the noland home

The Noland home is part of the Truman National Historic Site, and is across the street from the home of his wife's family that became his later in life. The Noland girls were his cousins and on a visit to them Harry met his future wife. The house has been restored and has exhibits relating to the two families, but few furnishings.

the house gives more information about the Truman & Wallace (Bess' family) family life in Independence than in the regular tour and is a nice addition to the Truman House tour. Plan to wander across the street and spend a few minutes looking at pictures and learning about the rest of the Truman/Wallace family and the story about the infamous cake plate.

The Nolan Home is located near the center of historic downtown Independence, Missouri. This house is directly across the street from the Truman House (The Truman house was originally owned by Bess Truman’s family before Harry and Bess got married). The Noland home belonged to Truman’s aunt and older cousins. The home is currently owned by the Park Service and is being remodeled but is not open to the public due to National Park Service budget cuts. You can still see it from the outside and get a feel for how close it is to Bess’s house. I visited this home with my wife and in-laws in mid-April as part of a visit to the Truman House. It is fate that Truman’s cousins lived here as he probably would not have married Bess if they did not live across the street from her. The story goes that Harry returned a borrowed cake pan for his aunt and met Bess at the door and the he fell for her. He frequently visited this home after that so he could see Bess. I enjoyed looking at this house and learning its history but would have liked to go inside. The Truman House Park Ranger pointed it out and briefly talked about it. The Park Ranger told a story about how the retired President and Bess were leaving his cousins home and they saw tourist taking pictures of their house. They hid on the Noland porch until the tourists left and then walked home.