Welcome sign in Rich Hill, Missouri.
A proud sign in big red and blue letters looms over anyone entering Rich Hill. (Jacob Douglas | Flatland)

‘Famous for the 4th’: How a Small Town Celebrated Independence Day in a Pandemic

July 8, 2020  |  Jacob Douglas  |  2 min read

RICH HILL, Mo. — Taking the exit to Rich Hill after heading south on Interstate 49, it’s impossible to miss the sign. “Welcome to Rich Hill – Famous For The 4th” in big red and blue letters looms over anyone entering the town about an hour south of Kansas City.

But with the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the country there were worries this year the town wouldn’t be able to live up to its reputation.

In the past, Rich Hill enthusiastically welcomed people from far flung places to enjoy the car show, carnival, pie auction, concert and fireworks. This year Natalie Platt, president of the Rich Hill Fourth of July celebration committee, struggled with mixed emotions.

“For years we’ve been trying to get people to come into town,” she said. “This is the year where I kind of hope they don’t.”

Two weeks before Independence Day, the committee decided to move forward with the celebration in a limited capacity.

The carnival was spread out to create more space for people to move around, signs were put up encouraging people to maintain six feet of social distance, and hand sanitizer was readily available on all carnival rides. 

The committee also had to cancel a large outdoor concert, which would have been headlined by Easton Corbin, a country artist with nearly 1.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Towns closer to Kansas City such as Leawood, Lee’s Summit and Liberty canceled their celebrations and fireworks. Other towns in western Missouri like Marshall and Harrisonville restricted their celebrations to a fireworks display only.

Bates County, where Rich Hill is located, has had just 12 positive cases of COVID-19, with one fatality.

Watch the attached video to see how people celebrated in Rich Hill. Masks were few and far between.

Reading these stories is free, but telling them is not. Start your monthly gift now to support Flatland’s community-focused reporting.

Nick’s Picks | World Cup, Data Centers, Juneteenth and More …

June 15, 2026

The World Cup finally comes to Kansas City, Jackson County considers data center moratorium, and more …

Related Stories

Nick’s Picks | Messi, Jail, Buses, and More …

World Cup Team(s) Arrive It’s starting to feel real. The first World Cup team has landed in Kansas City. Defending champions Argentina touched down at KCI airport on Sunday and will begin practicing today at Sporting KC’s training facility in Wyandotte County. Much of the attention, of course, is focused on Lionel Messi. The soccer…

Read More >
The Heart of the Nation exhibit in the IKEA store in Merriam, Kansas, "celebrates the extraordinary work of artists, art educators and cultural leaders ... that define Kansas City's evolving artistic landscape." Jeremy Bell's work is part of the exhibit.(Mike Sherry | Flatland)

World Cup ‘Statement Piece’ Evokes Best Version of Kansas City

Before I moved to Kansas City almost 56 years ago, I had been here only once — for a brief visit to the Kansas City Press Club when I was attending the University of Missouri School of Journalism. But because of that visit and the fact that I grew up in the Midwest (Woodstock, Illinois,…

Read More >
The Center for Digital Inclusion's Technology Education Program helped Jodi Whitt break a cycle of incarceration. (Taylor Doyle | Flatland)

KU Center Helps Women Gain Foothold After Incarceration

A flier from her probation officer was the turning point for Jodi Whitt, who had spent more than two decades in and out of the criminal justice system. The piece of paper introduced Whitt to the Technology Education Program offered by the University of Kansas’ Center for Digital Inclusion. Since 2019, Whitt has risen through…

Read More >