The newly incorporated town of Independence was established and
led by William McCoy as its first Mayor in 1849. Even though it was launched as the County
Seat of Jackson in 1827 and even a settlement before that for traders and
missionaries, Independence started to gain prominence through the pioneer trail
period and survival through Civil War years because of leadership of William
McCoy. As an early pioneer, trails
merchant engaged in national and international trade, banker, and prominent leader,
no one has done more for our community.
William and his brother John did everything they could to promote civic
development, education, and prosperity to this new town at the furthest edge of
the country and at the gateway to Indian Territory and the wide open prairie. John even contributed to the formidable years
of young Harry Truman as teacher and superintendent of the Presbyterian Church
Sunday School where Harry first met a young Bess Wallace. William was one of the founders of the
Independence Public Schools that also provided Harry plenty of education to
become leader of the free world without an Ivy League education or even a college
diploma. The McCoy’s 14-acre country
estate north of Farmer Street witnessed Civil War battles, trade and emigration
on three national trails heading West, the first railroad constructed west of
the Mississippi River, racial segregation in the Neck, the discriminatory
practices of Urban Renewal, and the struggles of a community gaining national
prominence due to its association with one of the greatest world leaders of the
20th century. All of these
histories converge in McCoy Park, the property that is currently occupied by Heritage
House Apartments, and what is left of the old McCoy estate on the corner Farmer
Street and Ridgeway Avenue. These
stories matter to the community, but more importantly, they matter to the nation. It is essential that City Planning efforts, residential
& park redevelopment activities, and infrastructure & public safety
efforts should be integrated with Historic Preservation planning and reviews
that involve open-door meetings and the participation of stakeholders. In many cases, it is actually mandated by the
federal government under Section 106 of the National Preservation Act, a
federal law that has been on the books for almost a half century. In our circumstances in this history epicenter,
just the opposite has occurred. This
reminds me of the blog post “Contrary Kingdom” from May 15, 2010 with a familiar
story line of a community where everything happens just the opposite way it
would in a normal community. City leaders
need to understand that history is not something that just happened 100 years
ago. History is being made today which
will be judged by future generations and will very likely be discussed at
national forums such as the one mentioned in the blog post from “Higher
Learning Regarding Higher Ground” from September 14, 2009. Yes, this is one of the primary reasons for documenting
and studying history: “Learn from our mistakes of the past so we do not repeat
them – lest we all be labeled idiots.”
