Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society

Historical Perspective

by David W. Jackson

Natural gems need to be kept

Independence has a lot of history and heritage beyond Independence Square. Now that the Noland Road Bridge over I-70 is re-opened, take a short drive with me (if you can afford gas prices this summer).

While touring, remember that “historic preservation” includes more than saving old buildings and operating museums. Protecting landscapes and cultural heritage sites is equally imperative, especially with the swift encroachment of relentless urban sprawl. Shouldn’t we reserve a few remaining natural spaces for future generations to enjoy the pristine splendor of an old-fashioned Sunday drive in the Jackson County countryside?

Our community has such a spot in the historic and stunningly scenic, wooded hillsides of the Little Blue River Valley along South Noland and Lee’s Summit Roads between 40 and 350 Highways, and arterial roads. This picturesque valley may be one of the last remaining, virtually untouched rural vistas in the heart of Jackson County.

Former Native-American paths through the Valley predate the earliest European emigrant enclave settling Little Blue, Missouri. One of the first was William Moore, one of a dozen American Revolutionary War patriots who made it as far west as Jackson County. Moore’s log cabin survives as a private residence near his gravesite. The stately home overlooking the valley at Little Blue built by Kansas City lumberman Hans Dierks was later a country retreat of a Kansas City notable named Pendergast.

Cole Younger’s father, Col. Henry Washington Younger, owned a huge plantation in this area until the Civil War when Kansas marauders killed him, and forced Cole’s mother to burn the family home in the dead of winter. Younger’s cousin, Armenia (Crawford) Selvey, was one of several Confederate-sympathizing women who died when their Kansas City prison collapsed, triggering William Quantrill and his raiders to burn Lawrence, Ks. Armenia and two other girls from the prison were buried in the Davis-Smith Cemetery (intermarrying pioneer families that owned adjoining land). Also laid to rest there are Union and Confederate veterans, and another Revolutionary War patriot, Lewis Starr. Preservationists desire today to mark this historic quarter-acre parcel.

Civil War engagements ravaged this section of the Little Blue Valley, including a skirmish along White Oak Creek to the south, and another at Grinter’s Farm, on the northwest corner across from present-day Truman Medical Center-Lakewood (the hospital’s chronology dates to 1852 when Jackson County established a 300-acre ‘Poor Farm’ on the site).

After the Civil War, a multitude of livestock and dairy farms established and thrived on the fertile grasses of the Valley, and lifted the area to world-renowned status in the first part of the 20^th Century. W.B. Frey’s Lakeside Dairy Farm surrounding the town of Little Blue, Missouri was once the world’s largest Hereford farm. Jersey cows on W. L. Yost’s Cedar Croft Farm (along the west side of present-day Lee’s Summit Road at Little Blue Road) produced 150 gallons of milk per day. Cedar Croft’s residence is being restored, but the surrounding property is in jeopardy of being compromised by subdivision. Four Gates Farm along Rickey Road was designed by noted Kansas City architect Mary Rockwell Hook. And, Unity Farm sustained people in need through the Great Depression.

Before going to Washington, Harry S Truman in 1934 promoted reserving large tracts of Jackson County land for future parks and recreational facilities in a report titled, Results of County Planning. A current “master plan” for this section of the Little Blue Valley is in place, but its recommendations for low-density/large-lot residential areas with open spaces are gradually eroding with each amendment for denser development.

Will tomorrow’s citizens have physical evidence of this historic district’s attractions? Hopefully preservationists, community development leaders, contractors, and developers will collaborate with the mindfulness and foresight championed by Harry S Truman when he launched Results of County Planning nearly 75 years ago. The Little Blue Valley described here is a gem worth treasuring.

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