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304 North Delaware Street

Image of the Mixed-style McCullough/Thorpe/Choplin House.

ClResource 046 304 North Delaware Street (in 2011) Classification: Contributing. Historic Name: McCullough / Thorpe / Choplin House. Architectural Style: Mixed. Construction Date: ca. 1853 (1850s / 1890s / 1920s additions). Period 3 of Harry S Truman’s Life: Developing Political Skills and Associations, 1920-1933. Tax Identification: 26-310-23-35. Legal Description: McCauley Park Addition, part of lot 10. Description: Contributing two-story wood-frame dwelling; irregular shape; intersecting gabled roof with composition shingles, boxed eaves at gable ends; stucco exterior; six-over-six double-hung sash windows; small porch with square columns and balustrade above roof on façade; large porch with square columns and balustrade atop roof on south side. Slightly elevated lot with concrete retaining wall along south sidewalk; lawn and shrubbery along foundation; mature shade trees. • Alterations: Additions were made to the house in 1860s, 1890s, and 1920s; major rehabilitation came in 1999. • The property also included a contributing single-car, hipped roof garage sheathed in composition shingles [Resource 047]. History/Significance: Luke and Maxine Choplin occupied the house during the Truman era. Bess and Harry Truman, who lived diagonally across the intersection [Resource 042], occasionally socialized in the Choplin House. Members of the press corps sometimes stayed in the house during the Truman presidency. Despite its historical importance, the house began to deteriorate over the years and, in 1994, the façade collapsed, prompting the City of Independence and state officials to find new owners who would preserve and restore the building. This incident also prompted the National Trust for Historic Preservation to declare the Truman District as one of its Eleven Most Endangered properties in 1994-1995. Restoration took place over the next several years. The Choplin House is listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places. A part of this house reportedly dates back to the early 1850s. Over the years, additions were made in the latter 1850s, 1890s, and the 1920s. A trader/outfitter who profited from selling goods to emigrants heading west from Independence presumably lived here early on. A Methodist minister also resided in this house. In the early 1900s (from around 1907 to the 1920s), Emma R. McCullough, the widow of David M. McCullough, lived here with her three children (Elizabeth, Eleanor, and George). By 1930 this became the home of Henry A. Thorpe and his wife, parents of Maxine Thorpe Choplin. Note: Based on the information found in the Construction Date and History/Significance sections, the date “1860s” should probably be “1850s.” –JW

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Harry S. Truman National Historic Site, Code: HSTR

304 North Delaware Street, Independence, Harry S. Truman National Historic Site, Jackson County, Missouri
Latitude: 38.9012985229492, Longitude: -94.5307006835938

NPS.gov Collection

05/01/2011 | Date is approximate. All photographs were taken during May 2011.

01/01/0001

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