The Harrisonville Reunion was one of the "biggest events in the county," according to many records. People would come from all over the region to participate in the festivities.
The Harrisonville Reunion was started as a thank you to all of the veterans who served in the Civil War. The reunions started to fizzle between 1915 and 1920. The residents of the community felt that the reunions were becoming too commercialized and they had lost their intended purpose to honor the local veterans.