Click Here to Check Out all the Valentine's Day FUN on the Square!


Indy2Go delivers food from the Square straight to your office or home!  Choose from any of our 7 restaurants: Ophelia's, Cafe Verona, Courthouse Exchange, Square Pizza, Diamond Bowl, Clinton's Soda Fountain and Main Street Coffee House.  Call us at 816-254-TOGO (8646) or order online at Indy2Go.com.  Our hours are 11am - 2pm and 5pm - 8pm, Monday - Saturday.


Truman Courthouse Wall Breaking Ceremony with Ken McClain

Cindy McClain: Perpetual Motion on The Square

In the spring of 1976, 17-year-old Cindy Carpenter traveled to Independence and attended the RLDS World Conference. One afternoon, she walked the Lower Auditorium and saw an attractive young man working in the bookstore.

To read the full article, click here.
The Examiner, July 2009




Welcome to the New Independence Square!
To See...To Do...To Taste...all Local on the Square

Just minutes from downtown Kansas City, the Square is home to an exciting mix of modern boutiques, specialty shops, antique stores, restaurants, an art gallery and bowling alley, plus a movie theatre and much more. With all of the new things on the Square, it's a great family friendly place.  Enjoy a romantic dinner or celebrate a birthday at one of our five restaurants. Known for its pioneer history celebrated during Santa-Cali-Gon Days, Victorian mansions and its distinguished reputation as the birthplace and home of President Harry S. Truman, Independence is a busy tourist location. In the heart of Independence lies the Square where residents and guests come to dine, shop, relax, learn, and live fully.



 

Independence men’s store echoes Truman era

After he returned from World War I and married Bess, you couldn’t keep Harry Truman down on the farm.

Instead, the future president settled in Independence and opened a haberdashery (men’s furnishings business) in downtown Kansas City with his army buddy Eddie Jacobson.

According to the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Truman at first decided to do the selling and keep the books, while Jacobson would do the buying. But, like most entrepreneurs, they both ended up doing a little bit of everything.

To honor that legacy, Cindy and Ken McClain have opened a men’s accessories store, Wild About Harry, on Independence Square at 104 W. Maple St. The shop — dubbed a “store catering to men and the things they like” — had a grand happy hour opening Thursday.

This isn’t some frilly boutique but a place where guys can hang out, settling in comfy leather chairs to catch the news or a game, putt a bit on the 19th hole in the front window and, of course, pick up some special men’s accessories.

Items include iron hand sculptures to hold business cards, neckties, wallets, shaving accessories, barware, leather CD racks, day planners, walking sticks, golf trophies and accessories, Truman books and memorabilia, and games. Tailgating items and golf apparel will be added later.

There’s even an antique shoeshine stand in back that the McClains hope to have staffed twice a week at lunchtime.

“It’s more about where Harry Truman grew up, the history of where he spent his time, what formed his thoughts and the things I imagined he would like,” Cindy McClain said.

 

    home       about       shopping       dining       entertainment       lifestyle       employment