Feature 210: 101 North Main Street (in 2011)

Classification: Contributing.
Historic Name: Farmers and Merchants Bank Building.
Architectural Style: Commercial.
Construction Date: Pre-1885/ca. 1921.
Period 3 of Harry S Truman's Life: Developing Political Skills and Associations, 1920-1933.
Tax Identification: 26-230-13-15.
Legal Description: Old Town, block 13, lot 53.
Description: Contributing three-story brick commercial building, rectangular in shape; flat roof concealed by parapet; brick exterior with stone window lintels and sills on second and third floors; one-over-one double-hung sash windows; large display windows on west-facing facade; recessed entrance. The building is located at the northeast corner of North Main and Lexington Avenue across from Courthouse; sidewalks extend along west and south walls; adjoining three-story building on north wall.
• Alterations: Remodeled and enlarged, probably in the early 1920s, by the construction of a three-story addition in the rear and the addition of brick on the exterior. Ground-floor windows altered.
History/Significance: This building was constructed before 1885 and was extensively altered in the 1920s. The building was occupied by several different businesses on the ground floor, including a drug store, then a grocery, then McClintick Confectionery shop. The third floor of this building became a place for regular poker gatherings of the Independence Harmonicon Society (after one member who played the harmonica), or "Harpie Club" for short, a group of about sixteen members who were organized in 1924 by Truman's friends (World War I veterans and Jackson County government employees) to memorialize Truman's great love of poker. Long-time Independence Mayor Roger Sermon and Edgar Hinde were among its members. This organization reportedly played an important role in advancing Harry Truman's political career. Several Harpie Club members visited President Truman in the White House, and occasionally Truman found time to have a game or two with Harpie Club members on this trips home to Independence.
The new brick structure was home to Farmers and Merchants Bank on the ground floor for several years. Professional offices occupied upstairs rooms. It is unlikely that this bank survived the Great Depression of the 1930s. By 1950, Davis Paint and Wallpaper store occupied the ground-floor shop space and remained there at least into the 1970s.