05/29/2026
REMEMBERING OUR HISTORY. REMEMBERING OUR STORY.
May 29, 2026 marks the 59th Anniversary of an event that added to a detailed history of Westward Expansion and a midwest Industrial Revolution experienced in our very own Independence, Missouri. As reported and detailed by the Independence Examiner, "an explosion rocked the Independence Square". Understood to be a lightning strike, the grain storage facility at the former Waggoner Gates Mill burned causing $1 million damage. The destruction by fire of the 100 year old mill was stated at the time "the loss of a historical site in the city". Up from the ashes, Independence history was salvaged, as the large brick building on the south end would be saved and used once again. While the Mill Office was also saved, it would be lost to demolition just recently. The mill water tower (1913) would also be demolished just 18 months ago due to the fatigued and unsafe metal support.
Fewer and fewer Independence citizens that have knowledge, memory or recollection of the great Waggoner Gates Mill can still testify to that Independence history. I was 4th Grader living 1 1/2 miles south when my mother answered my question, "What's that terrible smell outside?", to which she replied "the old mill is burning." So our efforts to tell our story and be proud of our history continues this day. From the grounds of the Bingham Waggoner Estate, history lives and includes the important Gates and Truman Family connection, Westward Expansion, and other significant events from Civil War to the works of George Caleb Bingham.
Love your heritage Independence. Remember our past. Preserve it for the future.
