Hiram Young

Death While attempting to rebuild his business to its pre-war lucrative levels, Young died January 22, 1882, cash poor, though the estate was worth . His grave is at Woodlawn Cemetery in Independence, Missouri.

Legacy A wagon wheel sculpture is in Hiram Young Park, along Hiram Young Lane, in Independence, Missouri. In 1908, the Kansas City Star extensively eulogized Young 26 years after his death, saying "This negro fought valiantly for freedom and respectability" and that his gravestone "perpetuates the memory of the most widely and favorably known negro of that cityone who filled a responsible position in business life for many years, and died highly respected by whites and blacks alike ... his monument stands not in the portion of the cemetery commonly used by colored people, but in a conspicuous lot among white peoplea very remarkable thing for Independence".

Upon Young's death in 1882, the school that he had helped found in Independence was renamed from Frederick Douglass school to Hiram Young school. In 2004, it fundraised for renovations to become a new community center providing services including "vision, hearing, diabetes, and cancer".

In December 1987, the city council of Independence passed a resolution to change the name of Lexington Park to Hiram Young Park, commemorating Young as "one of the wealthiest men in Jackson County in the 1800s". The park includes a wooden wagon wheel recessed into the ground surrounded by flower boxes and benches, and a large stone with a plaque dedicated to Young. The park is bordered by Hiram Young Lane, a renamed portion of Lexington Avenue. McCoy Park in Independence celebrates Young in one of three painted panels by artist Cheryl Harness, with a storybook portrayal of Oregon Trail history. Minor Park of Kansas City, Missouri bears Young's portrait on a large decorative mural upon the Red Bridge.

In 2016, The Telegraph commemorated Black History Month with an article titled "Hiram Young: Kansas City's First 'Colored Man of Means'". The Santa Fe Trail Association said, "His life and career testify to the rich and vital ethnic diversity that made the American West a place of particularly new and exciting possibilities in the 19th century."