Truman Road, Truman, or 15th Street is a major east/west road in Jackson County,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. It serves

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, and eastern unincorporated Jackson County. Its western terminus is at Broadway Boulevard and I-670 in downtown Kansas City, and its eastern terminus is at the Jackson/ Lafayette County line when concurrent with Route FF, north of Oak Grove. It is named after

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

, the 33rd U.S. President, and runs through his hometown of

. Leaving Kansas City to the east, Truman Road follows Route 12 from

Interstate 435 Interstate 435 (I-435) is an Interstate Highway beltway that encircles much of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the states of Kansas and Missouri in the United States. Route description I-435, a loop route of I-35, is long and in ...

, which was originally called Blue Avenue, after the Blue River and Blue Summit

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

which it passed, then to an intersection with Spring Street on the Independence Square, .. Along this stretch is Van Horn High School, the Maywood Business District, and The Truman home. Truman Road east of Route 291 in Independence was originally called Spring Branch Road, after the nearby creek. Out here is an intersection with

Route 78 The following highways are numbered 78: International * AH78, Asian Highway 78 * European route E78 Australia * Waterfall Way- New South Wales State Route B78 China * G78 Shantou–Kunming Expressway, G78 Expressway Iran *Road 78 (Iran), Ro ...

/Lake City-Buckner Road, as well as a bridge crossing over the Little Blue River. With the proposed extensions of Jackson Drive and the Little Blue Parkway north of 39th Street as well as future development, this stretch of Truman Road is due for upgrades, such as converting from two lanes to four. 15th Street, Blue Avenue, and Spring Branch Road were later renamed "Van Horn Road" for

Robert T. Van Horn Robert Thompson Van Horn (May 19, 1824 – January 3, 1916) was an American lawyer, the owner and publisher of '' The Kansas City Enterprise'', the 6th mayor of Kansas City, Missouri during parts of the Civil War, a member of the Missouri General ...

, in his honor, who purchased the newspaper ''The Enterprise'' in 1856 and renamed it ''The Kansas City Journal,'' was a member of the board of

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

in 1857;

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Kansas City 1857–1861; elected Kansas City mayor for three terms in 1861, 1863, and 1864. The Truman Road corridor is served by two principal tax exempt entities and is serviced by the City of Kansas City, MO, with other sub-organizational entities in sections along the corridor. The Truman Road Community Improvement District (CID) is a 501(c)(4) non-profit dedicated to investing in community infrastructure and improvements along the corridor as a sub-governmental entity largely tasked with common areas in and/or surrounding East Truman Road. The East Truman Road corridor as a whole is a major thoroughfare on the Eastern side of Downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

References

Streets in Kansas City, Missouri Transportation in Kansas City, Missouri {{Missouri-road-stub