President Truman's blue Cadillac approached the Independence square via West Lexington and circled the square traveling west on Maple Street, directly in front of the 1933 Courthouse, which he had remodeled when he was County Judge. The…

President of Kansas City University, Clarence R. Decker, conferred an honorary degree on President Truman at a ceremony that was held at the Municipal Auditorium at 8:30 in the evening. The president delivered a formal speech in response which…

Holden, Missouri is a town of roughly 2,000 residents located 20 miles west of Warrensburg, and named for Major N. B. Holden, a prominent Johnson County politician. In the fall of 1857, Isaac Jacobs purchased 160 acres of open prairie in Johnson…

Knob Noster is located in Johnson County Missouri just off of highway 50 between Warrensburg and Sedalia. Indigenous peoples known as the "mound builders" and members from the Osage nation and other Native American peoples occupied the…

Harry Truman never missed an opportunity to visit with his mother when he came back to Jackson County. While his jaunt to Grandview was quick after the Memorial Building press conference, he was clearly pleased to see her. They probably met at her…

After Truman finished greeting all of his customers at the Federal Building on Grand, including the delegation of African American leaders from Kansas City, he made his way to the quadrangle on the campus of Kansas City University to attend an…

The President's press secretary, Charlie Ross, who also was in the same 1901 Independence High School graduating class as the President, announced to the press before arriving in Kansas City that the President would hold an official press…

On June 27, 1945, Harry S. Truman addressed his friends, neighbors, and nation at the RLDS Auditorium in Independence, Missouri. Just like the parade, the coverage of the address included members from the black and white press and the Kansas City…

After holding the press conference in the Memorial Building on the afternoon of June 27th, the president traveled to Grandview where he briefly visited with his mother. Then he traveled back to 219 North Delaware and rested a bit and prepared for…

Truman arrived at 219 N. Delaware a little after 2:00 p.m. after his motorcade had traveled through the Independence square. Well-wishers and on-lookers were there to greet him along the parade route and at 219 N. Delaware, which at the time did…

The Kansas City Star and the Kansas City Call, the city's African American newspaper, covered President Truman's motorcade procession to Independence via the streets of Kansas City. Well wishers, both black and white, lined the streets to…

The President's plane landed at the Fairfax Airport in Kansas City, Kansas, around 1:30 C.S.T. on June 27, 1945. He had just returned from San Francisco where he had signed the United Nations Charter that committed the United States to support…

Martin Warren, who was originally from Kentucky, established a blacksmith business at the northeast corner of present day College Avenue and East Gay Street sometime in 1833. He also established his residence there and it soon came to be known as…

There have been several remarkable blind pianists and composers in the 20th century that have risen to great fame and are known for their pioneering sound. Predating Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder was a blind boy from Warrensburg, Missouri, who…

In 1864 a wooden depot was constructed on this location; however, a fire in 1889 destroyed the depot and the Missouri Pacific lines decided to replace it with one constructed of locally quarried sandstone. The new depot opened for service in…

Shortly after the end of the Civil War, the American Missionary Association came to Missouri to establish Freedmen's schools for African American school children. Reverend George Candee identified Warrensburg as a potential site and in January…

The Johnson County Historical Society formed in 1958 and serves as an important center for helping residents of Johnson County and those interested in Johnson County history understand the significance of the county's past. The Johnson…

The Warren Street Methodist Episcopal Church played an important role in the life of Warrensburg and specifically in the lives of its African American congregants who attended services there. The first congregation was formed right after the…

The construction of the Masonic Temple on Holden Street in 1894, just a couple of years before the construction of the 1898 courthouse, marked the permanent transition of the heart of the community from Old Town centered on Main Street to New Town…

In 1833 Martin Warren constructed a residence and opened a blacksmith shop at the corner of present-day College Avenue and East Gay Street and unofficially named it "Warren's Corner," which eventually came to be known as Warrensburg. …

In 1912 Walter and Perry Jones paid $26,000 to build what came to be known as the Jones Brothers Mule Barn. The barn played an important role in a thriving mule business that had developed in Johnson County and Warrensburg around the turn of the…

On October 28, 1869, Charles Burden found his favorite dog, Old Drum, shot dead. Burden learned that his neighbor and brother-in-law, Leonidas Hornsby, had killed Drum because he had been harassing his livestock. Burden, with the help of lawyer…

Johnson County Missouri was named after Kentucky U.S. Senator Richard Johnson, who later served as Vice President of the United States under President Martin van Buren. The Johnson County Court moved the location of the courthouse from Old Town…