present distinct strands of the movement's early history. Worship, church administration, and religious visitation remain part of the center's present-day use.

Modern Independence spreads far beyond the historic core into eastern Jackson County. Manufacturing, health care, education, social services, and retail account for much of local work, with factories and medical campuses located along larger commercial and industrial corridors. In 2026, IRIS on-demand transit covered the full city from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, excluding holidays. A standard trip cost $5, while rides starting or ending at four designated hubs were free; those hubs included Centerpoint Medical Center, the transit center, and Independence Municipal Commons. The Square continues to function as a gathering place. Independence Uptown Market, opened in 2018, gives farmers, makers, classes, and celebrations enclosed and open-air space throughout the year. Santa-Cali-Gon Days, revived in 1973 to commemorate the three trails, returns to the Square over Labor Day weekend; the 2026 festival was scheduled for September 4 through 7. The route-derived name recalls the outfitting trade on the same streets where travelers once assembled.