If you are going through Kansas City, there are plenty of things to see & do, not to mention the great KC BBQ! Here is a list of some of the things in and around the KC area, you could spend several days here & just hit the high points. Here are some ideas I put together for last years Missouri rally.
WESTON10 minutes 7.5 miles
Weston, Queen of the Platte Purchase, became a significant mid-nineteenth century Missouri River port community, the second largest port on the river, second only to St. Louis. In 1850 over 265 steamboats a year docked at the Port of Weston. The population soared to 5,000, surpassing both Kansas City and St. Joseph. After major floods, fires, and the Civil War the bustling town declined to about 1,000. When you see all that goes on here, you may be surprised to learn that over a century later, Weston still has fewer than 2,000 residents.
In 1972, a major portion of the early town was designated an Historic District and placed on the National Register of Historic Places having retained a substantial portion of its early residences and commercial structures.
Spend a little time in Historic Weston and you will soon see that the town offers a wide range of historical experiences, including antebellum homes, museums, walking tours, and a historic shopping district. Many of the antique, home furnishing, gift shops and restaurants are located in buildings built prior to the Civil War.
To read more about our history, museums, historic homes, walking tours and legends click on your area of interest. Then come make a little history of your own as you enjoy Historic Weston, Missouri.
Weston is a quaint small town with a lot of unique shops that are kind of pricy. From reading the above, you can tell it’s an old town with tons of old buildings, and houses. It’s a pretty interesting town and area. A couple of things not mentioned above are that at one time Weston, and all of Platte County (Civil War era) was a major hemp (yep you guessed it, marijuana) growing area. But back in those days it was used for making rope. However it was pretty labor intensive, and the work was done by slaves, so after the Civil War the hemp industry disappeared. Also the Weston area is the only area West of the Mississippi that is a major tobacco growing area. However these days it is also dying out, because of decreased tobacco use, and it also being labor intensive other countries can grow it cheaper. Most of the tobacco was contracted to Phillip Morris, and is Burley tobacco which is used for cigarettes. There are still tobacco barns all over Platte County. Virtually every large barn you’ll see is a tobacco barn. There is also an auction barn (the old one in downtown, and the new one at the edge of town) in Weston. Roy
ST. JOSEPH32 minutes 31 miles
St. Joseph was founded on the Missouri River by Joseph Robidoux, a local fur trader, and officially incorporated in 1843.In its early days, it was a bustling outpost and rough frontier town, serving as a last supply point and jumping-off point on the Missouri River toward the "Wild West". It was the westernmost point in the United States accessible by rail until after the American Civil War. St. Joseph, or "St. Joe", as it was called by many, was a "Jumping-Off Point" for those headed to the Oregon Territory in the mid-1800s. In these cities, including Independence, Missouri, and St. Joseph, were where pioneers would stay and purchase supplies before they would head out in wagon trains. The town was a very bustling place, and was the second city in the USA to have electric streetcars. Between April 3, 1860, and late October 1861, St. Joseph was one of the two endpoints of the Pony Express, which operated for a short period over the land then inaccessible by rail, to provide fast mail service. The pony riders carried additionally, along with the mail, a small personal bible. Today the Pony Express Museum hosts visitors in the old stables. In 1882, on April 3, the outlaw Jesse James was killed at his home, originally located at 1318 Lafayette, now sited next to The Patee House. In the post-Civil War years, when the economy was down, the hotel had served for a time as the home of the Patee Female College, followed by the St. Joseph Female College up to 1880.James was living under the alias of Mr. Howard. An excerpt from a popular poem of the time is: "...that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard has laid poor Jesse in his grave."
The Heaton-Bowman-Smith Funeral Home maintains a small museum about Jesse James. Their predecessors conducted the funeral. The museum is open to the public. His home, is now known as Jesse James Home Museum. It has been relocated at least three times, and features the bullet hole from that fateful shot. St. Joseph is identified by the slogan, "Where the Pony Express started and Jesse James ended.” Among properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places are the Patee House, a former hotel is now maintained as a museum of transportation and the Missouri Theatre, an ornate movie palace. St. Joseph's population peaked in 1900, with a census population of 102,979. This population figure is questionable, as civic leaders tried to inflate the numbers for that census. At the time, it was the home to one of the largest wholesale companies in the Midwest, the Nave & McCord Mercantile Company, as well as the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, and the C.D. Smith & Company, which would become C.D. Smith Healthcare.
St. Joseph is another very old, and historical city. There is a lot to see & do there. You can spend an entire day there and probably not see everything…just depends on how much time you spend in museums! The Pony Express, Jesse James, Oregon Trail, the “wild west” in general. St. Joe also has a lot of old buildings & homes. Roy
KANSAS CITY, MO29 Minutes 23 miles
There is so much to see & do in Kansas City, that I could almost write a book! One place I would highly recommend going to is the Steamboat Arabia. This is an old steamboat that sank in the 1800’s on the Missouri River enroute to the frontier. It was loaded with items to supplies for the pioneers. Since it sank, the Missouri River changed course, and the people who discovered it located the wreck North of Kansas City in a corn field. They dug it up and recovered the items on there are in the process of restoring them and placing them in this museum. It’s amazing the condition this stuff is in after being buried in mud for over 100 years. Some of the things that are there are there are tools, boots/shoes, supplies (food, trade goods, etc.), the truly amazing thing is that most of the food was still good! While digging up the wreck up they would actually taste some of it, and it still tasted good. They even found some champagne that still had carbonation! They say they have restored about 2/3 of the cargo, but still have about 60 TONS of it to go!
INDEPENDENCE, MO38 minutes 35.5 miles
Named after the Declaration of Independence, Independence was founded on March 29, 1827,[SUP][9][/SUP] and quickly became an important frontier town. Independence was the farthest point westward on the Missouri River where steamboats or other cargo vessels could travel, due to the convergence of the Kansas River with the Missouri River approximately six miles west of town, near the current Kansas-Missouri border. Independence immediately became a jumping-off point for the emerging fur trade, accommodating merchants and adventurers beginning the long trek westward on the Santa Fe Trail. Independence saw great prosperity from the late 1830s through the mid-1840s, while the business of outfitting pioneers boomed. Between 1848 and 1868, it was a hub of the California Trail. On March 8, 1849, the Missouri General Assembly granted a home-rule charter to the town and on July 18, 1849, William McCoy was elected as its first mayor. In the mid-19th century an Act of the United States Congress defined Independence as the start of the Oregon Trail. United States President Harry S. Truman grew up in Independence, and in 1922 was elected judge of the county Court of Jackson County, Missouri (an administrative, not judicial, post). Although he was defeated for reelection in 1924, he won back the office in 1926 and was reelected in 1930. Truman performed his duties diligently, and won personal acclaim for several popular public works projects, including an extensive series of fine roads for the growing use of automobiles, the building of a new County Court building in Independence, and a series of 12 Madonna of the Trail monuments to pioneer women dedicated across the country in 1928 and 1929. He would later return to the city after two terms as President. His wife, First Lady Bess Truman, was born and raised in Independence, and both are buried there. The Harry S. Truman National Historic Site (Truman's home) and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum are both located in Independence, as is one of Truman's boyhood residences.
There is also a lot of interesting & historical things to see & do in Independence. The Truman Library (this is where Harry & Bess are buried), the Truman Home (National Park Service). Independence claims to be where the California, Santa Fe, & Oregon Trails began. In downtown Independence is the old Marshal’s home & jail. This is where Frank James was kept prior to his trial after he turned himself in to the Governor of Missouri. They have re-created the original jail cell he stayed in. Roy
The Frank & Jesse James Experience
Anyone interested in the James Gang will enjoy the area. They were raised in Clay County outside the town of Kearney (33 minutes 24 miles away). To visit all of these locations would take all day!
The James Farm is a county historical site (I lived there for 7 years before Sally & I married!) Very interesting tour, it’s the original house and probably 99% of the items in the house are James family original. Also, Jesse’s mother, step-father, and half brother are buried in Kearney, along with him & his wife Zee. You can get directions to the cemetery & where the graves are at the James Farm.
Jesse James Bank Museum (Liberty, MO 32 minutes 25 miles away. Liberty is 12 minutes & 10 miles from Kearney) This is the site of the first bank robbery that they are blamed for. It’s also the site of the first daylight peacetime bank robbery. Also very interesting with many original artifacts.
Marshal’s Home & Jail (38 minutes 35.5 miles from campground) This is where Frank James was kept prior to his trial after he turned himself in to the Governor of Missouri. They have re-created the original jail cell he stayed in.
Ft Leavenworth is another historic place to visit in the area. Built in 1827, and is the oldest active United States Army Post West of Washington, DC. This is what is called an “open base” which means we as civilians can enter. However if your drivers license is from Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico and Washington, you’ll need a passport, as for whatever reason the US Government doesn’t recognize those states’ drivers licenses. But they have a museum there that covers 1804-1917. At one time Gen. Custer spent some time there, and President Lincoln also visited there. They also have some info on the Buffalo Soldiers, along with a memorial to them. Also there is a National Cemetery which is one of the first 12 that was established by President Lincoln with veterans since the War of 1912 buried there. You can also do a self-guided tour of the base. There is a house there called “The Rookery,” it’s the oldest surviving building on the fort, and the oldest continuously occupied residence in the state of Kansas.
SHOPPING
There are a lot of shopping opportunities in the area. Platte City has a few shops, and several antique malls/flea markets, but is kind of limited. Weston has numerous shops, some antique malls/flea markets. Also in Parkville there is the same. If you are wanting the “mall experience” Probably the closest would be Zona Rosa, Briarcliff Village, Legends, & The Plaza. All of these are modern with the typical shops/stores including the chain stores, along with local ones. They all have restaurants near them.
For the guys there is Cabela’s, Bass Pro, Harbor Freight, Northern Tools, plus others known locally,
Tours
Harley Davidson has a plant near KCI that we could tour however this would have to be a pre-rally event as they don’t have tours on the weekends. They have 2 tours, one is FREE! The hours are given between the hours of 9:00am and 1:30pm. They also have a tour called “Steel Toe Tour” which is more in depth, it also has some “goodies” they give you. BUT, it costs $35.00 for less than 16 people, $32.00 for 16+ people.
