Feature 248: 206-212 West Maple Avenue (in 2011)

Classification: Contributing.
Historic Name: Sermon Grocery - Building #1.
Architectural Style: Commercial.
Construction Date: ca. 1915.
Period 2 of Harry S Truman's Life: Establishing Community Roots, 1890-1919.
Tax Identification: 26-230-04-09.
Legal Description: Old Town, lot 19.
Description: Two contributing one-story masonry commercial buildings that are adjoining; rectangular in shape; flat roof concealed by parapet with projecting cornice; brick exterior; large plate glass display windows on facade; recessed entrance. The facade of the storefront identified as 206 West Maple Avenue has been extensively altered on the exterior, but it appears that the original facade was simply covered up and thus can be exposed and restored in the future. Located in mid-block about one-half block west of the Courthouse Square; buildings adjoin along the east and west walls; a sidewalk extends along the facade.
• Alterations: Wood shake/shingles and paneling added to the exterior of 206 West Maple since the period of significance conceal (or have replaced) the original details.
History/Significance: The present buildings, constructed around 1915, stand on the site of the Music Hall and Opera House, which succumbed to a devastating fire on February 11, 1915. Joseph A. McCoy had constructed the Music Hall in the mid-1890s, which was remodeled less than five years later by A.L. McCoy. The two-story brick Music Hall housed shops on the ground floor and a large second-floor auditorium where visiting artists performed.
Following the fire in 1915, the present one-story brick structure was constructed. Within a year after the fire, a grocery moved into the new building at 208 and 210 West Maple Avenue. Roger Sermon, long-time mayor of Independence and a friend of Harry Truman's, operated a grocery store here in the 1920s. By 1930, 208 and 210 West Maple Avenue had become two separate shops. The grocery store of John R. Beatty, who had earlier clerked at Bridges Grocery Store one block east on Maple Avenue, occupied the shop space at 208 West Maple in the early 1930s. Several insurance companies, along with attorney Samuel H. Woodson, occupied the space at 210 West Maple Avenue.
Note: The original 2011 nomination form states that the addresses 206-212 are two connected buildings (206-208 & 210-212), so they are treated here as such. In actuality, aerial views suggest that 206-212 are really four individual structures, with each address occupying a single building.