​Looking Back: Truman’s Return to Grain Valley

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society
 
Thirty years after the Jackson County Roads Celebration (October 12, 1932), Harry Truman returned to Grain Valley. In 1932 he was the Presiding Judge of Jackson County. In 1962, he was the Former President of the United States of America. What a difference 30 years makes!

Harry S Truman at East Kansas City Airport, 1962
 
In November 2019, I wrote about the East Kansas City Airport in the Grain Valley News. The Heart of America Airport, located on US 40 Highway, just east of Van Brunt and across the road from Heart Drive-In, closed and became a mobile home park. At that time several of the private plane owners and pilots decided they would purchase land and construct their own airport. 

A parcel of 80 acres was found on the western edge of Grain Valley on Kirby Road at the end of Walnut Street.  In the 1800s this land was owned by Britton Capelle. By the early 1900s it was part of the E. E. Kirby Orchards.  The corporation purchased the land from Tom Cairns, owner of Cairns Flowers in Independence, Missouri.

The Grain Valley Airport Co-operative was officially incorporated in 1956.  Its’ uniqueness is still relevant today.  It is one of the very few in the nation that is a privately owned/public use airport and is a testament to the average American businessman.  No government aid was forthcoming for this private enterprise—there is no city, county, state or federal money invested. 
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It was on the occasion of the first air show hosted by the East Kansas City Air Show that former President Harry Truman returned to Grain Valley for a transportation event! 
 
Visit the Smithsonian exhibit, Voices and Votes, at the Grain Valley Historical Society from November 1 to December 13, 2025, and see our local transportation display.
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