Last updated: October 12, 2022
Place
Original Entrance Pillars
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
12301 Blue Ridge Ext, Grandview, Missouri
Significance:
Farm home of the 33rd President of the United States
Designation:
National Historic Site
MANAGED BY:
Private
Harry Truman’s social life grew on the farm. These two stone pillars marked the entrance to the farm and saw Harry Truman constantly on the move, whether it was by horse, foot, horse and buggy, or his 1911 Stafford.
It was during his farm years that he courted his future wife Bess Wallace Truman. Any chance he could get he was hopping on a train, street car, or horse and buggy and going the 16 miles to Independence to visit her. The visits became more frequent when he got his own machine, the 1911 Stafford automobile. In the first three months, he put 5,000 miles on his car, the car was used to take his father to medical appointments and to visit Bess in Independence. Harry wasn’t the only Truman interested in driving the Stafford. He would teach his sister Mary Jane to drive. It was on her first solo trip with the car that she ran it into the entrance gate. In a letter to Bess, he described the accident and said “The gate looks rather sickly. I am very thankful that she hit the gate instead of a stone post. She took it a sideswiping lick and yanked it off the hinges. I suppose she must have been going too fast and didn't straighten up the wheel soon enough after making the turn.”
Harry Truman had big responsibilities on the farm, but he was also very active in the community. He joined the Mason’s and started a new lodge in Grandview, MO. He was a member on the Hickman Mills School Board. He had his first introduction to politics when he took over as road overseer after his father passed away.
Eventually he would pass these gates in 1917, leaving the farm in his Stafford to rejoin the National Guard and fight in France during World War I.
It was during his farm years that he courted his future wife Bess Wallace Truman. Any chance he could get he was hopping on a train, street car, or horse and buggy and going the 16 miles to Independence to visit her. The visits became more frequent when he got his own machine, the 1911 Stafford automobile. In the first three months, he put 5,000 miles on his car, the car was used to take his father to medical appointments and to visit Bess in Independence. Harry wasn’t the only Truman interested in driving the Stafford. He would teach his sister Mary Jane to drive. It was on her first solo trip with the car that she ran it into the entrance gate. In a letter to Bess, he described the accident and said “The gate looks rather sickly. I am very thankful that she hit the gate instead of a stone post. She took it a sideswiping lick and yanked it off the hinges. I suppose she must have been going too fast and didn't straighten up the wheel soon enough after making the turn.”
Harry Truman had big responsibilities on the farm, but he was also very active in the community. He joined the Mason’s and started a new lodge in Grandview, MO. He was a member on the Hickman Mills School Board. He had his first introduction to politics when he took over as road overseer after his father passed away.
Eventually he would pass these gates in 1917, leaving the farm in his Stafford to rejoin the National Guard and fight in France during World War I.