Independence Square and Courthouse

Photo/NPS

Independence Courthouse Square Complex - Independence, Missouri

The location of frenzied outfitting activity throughout the 1840s and early 1850s, Independence was the jumping-off point for the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. The town includes several historic buildings, monuments and Independence Spring.

As the place of convergence of early routes from the Mississippi Valley, this square was the last significant point of supply until the mid-1840s, when Westport also became an outfitting town.

When J. Quinn Thornton visited Independence in 1846, he found, "a great Babel of African slaves, indolent dark-skinned Spaniards, profane and dust-laden bullwhackers going to and from Santa Fe with their immense wagons, and emigrant families bound for the Pacific, all cheerful and intent on their embarkation upon the great prairie wilderness."

To visit the Courthouse Square Complex:

• National Frontier Trails Center

• 318 West Pacific, Independence, MO 64050

• 816-325-7575