A charming midwest town. Belton Missouri.

Just outside of Belton, Missouri, is the family farm of Harry Truman.  I am demonstrating that the farmhouse lacked electricity and plumbing, and required good old fashioned arm strength to draw the water.  Harry lived here for 11 years, and said of this time, “I thought maybe by cussing mules and plowing corn I could perhaps overcome my shyness and amount to something”.   As I walked around the property of this plain, unspecial house, I was impressed by what that young man did become — the President of the United States.  There is a grit that develops in people who live in the country and endure hardships of laboring on the land.

I spent the rest of the day in the Old Town section of Belton, which I fell in love with.  Many old town districts are in sad states of disrepair.   This one is being well preserved in its natural historic state.  It is a treat to enjoy Main Street.

First of all, notice the pots and baskets of flowers in all the upcoming photos.  They are placed along the main road.  It is such a simple way to add a charming look to the town.

As I entered the Tea Room,  it felt as though I was stepping into the cafe of a tiny, quaint European village.

The theme is welcoming comfort.   I ordered the chicken salad fruit plate, with their Spring Cherry green iced tea.  Yes, it was perfection.

Molly, the owner’s daughter, has traveled throughout the world, and has a professional background in the hospitality industry.  With this accumulated knowledge and her instinctual sense of harmonizing her menus to the desires of her customers, she has achieved the height of what restaurants strive for.   Before I left, I stood and studied the people who were dining there.   They were happy and relaxed.  I am going to follow The Tearoom by Country Keepsakes on Facebook.   Molly changes the menu every 2 weeks, and everything is made in-house.   I can’t wait to see what they offer for the different holidays.

I walked down the street and came upon the Family Tree Furniture.  It is a fun antique/collectibles shop.  Everything sold here is local.  That is hugely important for anyone researching their ancestors from this region.  I even found a photo album from the 1800’s!!  The book is loaded with pictures.  I hope it finds its way back into the family of the descendants,

The owner of the shop, Scott Woodward, showed me this 16′ cistern that was discovered in the middle of his historic building.  He has a wonderful idea to turn it into a wishing well, and each month he will give the money tossed into the well to a different charity.  Everytime I am in town, I will go straight to the wishing well.  I need to save up my quarters as I have important wishes to make!

Continuing down the road, I found Mary’s Mountain Cookies.

These beauties are 1/4 pound each.   New cookies are added for each season and holiday.  While I was there, I listened to the conversation of the customer talking about buying these cookies for their school teachers – what a perfect way to let them know they are cherished.

Across the street is a magical shop – Marcellas.   I met the owner, Janice.   Her theme is nature and its universal ability to move and effect everyone.

Janice, came from a farm, and she and her son (Jordan) self-renovated and restored this 120 year old building.  Very impressive. Jordan makes most of the furniture sold here, and 90% of everything else is handmade.  This is my kind of store.  I like to support local artisans, because they create carefully and thoughtfully out of their passion.

An 89 year old artist free-handed these blocks of wood.

Ask Janice to tell you the stories about her artists and their creations.

Janice is building this coffeeshop at the back of the building with a sitting space upstairs in the peaceful loft.  I can’t wait to return and have my favorite dark chocolate Frappuccino or latte.

At the end of the road is the historical museum.   I chatted with the  president of the historical society, Jackie.   They have archives but they are inaccessible to the pubic.  They will take requests and the staff will do the search.  They are in the process of indexing their holdings, which includes collections of church, school, family, military and organization records.  Whatever records you obtain in your research, please share them with the world on Ancestry.com and/or FamilySearch.org.

Jackie pointed me in the direction of the Belton cemetery where there are 2 famous graves.

Carry Nation used a hatchet to hack up saloons, in the temperance movement during the late 1800’s.  Her hatchet can be seen at the Belton museum.   I am currently working on a project for a client in Canada – researching her ancestor who was a Madam in the Bordello area of Kansas City Missouri during that era.  I keep running across Carry Nation in my search.  And then suddenly, I am standing by her grave.

The other famous grave belongs to Dale Carnegie (the one with the tiny golden statue).  I was stunned by how unassuming it is, compared to the larger headstones surrounding his.  And surprisingly, neither Carry Nation nor Dale Carnegie ever lived in Belton.  Their families did.

As I left, my thought was – this is truly a Hallmark town, and I want to come back and experience it in the beauty of Fall and at Christmastime.   I get great happiness out of exploring and enjoying small Midwestern towns.   They have quiet, but enormous character.