Independence, MO

Founded in March 1827, when authorities approved a 160-acre site (approved March 29, 1827) to serve as the seat of Jackson County. The city was not chartered with the State of Missouri until March 1849. source

Chartered with the State of Missouri in March 1849, twenty-two years after the town was founded as county seat. source

1. 1827A 160-acre site was approved on March 29 as the seat of Jackson County, founding Independence. source
2. 1827Independence became the eastern terminus of the Santa Fe Trail, the trade route William Becknell had blazed from Franklin, Missouri in 1821 - the route passed through what became the town. source
3. 1831Independence was designated the 'center place' for the city of Zion by the Latter Day Saint movement. Joseph Smith presided over the dedication of a temple site on August 3, laying corner markers; on December 19 Bishop Edward Partridge purchased 63.27 acres from the Flournoy family, land that included the dedicated site. Between 1831 and 1833 the church bought roughly 180 acres in Independence and 1,200 acres elsewhere in Jackson County, and about 1,200 settlers gathered to the county - a substantial addition to a town founded only four years earlier. source 1 source 2
4. 1833After escalating conflict with earlier settlers, the Latter Day Saint community was driven out of Jackson County. A mob destroyed the church's printing press in Independence on July 20; an ultimatum followed in October, violence resumed on October 31, and the community fled to neighboring counties, principally Clay County. The planned temple was never built, and Independence continued to develop instead as a county seat and trail outfitting town. source
5. 1843The Oregon Trail began to be heavily traveled, and Independence added emigrant outfitting to its Santa Fe trade; the California Trail followed. source
6. 1849Independence was chartered with the State of Missouri in March. source
7. 1919Harry S. Truman married Bess Wallace on June 28 and moved into 219 North Delaware Street, which remained his home until his death on December 26, 1972; it is now the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site. source
8. 1958The Auditorium was completed at 1001 W. Walnut after an exceptionally long build: ground was broken in 1926 and construction was virtually halted through the Great Depression. Its conference chamber seats about 5,800 beneath a domed ceiling rising some 90 feet, and it holds an Aeolian-Skinner organ of 6,334 pipes - among the largest free-standing organs in the United States. source 1 source 2
9. 1994The Community of Christ Temple was dedicated on April 17, four years after the April 6, 1990 groundbreaking. Designed by Gyo Obata, co-founder of the St. Louis firm Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), it carries a 300-foot stainless steel spiral spire; the 1,600-seat sanctuary beneath it has a spiral ceiling rising 195 feet and a 102-rank, 5,685-pipe organ. source 1 source 2 source 3

The median home sold here was built in 1962. Most of what sells was built between 1925 and 2002. That closely matches the Census figure of 1967 for all housing, so sales are broadly representative of the stock. 48% of sales included finished basement space beyond the above-grade footprint - which matters here, because square footage quoted above grade can understate a house considerably.

By property type, sales broke down as Single Family (1603), Condo/Loft (34), Patio/Villa (28), Townhouse (18).

The 'Queen City of the Trails' - Independence was the eastern terminus of the Santa Fe Trail and the principal outfitting and jumping-off point for emigrants bound for Oregon and California. In the early 1840s tens of thousands of emigrants gathered here each spring with wagons, teams, livestock and supplies before the roughly 2,000-mile, five-month journey west; the town dominated the outfitting trade until about 1850. source

Hometown of Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States. source

Independence is the international headquarters of Community of Christ, at 1001 W. Walnut Street. The denomination was known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints until it took the name Community of Christ on April 6, 2001. Its headquarters complex - the Temple and the Auditorium - is one of the largest institutional building groups in the city. source 1 source 2

The Community of Christ Temple's stainless steel spiral spire, rising 300 feet, is among the most recognizable structures on the Missouri side of the metro and is visible from well outside Independence. Designed by architect Gyo Obata, its form evokes the spiral shell of a nautilus. source

Independence is the 'center place' of the Latter Day Saint movement, designated as such in 1831. The Temple Lot dedicated that year is today divided among three separate denominations that trace to the same 19th-century origin - an arrangement found nowhere else. source

Harry S. Truman National Historic Site

219 North Delaware Street, the Truman home from his 1919 marriage until his death in 1972; a unit of the National Park Service. source

National Frontier Trails Museum

City museum interpreting the Santa Fe, Oregon and California Trails from the town that outfitted them. source

Vaile Mansion

Built 1881 for businessman Harvey M. Vaile; a Second Empire house with flushing toilets, a built-in 6,000-gallon water tank, painted woodwork and ceilings and nine marble fireplaces. source

Bingham-Waggoner Estate

Built 1852 along the Santa Fe Trail; home of Civil War-era artist George Caleb Bingham and later of the Waggoner family, founders of the Waggoner-Gates Mill. Renovated in the 1890s. source

Owens-Rogers Museum

The house in which Ginger Rogers was born in 1911, now a museum devoted to her and to her mother, screenwriter and producer Lela E. Rogers. source

Community of Christ Temple

Dedicated April 17, 1994; architect Gyo Obata of HOK. A stainless steel spiral spire rises 300 feet over a 1,600-seat sanctuary whose spiral ceiling reaches 195 feet, with a 102-rank, 5,685-pipe organ, a meditation chapel with an adjacent Japanese garden, and the denomination's Library and Archives. The headquarters complex is open to visitors, with free self-guided audio tours. source 1 source 2

The Auditorium

1001 W. Walnut Street. Ground broken 1926, completed 1958 after the Depression stalled the work; a domed conference chamber seating about 5,800 with a ceiling some 90 feet high, and an Aeolian-Skinner organ of 6,334 pipes. source 1 source 2

The Temple Lot

The 63.27 acres bought in 1831 and the site dedicated that August. Ownership is now split among three denominations descended from the same movement: Community of Christ holds most of the acreage, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the next largest share, and the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) the smallest portion - including the spot dedicated in 1831 - with its headquarters on the site. source

5 subdivisions in Independence had enough closed sales in the last twelve months to report on individually.

Schools

Independence School District. Boundaries do not follow city limits - parts of Independence fall to adjoining districts and the Independence district extends beyond the city. Confirm the district by address. Confirm the assigned school for any specific address before you rely on it. source

Getting around

Served by I-70 and I-470 with US-24 and US-40 running east-west through the city; roughly ten miles east of downtown Kansas City. The Amtrak Missouri River Runner and long-distance services use the Independence station corridor along the historic route east. source

Employers located here

Centerpoint Medical Center (HCA Healthcare), Independence School District, Mid-Continent Public Library. Listed as present in the city, which is not a statement about hiring.

Harry S. Truman

33rd President of the United States; Independence was his hometown and he lived at 219 North Delaware Street from 1919 until his death in 1972. source

Ginger Rogers

Actress and dancer, born in Independence in 1911 in the house now operated as the Owens-Rogers Museum. source

George Caleb Bingham

American painter of the Civil War era who lived in the Independence house now known as the Bingham-Waggoner Estate. source