Looking Back: The machinery of democracy

Editor's Note: This article is reprinted with permission from the April 2025 edition of The Voice, the newsletter of the Grain Valley Historical Society. The article references the Voice and Votes Smithsonian exhibit, coming to Grain Valley this November thanks to a grant from Missouri Humanities. 

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society
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Section 3 of the Voices and Votes exhibit zeros in on the Machinery of Democracy. Informational institutions and activities not actually spelled out in the U. S. Constitution help make America’s participatory political systems possible. Examples of these types of activities include state and national political parties, the national political party conventions, and intense and elaborate campaigns.

American political parties began to form in the 1780s. Visual images such as those in the picture above became handy shorthand for expressing points of view and identifying parties. It’s all about getting people to vote!

​In most communities throughout Missouri, April is the month for local elections. That is certainly the case in Grain Valley when registered voters will cast ballots for city and school elections. These elections are conducted by the Jackson County Election Board. That was not always the case. Prior to the 1960's, many local elections were just that, local elections.

On December 4, 1959, there was a huge fire in downtown Grain Valley. It began when a boarder fell asleep smoking a cigarette on the upper floor of the Huff Building on the Southeast corner of Main Street and Front Street. Although the city council had put the subject of public water on the ballot at least 10 times, it always failed, miserably! Even then, many townspeople were against progress, or should I say taxes!

At any rate, without water, even fire departments from as far as Higginsville on the East and Harrisonville to the South could not stop the fire from spreading to Napier Hardware next door. About the time the fire was contained, they would run out to water. After the fire, my mother sent thank you notes to more than 20 water haulers who brought the water at their own expense. But the fire destroyed both buildings and before the night was over 15 other structures nearby caught on fire from the embers that spread throughout town on the balmy December night.

On December 15, 1959, 11 days later a local election was held to vote on city water.

According to city records, patrons voted at the home of Guy & Zelma Burnett. The vote for water, which had previously been defeated by a large majority, received only 10 no votes, and more than 300 yes votes. While sometimes the minority may see the vote as a “bad” decision, nonetheless, the townspeople spoke. The townspeople spoke on December 15! Grain Valley finally got water. (By the way, we were the last town in Jackson County to do so.) My father used to say we sacrificed our livelihood so Grain Valley could finally get city water.

And on a lighter note, the only person injured that night was the volunteer fireman who fell in the outhouse behind the Huff Building. It seems the structure had burned and all that remained was the hole. I feel sorry for the doctor who had to set his broken arms. Maybe there was enough water to “hose him down” before they took him to the hospital!