Independence MO.

We stopped by Independence while we were in the Kansas area. This was a great little town well worth a visit.

Frank James spent some time in the jail here. Future President Harry Truman had a first job here at Clinton's (which is still in operation) and some LDS members consider the town to be a very significant place.

We went to the visitor center for the Harry S. Truman Historical Site and had a very nice chat with a ranger there. The ranger had spent several years working at the Arch in St. Louis and talked about the differences in working at the two historic sites. I believe she said that the Arch gets 40,000 visitors a week, while the Truman site gets the same number in a year. The staff at the visitor center were very helpful not just about the Truman sites in Independence, but they were helpful with giving us information about the entire area.

The Temple, connected to the LDS religion is here, and it looks amazing. We actually noticed some other very nicely constructed buildings dedicated to other religions.



There are some very nice antique shops. I found some great older postcards in the area!

A real treat that we found by accident was the Court House Exchange. We had lunch here one day. We were all very happy with the food (I had a perfect Reuben) and the atmosphere was cool.

On the outside from the street, the place looks like any other bar. When you go inside, you go downstairs, and have your meal in an old basement type area. The building has been around a long time, and it is rumored to be haunted. It felt haunted!

This is a fun small town with a lot of history.