219 North Delaware Street

His hometown of Independence, Missouri was the center of President Harry Truman’s life beginning in 1890 when a six year old Harry Truman fell in love with five year old Bess Wallace at Sunday School. The Harry S Truman National Historic Site tells the story of the honest, hard working man who became the 33rd President of the United States. We toured the downstairs of the Truman House, which was built by Bess’ maternal grandfather. This was Bess and Harry’s home from the time they were married. It is preserved by the National Park Service as if the Trumans were still in residence. Although we could not take photos inside this virtual tour offers and excellent series of photos of the interior. Directly across the Delaware Street is the home that was owned by Harry Truman’s aunt and uncle. He was visiting there when he volunteered to return a cake plate to Mrs. Wallace and the ensuing conversation with Bess marked the beginning of their courtship. It is open for self guided tours and gives additional insight into their early years and a chance to see video from a Margaret Truman interview of her parents. After the tours we returned to the Visitor’s Center a few blocks away and later drove past the private residence that had been Harry’s boyhood home at the corner of River and Waldo. We have reasons to return to independence. The first is that the Truman Library is under renovation and closed to visitors until sometime in the summer of 2020. The other is that our visit on Labor Day Weekend coincided with Santa-Cali-Gon Days so although we enjoyed the opportunity to get some BBQ and Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler, we didn’t get a chance to walk the streets of downtown and get a true flavor of Harry’s Hometown.