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Photo: Sallyrob at English Wikipedia, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Official library of the 33rd U.S. President. Hailed as America's "best presidential museum" by the Dallas Morning News, the Truman Library offers theaters, a museum, store, and some interactive "hands-on" exhibits together with a "Decision Theater." The museum contains a colorful mural by Thomas Hart Benton, together with a reproduction of the Oval Office. The displays seek to educate patrons about the major world-shaping decisions that Truman was involved in as President (including the use of the Atom Bomb during WWII, and the formation of the UN), together with details of his personal life. The lower level offers an area where kids can dress up like Harry and Bess, explore "feely" boxes, engage in an interactive computerized race, sort mail, make campaign buttons and posters and play a trivia game.
The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and resting place of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States (1945–1953), his wife Bess and daughter Margaret, and is located on U.S. Highway 24 in Independence, Missouri. It was the first presidential library created under the provisions of the 1955 Presidential Libraries Act and is one of thirteen presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. The library contains approximately 178,000 photographs, 900 motion-picture films, and 5,100 audio recordings related to Truman and his era.
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This 30-room mansion was built by frontier business tycoon Harvey Vaile in 1881. Recognized as one of the finest examples of Second Empire Victorian architecture in the U.S., the opulent estate boasted conveniences such as flushing toilets, a built-in 6,000-gallon water tank, painted woodwork and ceilings and nine different marble fireplaces. Closed for the winter from Jan-Mar.
Truman Home
The Independence home of the nation's 33rd President, completed in 1885 and furnished exactly as it was when Truman lived there. Only the main floor is open to visitors, via a guided tour conducted by National Park Service employees. Obtain tickets for $4 at their office at 223 N. Main St., then walk or drive a short distance away to the corner of Delaware St. and Truman Rd. to see the house itself. You must obtain the tickets at the Main St. office before attempting to enter the house! Tours are limited to eight persons at a time, and all tickets are sold on a "first-come, first-served" basis on the day of the tour only. A ticket purchased to tour the Truman Home is also good to tour the Truman Farm Home in Grandview on the same day, and vice-versa.
The dungeon-like cells of the 1859 Jail housed thousands of prisoners during the bloodiest period of Jackson County's history. Some of its guests included Frank James (brother of Jesse James) and Confederate guerrilla leader William Quantrill. Part of the exhibit details how the local marshal and his family lived in the adjoining Federal brick two-story home. An 1870s-era schoolhouse and museum completes the site. A "historic homes combo" ticket is available for use with the Bingham-Waggoner Estate and the Vaile Mansion. Closed for the winter from Jan-Mar.
Still a working soda fountain and ice-cream parlor, this was the site of Truman's first paying job. On the Independence Sq.
In the Old Courthouse at the center of Independence's historic square. Truman's first elected office was as a Jackson Co. judge (1922-24) -- an administrative, not judicial, position. During his term he worked in the historic Independence courthouse.
Features numerous family-owned shops surrounding the old main courthouse, which was modeled after Philadelphia's Independence Hall. This courthouse houses Harry S. Truman's former courtroom and office (see below).