Long ago on independence square (Kansas City, Jackson: graduated, 2006, service)

[SilverDoc]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I dont see evidence of those wide ground level entryways in the foreground building though.

True, and the footprint of the structure seems a bit small. That far distant building seems to fit the size, but if it was the one in question, what happened to the upper stories? And, what is that structure behind it? Could that be it, OR the building to the far right, is it even on the property?

[adams_aj]

Don't know if it helps, but if we can identify anything in the picture and its location maybe this will help: From the shadows in the photo with the mason building the wall, it appears as though we may be looking to the west or southwest based on the shadows on the foundation wall. . . .

[weimlover6]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

Oops! I saw it as a thumbnail on the McCune page, but failed to click on it. Me thinks the ruins have been identified! However, I wonder why the wooden portions were removed but the rock left to stand. Your close ups don't seem to show signs of fire. Maybe during hard times the wood was stripped out for re-use elsewhere??

Did anyone look at this? (bottom left corner) - top one is updated to the 1940s and bottom one is updated to 1957 (but you can even see some of the original outlines under the pasted on updates):

Missouri Valley Special Collections : Item Viewer

Missouri Valley Special Collections : Item Viewer

And a little bit of history (See Part 3):

http://tinyurl.com/b9d9cr2

[weimlover6]

[quote=weimlover6;27826852]Did anyone look at this? (bottom left corner) - top one is updated to the 1940s and bottom one is updated to 1957 (but you can even see some of the original outlines under the pasted on updates):

Old News Transcriptions - News Items from The Kansas City Journal ~ Old News That's New to You from Vintage Kansas City.com

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by weimlover6

Did anyone look at this? (bottom left corner) - top one is updated to the 1940s and bottom one is updated to 1957 (but you can even see some of the original outlines under the pasted on updates):

Missouri Valley Special Collections : Item Viewer

Bing Maps - Driving Directions, Traffic and Road Conditions


Thanks Weimlover! Case closed. Look at the layout of buildings in the current satellite view compared to the later Sanborn map. Noted on the map is 30' high rock walls. It is the old McCune building in the NW part of the map.

[SilverDoc]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

Bing Maps - Driving Directions, Traffic and Road Conditions


Thanks Weimlover! Case closed. Look at the layout of buildings in the current satellite view compared to the later Sanborn map. Noted on the map is 30' high rock walls. It is the old McCune building in the NW part of the map.

Yes indeed, Mad! Thanks Weimlover! Well guys, guess I'll have to try and come up with another mystery to solve.

[WCHS'59]

Talk about topical.


From the Examiner web site at News - Independence, MO - The Examiner January 19, 2013

Independence, MO — Friday was a day for some sad goodbyes but also a day to count up successes.

Staff and others at the McCune Residential Center in eastern Independence gathered to for an open house and closing ceremony. After 103 years in operation, the facility for 12- to 17-year-old boys who have gotten into trouble with the law closed several weeks ago.

“Hard decision is an understatement,” 16th Circuit Court Presiding Judge Marco A. Roldan said. “It was probably the last thing we wanted to do.”

But the judges were looking at hard financial considerations when they announced the closing in October, and they stressed this point: The best option for a young offender is to find ways to keep him in the community, with family, connected to programs and resources to turn things around.

“The best place for kids is home,” said Arthurine Criswell, director of residential services.
That’s been the push for several years, and it’s worked, officials say.

“It’s a bittersweet ending,” said Tyra Snow, facilty manager at McCune and now in the same job at the Hilltop Residential Center south of Lakewood, another Family Court facility.

Judge Henry L. McCune was “a man ahead of his time,” says the plaque on a commemorative mural that will hang at Hilltop. He saw a more constructive alternative to the practice a century ago of sending young offenders to work farms or even to adult prisons.

Criswell said McCune put young felony offenders in a strictly regimented environment: when to get up, when to eat, when to exercise, when to go to class. A typical offender might be high school age but not at that grade level simply he hasn’t been going to school – but typically would advance two grade levels in math and reading while at McCune, Snow said.

“What we try to give them is structure with focus on their education,” Criswell said.
Last year, for example, seven young men earned their GEDs.

“For some of our kids, they would be the first ones in their family to achieve that level of education,” Criswell said.

Judge Roldan stressed that the Fort Osage School District has been an essential partner for many years.

“We cannot give enough credit to the Fort Osage School District because they did an incredible job here,” he said.

There was a wood shop, an auto shop and a culinary arts program. The boys had a community garden and made money for pizza or nachos, Criswell said – something they normally would not be allowed to have.

There were even parenting classes, as many residents had already had children.

“So we talked to them about what it means to raise a child – what it costs to raise a child,” Snow said.

The facility – which Criswell stressed had a hard-won accreditation from the American Correctional Association – often had to deal with a range of issues besides the crime that landed the young man there. In addition to frequently having fallen behind in school, there are medical issues.

“Many of the kids who come into our care have never seen a dentist,” Criswell said.
Fundamentally, Snow said, officials in this field have to believe that these are young people for whom something has gone wrong – but that the potential remains to turn things around.

“Success for me is seeing a young man leave here and not offend again or be dead,” she said.

Turning things around means working with families, getting at the root causes of problems, in what Roldan described as a holistic approach.

“Every family left here with a plan,” Snow said.

Some of the tools to leave young offenders at home included electronic bracelets and the Night Light program, under which a sheriff’s deputy can show up at the house at midnight and make sure the young man is where he’s supposed to be. These days, Criswell said, the criteria for sending a youth to a home like McCune are straightforward: Does he pose a risk to the public? Is he a flight risk, that is, will he disappear before his next court date?

“So we have worked really hard to keep kids in their homes,” Criswell said.
McCune took young men from all over Jackson County, but now – although referrals from Family Court are at a 20-year low – there’s a chance that more young offenders will be turned over to the state Division of Youth Services, meaning they could sent anywhere in the state – possibly far from family.

“They provide good services, but it’s kind of the end of the road,” Criswell said.
Sometimes, Snow said, it just takes young people a long time to hear and finally act on the advice and opportunities adults are providing.

“I’ve had numerous kids,” she said, “come back and say ‘thank you – I wish I would have listened.’”

[WCHS'59]

Another item from the Independence Examiner published on January 18 having to do with 100 years ago in Independence:

The matter of re-establishing a ferry at Liberty Landing was presented to the City Council by the Commercial Club committee. The club believes that it is of vital importance not only to Independence, but all of Jackson County. In order to get the best results from the ferry however, it will be necessary to build a rock road from the present terminus of the Courtney rock road to Liberty landing, a distance of about two miles through bottom lands.


I dont know if this project was ever accomplished. The original bridge across the Missouri River at what is now the town of River Bend came along around 1927, or fourteen years later.

Another bridge was built a couple miles south across dry land in 1949 and then the Missouri was rerouted to flow underneath it. The original bridge was then over "dry" land.

Twin bridges are now at both sites.

[WCHS'59]

I wonder if anyone has ever noticed the cemetery on the southwest corner of Salisbury Road and Highway 24?

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I wonder if anyone has ever noticed the cemetery on the southwest corner of Salisbury Road and Highway 24?

Yup, we drive by it at least twice a week. It is an old family plot, the Hedricks. More info here...

Find A Grave: Hedrick Cemetery