Long ago on independence square (Lexington, Bevier: trial, environment, resources)

[WCHS'59]

When I was around twelve or thirteen, there was a family that moved in down the street in which there were around seven kids, all boys except one. All were older than me and they were all crammed into a basement house.

All of the kids, including the girl got into varying trouble and all were high school dropouts. The family was estranged from a neighborhood that essentially did not want anything to do with them.

The oldest boy had a Ford convertible and his driving frequently got him into trouble with the law. He and several friends were drinking at Dynamite Mary’s one night. They left in the convertible, with the top down, and he was driving at a high rate of speed on Cement City Road. That road was gravel in those days. He lost control and the car rolled several times. There was an article in the Examiner the next day but it provided little detail.

Rumor going through the neighborhood was that the convertible decapitated him somehow when it rolled. The others were hurt badly but he was the only one killed.

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by Lughead

Looking for more info on Dynamite Mary's and also, was there something called Pleasuretski's???

Sorry, in spite of my years of residency I am not aware of either of these establishments. Perhaps they were before my time.

[WCHS'59]

One might think that the oldest frame house in Jackson County would be in Independence. However, it is in Raytown at 8801 E 66th Street.

The Rice-Tremonti farm house was built adjacent to the Santa Fe Trail.

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

One might think that the oldest frame house in Jackson County would be in Independence. However, it is in Raytown at 8801 E 66th Street.

The Rice-Tremonti farm house was built adjacent to the Santa Fe Trail.

Built in 1844.

[WCHS'59]

Being of old construction reminded me of something I heard years ago.

A family had an axe that had been in the family for many, many years. They said it was ancient.

But they also said the head had been replaced many times and the handle had been replaced many times but it was the original axe.

[SilverDoc]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

Sorry, in spite of my years of residency I am not aware of either of these establishments. Perhaps they were before my time.

I don't think so, Mad. I seem to recall driving by Dynamite Mary's with my folks, when I was I a kid. A guy my Dad knew and worked with, worked part time there as a bouncer. This would have been some time in the '60s if I remember correctly.

[WCHS'59]

This film clip should prove to be interesting to old timers.

This particular television episode was broadcast on CBS in early 1956 and the contestant died a couple months later. At that time the local station would have been KCMO-TV, Channel 5.

I did not originally see this particular episode but as a kid I thought the panel was “coached” with some questions to pose before they came on the air.

Although you can get just a small glimpse of her, Lucille Ball was a fill in guest panelist on this particular night.



Lincoln Assassination Eyewitness (Feb 9, 1956) - YouTube

[WCHS'59]

I recall Chief William Red Fox appearing on the Johnny Carson show at age 101 in 1971, saying that he had witnessed the Battle of Little Big Horn. He was still very alert and witty.


He was an Indian extra in a number of western movies and claimed he was the nephew of Crazy Horse.


On the Carson show, he said he was around six years old and was herded, along with the women and other children, into a hilly area to wait out the battle.

In later years, the Chief got into some legal plagiarism trouble when he published his memoirs.


Chief Red Fox also said on the Carson show that General Custer, a Democrat, was trying to make a big splash with a big victory in order to have his name submitted as a presidential nominee at the Democrat Party national convention in St Louis three weeks after the battle. The Custer museum at the Little Big Horn later said they had no evidence to support that thought.

[MRG Dallas]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

I recall Chief William Red Fox appearing on the Johnny Carson show at age 101 in 1971, saying that he had witnessed the Battle of Little Big Horn. He was still very alert and witty.


He was an Indian extra in a number of western movies and claimed he was the nephew of Crazy Horse.


On the Carson show, he said he was around six years old and was herded, along with the women and other children, into a hilly area to wait out the battle.

In later years, the Chief got into some legal plagiarism trouble when he published his memoirs.


Chief Red Fox also said on the Carson show that General Custer, a Democrat, was trying to make a big splash with a big victory in order to have his name submitted as a presidential nominee at the Democrat Party national convention in St Louis three weeks after the battle. The Custer museum at the Little Big Horn later said they had no evidence to support that thought.

Apparently the Sioux rebelled against CusterCare

[WCHS'59]

Originally Posted by WCHS'59

Sometime before 1914, William Pitt, an Independence city councilman built a three story back yard observatory similar to this one but on a smaller scale. It had a high powered telescope that peered through open doors similar to the photo and had a rotating turret to follow the stars. Pitt was an amateur astronomer.

The observatory was built at his home at 1310 West Short, just a few houses west of Lexington Street.

I am not sure whether the observatory was still there in the fifties but I can recall looking for it.

The William Pitt observatory at 1310 West Short.