Feature 277: 522 West Maple Avenue (in 2011)

Classification: Contributing.
Historic Name: Porter/Chiles House.
Architectural Style: Greek Revival.
Construction Date: ca. 1861.
Period 1 of Harry S Truman’s Life: The Period of Pre-Significance, before 1890.
Tax Identification: 26-230-07-06.
Legal Description: Old Town, part of lot 38.
Description: Contributing two- and one-half story brick dwelling; irregular in shape with two-story low-pitched hipped roof over kitchen wing projecting from rear north wall; mansard roof with gabled dormers across facade; brick exterior; six-over-six double-hung sash wood windows with segmental arches; five bays on facade; small gabled roof projects over the center second-story window on facade; full-width porch with mansard roof and turned columns; decorative stickwork under porch eaves; brick foundation. Level lot with lawn; shade trees in front yard; located north and west of Palmer Junior High School and the Presbyterian Church, in residential neighborhood.
• Alterations: Extensive alterations were made around 1883, which included addition of the mansard roof and mansard-roof porch across facade; two-story kitchen wing addition in rear; modern addition that fill in the interior of the "L" at the rear; shutters at second-story windows removed; decorative stickwork on the gabled dormers was removed.
History/Significance: David J. and Mary E. Porter probably built this two- and one-half story brick structure around 1861. David Porter, who was born around 1819, moved from Kentucky with his wife and six children in the late 1850s. He worked as an Independence grocer in 1860. Ann and Hezekiah Hale bought the property in 1866; they sold it seventeen years later. Around that time (1883), the house probably received a new roof and porch. In 1883, Anna M. Haller and Cornelius Carr (known as "Neal") Chiles, a well-known Independence businessman, bought the house. Chiles had come to Independence in 1854, and not long afterward, had become the superintendent of the Overland Mail, which ran from Independence to Salt Lake City and Fort Union, New Mexico.
Over many years, Chiles invested in Jackson County farmland and loaned money for land purchases, which quite naturally led him into banking. He incorporated the Anderson-Chiles Banking Company and served as president and manager, then later founded the Bank of Independence. Neil Chiles also became an owner of the Waggoner-Gates Milling Company, a long-time Independence enterprise in which Bess Truman's grandfather (George Gates) and, later, other family members owned considerable shares. C.C. and Anna Chiles remained in the house until Anna's death in 1914; C.C. Chiles died in San Diego in 1920. In 1921, Ruth Masten bought the property for $12,500 from Chiles heirs.
This property changed hands many times in the 1900s. Eventually, it was divided into several small apartments and known as the "Maples Hotel." In 1987, new owners, Jack and Jo Anne Huff, began restoring the Porter/Chiles House and returned it to a single-family residence. The Huff couple still owned the property in 2002.