Harry S. Truman National Historic Site
Harry S Truman National Historic Site | |
U.S. National Historic Site | |
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 Interactive map showing the location of Harry S. Truman National Historic Site | |
| Location | 219 N. Delaware St., Independence, Missouri |
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| Coordinates | 39°05′36″N 94°25′23″W / 39.09333°N 94.42306°W |
| Area | 0.8 acres (0.32 ha) |
| Built by | George Porterfield Gates (1867 house) James W. Adams (1885 modification)[2] |
| Architect | James W. Adams (1885 modification) |
| Architectural style | Gothic, Ecletic Victorian |
| Visitation | 31,316 (2012) |
| Website | www |
| NRHP reference No. | 85001248[1] |
| Added to NRHP | May 31, 1985 |
The Harry S. Truman National Historic Site (officially styled without the period after the S
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Senator from Missouri
33rd President of the United States
First term Second term Presidential and Vice presidential campaigns Post-presidency
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Truman Home in Independence
The Truman Home (earlier known as the Gates–Wallace home), 219 North Delaware Street, Independence, Missouri, was the home of Harry S. Truman from the time of his marriage to Bess Wallace on June 28, 1919, until his death on December 26, 1972. Bess Truman's maternal grandfather, George Porterfield Gates, built the house between the years 1867 and 1885.
After Bess's father, David Willock Wallace, committed suicide in 1903, she and her mother and brothers moved into the house with Bess's grandparents, George and Elizabeth Gates. At the time Harry and Bess married in 1919, Harry was putting all of his money into his business partnership, a men's clothing store called Truman & Jacobson at 104 West 12th Street in downtown Kansas City, so living at the Wallace home made good financial sense.
After Truman's
After he retired in 1953, until the
The Truman Home offers a glimpse at the personal life of the 33rd President of the United States, particularly the simple life the family enjoyed in Independence before and after Harry's eight years as president. The Trumans' only child, Mary Margaret, was born in the home on February 17, 1924. The site also includes the two adjacent homes of Mrs. Truman's brothers, and, across Delaware Street, the Noland Home, where the President's favorite aunt and cousins lived. The site operates a visitor center, located inside an historic firehouse, in downtown Independence. NPS park ranger-interpreters lead guided tours of the home on a regular basis, providing a look at the home much as the Truman family left it.[8]
The second floor of the home has never been open to the public – Bess wrote into her will that to protect her family's privacy, the second floor was to remain closed until the death of her daughter, Margaret. Though Margaret died in 2008, the NPS has maintained the closure in order to best preserve the home.[6] A photo tour of the closed rooms, including Harry and Bess's bedroom, is available.
On display in the ground floor of the home is the
Truman is one of the few Presidents who never owned his own home prior to his time in office. He lived with his parents until he married, then in the Wallace House, in rented apartments and houses in Washington (including 4701 Connecticut Avenue), in Blair House (the official state visitors residence), and in the White House, but it was not until July 1953, following his term of office and the December 1952 death of Madge Gates Wallace, that Harry and Bess Truman purchased the home at 219 North Delaware Street.
The house is now located in the Harry S. Truman Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.
Truman Farm Home in Grandview
The
The site consists of a two-story farm house; a reconstructed smokehouse; the Grandview post office-turned-garage (Truman moved it to the farm to store his 1911 Stafford automobile); a restored box wagon once used on the farm; and several stone fence posts marking the original boundaries of the farm, plus other original and reconstructed buildings.
After Truman returned to private life he sold portions of the farm for the Truman Corners Shopping Center as well as other Kansas City suburban development.
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System – (#85001248)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Harry S Truman National Historic Site". National Park Service. Retrieved January 10, 2022. With accompanying pictures
- ^ An Act To establish the Harry S Truman National Historic Site in the State of Missouri, and for other purposes, Public Law 98-32, Government Printing Office.
- ^ Harry S Truman National Historic Site
- ^ Park Management – National Park Service
- ^ a b Truman Home Second Floor Photo Tour, National Park Service
- ^ Truman home open again for tours Archived May 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, The (Independence, Mo.) Examiner, May 31, 2010
- ^ a b HSTNHS Things To Do – National Park Service
- ^ Sequestration Cuts at Park, National Park Service
External links
Media related to Harry S. Truman National Historic Site at Wikimedia Commons
- Official Park Service site
- Harry Truman and Independence, Missouri: "This is Where I Belong", a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
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