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Feature 284:  601 West Maple Avenue (in 2011)

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Feature 284: 601 West Maple Avenue (in 2011)

description

Summary

Classification: Contributing.
Historic Name: Bundschu House.
Architectural Style: Queen Anne.
Construction Date: ca. 1890.
Period 2 of Harry S Truman’s Life: Establishing Community Roots, 1890-1919.
Tax Identification: 26-340-12-01.
Legal Description: Moore's Addition, part of lots 13 and 39.
Description: Contributing two- and one-half story wood-frame dwelling; irregular in shape; complex gable and hipped roof with composition shingles, boxed cornice at bellcast gable ends, decorative brackets under the eaves; synthetic siding; one-over-one double-hung sash windows, wood, leaded glass in some windows; full-width shed roof porch, and two-story portico under projecting gable roof on east side; cut-stone foundation with partial daylight basement. Level lot slopes gently down toward rear; features some shrubs and shade trees.
• Alterations: Addition across facade made around 1905; exterior siding added.
• Second contributing building is a one- and one-half story wood-frame garage located in rear [Feature 285].
History/Significance: Henry Bundschu was a long-time friend of Harry Truman's. Additionally, Natalie Ott Wallace, Bess Truman's sister-in-law, was the niece of Anna Barbara Ott Bundschu. The Trumans, Gates, and Wallace families (Bess Truman's parents and grandparents) were among the many Independence residents who patronized Bundschu's Department Store, owned and operated by the family that lived in this house.
This Queen Anne style home was probably built for the Bundschu family in the 1890s. Anton J. Bundschu, born in 1855, came to Independence in 1865 with his parents, Carl G. and Susan Fetter Bundschu. In 1883, Anton Bundschu began working for May and Son on the Courthouse Square. In 1855, Anton married Anna Barbara Ott, the daughter of Christian, Sr., and Louise Mohr Ott. The Bundschu couple raised two daughters, Louise (Tilson) and Pauline (Brady), and three sons: Henry A., Charles C., and Albert.
Around 1885, Bundschu and A.E. Stillwell bought the stock of S. and L. Sullivan, merchants on the west side of the Courthouse Square and began their own retail operation. Eventually, Anton Bundschu became the sole owner and proprietor of Bundschu's Department Store, which occupied the ground floor of the Wilson Opera House on Main Street for many years. His store became the largest department store in the city by the early 1900s. In 1928, Anton Bundschu contracted to erect a new building on the site of the Wilson Opera House. Anton Bundschu died in October 1928, just as his new store building on the Courthouse Square neared completion. Anna Bundschu died in 1943. Henry A. Bundschu, and Independence lawyer and judge, owned the house after his mother's death.

date_range

Date

1890 - 1899
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Source

National Parks Gallery
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Copyright info

Public Domain Dedication

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39 093238830566406
39 093238830566406