Looking Back: There are NO Good Excuses

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society
 
If you read this column on a regular basis then you know it did not appear in the June 27th  edition of the Valley News.  I make no excuses; it was simple a lack of time management on my part.  I will, however, give you an explanation. I moved from the house I’ve called home for the past 56 years. I no longer live north of Grain Valley.  I now live on the Southside!

While it is difficult to leave my home, the history nerd in me is looking at the good side. An 1889 plat map of Jackson County shows that the owner of the acreage at the southeast corner of Buckner Tarsney Road and Duncan Road was MM Herrington. That was Merrick Herrington, my maternal great-great grandfather.

I am moving to the south side of Grain Valley to live on land that was once part of Sni-A-Bar Farms. My paternal grandfather brought his family, including my father to Grain Valley, specifically to Sni-A-Bar Farms in 1922. He managed the estate of William Rockhill Nelson from 1922 until the dispersal in 1945. So, if it were not for the Nelson Estate, my father would not have come to Missouri, married my mother, and as they say, the rest is history! I feel fortunate that if the growth of Grain Valley is part of my decision to move, I can at least feel a genuine connection to my new home!
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Had I written an article last week, it would have been about the June calendar page.

 June Calendar Page
The Grain Valley Café
 
The old café in downtown Grain Valley is now the pottery shop on the west side of Main Street, but until the mid 1950's it was a restaurant. Since I wrote the story about the cafe in June of 2020, I have learned the folks out front were all family member of Grace Mickel.

Mrs. Mickel ran the café and was the wonderful cook there. Those were the days when coffee was a nickel, vegetable beef soup or ham and bean soup were 50-cents, and a piece of homemade pie was a quarter! I think many of us would refer to them as the “good ole’ days,” for sure!