Visit the city of Independence, Missouri website for more information about local attractions.
Tourism and Attractions
Harry s truman home
Former President Harry S. Truman grew up in Independence and spent most of his life here. He even worked his first job at Clinton’s Drug Store right on the Independence Square, where Clinton’s Soda Fountain now stands. Today, visitors can tour significant places in Truman’s life through the Truman Historic Walking Trail. One of these sights is the preserved Harry S. Truman Home, where the 33rd president of the United States lived with his wife, Bess, from when they married in 1919 until his death in 1972. During Truman’s presidency, the home played the role of their “Summer White House.”
With more than a dozen rooms over two stories, the Truman Home is a local icon with classic Victorian charm. The home remains as it was left to the City of Independence by Bess, giving visitors an inside look at the Trumans’ lifestyle.
Head to the NPS Truman Home Visitor Center on the Independence Square for tickets.
pioneer trails adventures - covered wagon rides
Climb aboard an old west mule-drawn, covered wagon for an easy tour of the Independence Square, home of three historic “westward ho” trails.
Several tour itineraries are offered. They might include: two Civil War battle sites; the 1859 Jail that held Frank James; the slave-built 1827 courthouse; the home where Bess Truman was born; and Clinton’s Soda Fountain, where Harry Truman had his first job.
Crisscross two overlapping battlefields, where your driver points out what happened there; circle the Bingham-Waggoner estate, where the artist George Caleb Bingham destroyed a general with a paint brush; pass the 1879 train depot where Frank James stepped off of the train on his way to jail; roll through the wagon swales left in the ground by pioneer wagons going west.
Other possibilities include a wedding carriage ride; school group adventures; and Santa’s sleigh. Group tours are available; a chuck wagon feast may be included.
Live an adventure with every turn of the wheel.
HARRY S. TRUMAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum was established to preserve the papers, books, and other historical materials relating to former President Harry S. Truman and to make them available to the people in a place suitable for exhibit and research. Consistently ranked among the top tourism destinations in the Kansas City region, no visit to America's heartland is complete without a trip to the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum. The museum has just finished a massive renovation of the museum and its exhibitions, the first major renovation in more than 20 years and the largest since the museum opened its doors in 1957.
NATIONAL FRONTIER TRAILS MUSEUM
The National Frontier Trails Museum is a history museum, interpretive center, and research library dedicated to telling the rich history of America’s principle, pioneering trails, including the Oregon, Santa Fe and California trails. It is located in Independence, Missouri, a key starting point for hundreds of thousands of pioneers who risked their livelihoods for a new life in the American West.
