Joplin is a city in southern
Jasper CountyJasper County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is included in the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. The 2000 total population of Jasper County was 104,686, but a 2008 count placed Jasper County total population at 116,813 Its county seat is Carthage...
and northern
Newton CountyNewton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is included in the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 52,636 at the 2000 census. The county was organized in 1838 and named for John Newton, hero of the Revolutionary War. Its county seat is...
in the southwestern corner of the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of
MissouriMissouri is a state in the Midwest region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Missouri is the 18th most populous state with a 2008 estimated population of 5,911,605. It comprises 114 counties and one independent city....
. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the
county seatA county seat is a term for an administrative center for a county or civil parish, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there...
. In 2008, the population was estimated at 49,775 and the surrounding Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated population of 172,933 in 2008. Although often believed to be named for ragtime composer
Scott JoplinScott Joplin was an African-American composer and pianist, born near Texarkana, Texas, into the first post-slavery generation. He achieved fame for his unique ragtime compositions, and was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his brief career, he wrote forty-four original ragtime pieces, one...
who lived in
Sedalia, MissouriSedalia is a city located about south of the Missouri River in Pettis County, Missouri. U.S. Highway 50 and U.S. Highway 65 intersect in the city. As of 2006, the city had a total population of 20,669. It is the county seat of Pettis County. The Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of...
, Joplin is actually named for Reverend Harris Joplin, the founder of the area's first Methodist congregation. Joplin was established in 1873 and expanded significantly from the wealth created by the mining of zinc, its growth faltering after the Second World War when the price of the mineral collapsed. The city gained other fame as one of the stops on the historic Route 66.
History
LeadLead is a main-group element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metals. Lead has a bluish-white color when freshly cut, but tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed to air...
was discovered in the Joplin Creek Valley before the
Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
, but it was only after the war that any real development occurred. By 1871 numerous
miningMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock salt and potash...
camps had sprung up in the valley and resident John C. Cox filed a plan for a city on the east side of the valley. Cox named his village Joplin City after the spring and creek nearby. The namesake comes from the Reverend Harris G. Joplin who founded the first
MethodistMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to Reverend John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement in the Anglican Church. His younger brother...
congregation in the area in mid-century.
CarthageCarthage is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 12,668 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Jasper County and is nicknamed "America's Maple Leaf City."...
resident Patrick Murphy filed a plan for a city on the opposite side of the valley and named it Murphysburg. While the nearest sheriff was in Carthage a sense of lawlessness abounded in the town. This time is referred to as the "Reign of Terror". The cities eventually merged into Union City, but this merger was found illegal and the two cities split. Patrick Murphy then suggested that the town become Joplin. They merged again on March 23, 1873, this time permanently, as the City of Joplin.
While Joplin was first put on the map by lead, it was
zincZinc , also known as spelter, is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, often referred to as "jack", that built the town. With the railroads coming through Joplin was on the verge of major growth. What was once a simple mining town became a more complete mining town that built smelters, dynamite, and all sorts of mining necessities.
By the turn of the century Joplin was quickly becoming a regional metropolis. Construction centered around Main Street, with many bars, hotels, and fine homes nearby. Joplin's House of Lords was its most famous saloon, with a bar and restaurant on the first floor, gambling on the second, and female companionship on the third.
TrolleyA tram, tramcar, trolley, trolleycar, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a conventional train, designed for the transport of passengers within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities, on tracks running primarily on streets...
and rail lines made Joplin the hub of Southwest Missouri and as the center of the
Tri-state district it soon became the lead and zinc capital of the world.
As a result of extensive
surfaceSurface mining is a type of mining where soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed. It is the opposite of underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral removed through shafts or tunnels....
and
deep miningUnderground mining may refer to:*Underground mining *Underground mining...
, Joplin is dotted with open pit mines and mine shafts. This left many
tailingsTailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the worthless fraction of an ore....
piles (small hills of ground rock) considered unsightly locally. The open pit mines themselves pose both hazards and sources of beauty. The main part of Joplin itself is nearly 75% undermined, with some mine shafts well over 100ft (30m) deep. These mine shafts have occasionally caved in, creating sink holes. The mining history and geology are well documented in the mineral museum in town.
In 1933,
Bonnie and ClydeBonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were well known outlaws, robbers, and criminals who, with their gang, traveled the Central United States during the Great Depression. Their exploits were known nationwide...
spent several weeks in Joplin and robbed several area businesses. Tipped off by a neighbor, Joplin police attempted to apprehend Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie and Clyde escaped (killing Newton County Constable John Wesley Harryman and Joplin police Detective Harry McGinnis in the process); however, they were forced to leave most of their possessions behind, including a camera. The film in this camera was developed by the Joplin Globe. The rolls of film contained the now-legendary photos of Bonnie holding Clyde at mock gunpoint and of Bonnie with her foot on a fender, pistol in her hand and cigar in her mouth. The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation nominated the house at 34th Street and Oak Ridge Drive for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 2009.
After
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, most of the mines were closed, population growth leveled off, and in the sixties and seventies nearly 40 acres (160,000 m²) of the city's downtown were razed in the name of urban renewal.
Notable places in Joplin included the House of Lords (demolished), the Connor Hotel (demolished), the Keystone Hotel (demolished), the Newman Mercantile Store (now City Hall), the Frisco Depot (demolished), Christman's Department Store, the Union Depot (still standing but abandoned), the
Scottish Rite CathedralThe Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry , commonly known as simply the Scottish Rite, is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry...
, the Liberty Building (demolished), the Fox Theatre (remodeled), and the Crystal Cave (filled in and now a parking lot).
Modern Joplin
It is the home to two major hospitals,
St. John's Regional Medical CenterSt. John's Regional Medical Center is a hospital in Joplin, Missouri, USA....
and Freeman Hospital and Health System. The city also has a park system that includes a golf course, three swimming pools, walking trails, the world's largest Chert Glades, and a waterfall, Grand Falls, on Shoal Creek just south of town. Included in Schifferdecker Park is the Everett J. Ritchie Tri-State Mineral Museum and Dorothea B. Hoover Historical Museum.
Numerous buildings still exist in Joplin that are on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Recently, the city has undertaken a project to revitalize its Main Street downtown district. It has refurbished its sidewalks and added new lamp posts. Numerous trucking lines such as CFI (now Con-Way Truckload) are headquartered in town, as the city is situated near the geographic and population centers of the nation. Eagle-Picher Industries, TAMKO Building Products,
AT&T CommunicationsAT&T Communications, Inc. is an IXC/long distance telephone company owned by AT&T.-AT&T Long Lines:The American Telephone & Telegraph Long Lines wire, cable, and microwave radio relay network provided long-distance transport services to AT&T and its customers from the late 1940s to the early 1980s....
and F.A.G. Bearings are noted employers in Joplin, and
Leggett & PlattLeggett & Platt is a Fortune 500 diversified manufacturerthat conceives, designs and produces a broad variety of engineered components and products that can be found in virtually every home, office, retail store, and automobile. The company serves a broad suite of customers that comprise a...
(
Fortune 500The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
) is located in nearby Carthage. The city is served by the
Joplin Regional AirportJoplin Regional Airport is a public airport located four miles north of the central business district of Joplin, a city in Jasper County, Missouri, USA. The airport covers and has three runways...
located in the north of town near
Webb CityWebb City is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 9,812 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Webb City is located at ....
.
In the nineties the city continued to expand eastward towards U.S. 71 (future
I-49Interstate 49 is an intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the state of Louisiana in the southern United States. Its southern terminus is in Lafayette, Louisiana, at Interstate 10 while its northern terminus is in Shreveport, Louisiana, at Interstate 20.-Route description:I-49...
), and largescale development occurred along Range Line Road, particularly around Northpark Mall. There are numerous suburbs that touch the city itself including
Carl JunctionCarl Junction is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,294 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Carl Junction is located at ....
,
DuquesneDuquesne is a village in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,640 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Duquesne is located at ....
, Airport Drive, Oronogo,
CartervilleCarterville is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,850 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
,
Redings MillRedings Mill is a village in Newton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 159 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
,
Shoal Creek DriveShoal Creek Drive is a village in Newton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 346 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Shoal Creek Drive is located at ....
,
LeawoodLeawood is a village in Newton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 904 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Leawood is located at ....
, and
SaginawSaginaw is a village in Newton County, Missouri, United States. The population was 276 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Saginaw is located at ....
.
Due to its location near two major highways and its many event and sports facilities, Joplin is a stopping place for travellers and a destination point for groups. With nearly 2,500 hotel rooms, the majority located within a 1/4 mile area of Range Line and I-44, Joplin offers many lodging choices. In addition, Joplin is home to the John Q. Hammons Convention and Trade Center which serves as the primary event facility for conventions, associations, and large events
Geography
Joplin is located at (37.077760, -94.511024).
Joplin is located just to the north of Highway
I-44Interstate 44 is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, Texas at concurrency with US 277, US 281 and US 287; its eastern terminus is in St. Louis at Interstate 55 . Interstate 44 is one of five interstates built to bypass U.S...
, its passage to the west into
OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. In recent years the settlements of Joplin have spread north to about
Webb CityWebb City is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 9,812 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Webb City is located at ....
.
U.S. Route 66U.S. Route 66 was a highway in the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66, US Highway 66, was established on November 11, 1926. However, road signs did not go up until the following year...
passes through Joplin. Joplin is also mentioned in the song
Route 66" Route 66", often rendered simply as "Route 66", is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961 and The Rolling...
when sung by
Chuck BerryCharles Edward "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.Chuck Berry is one of the pioneers of rock and roll music...
.
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
, the city has a total area of 31.5 square miles (81.6 km²), of which, 31.4 square miles (81.4 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.25%) is water. The city is drained by Joplin Creek, Turkey Creek, Silver Creek and Shoal Creek.
Joplin is the center of what is regionally known as the Four State Area:
OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
,
ArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquin name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the...
,
MissouriMissouri is a state in the Midwest region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Missouri is the 18th most populous state with a 2008 estimated population of 5,911,605. It comprises 114 counties and one independent city....
, and
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
.
Education
The college of "Physicians and Doctors" opened in an early day, and today Joplin is home to
Missouri Southern State UniversityMissouri Southern State University is a public, state university located in Joplin, Missouri. Missouri Southern State University was formerly Missouri Southern State College and is also known as Missouri Southern, MSSU, or MoSo for short. Established in 1937 as Joplin Junior College, Missouri...
, and two bible colleges,
Ozark Christian CollegeOzark Christian College is a private, not-for-profit college located at 1111 North Main Street, Joplin, Missouri.-History:In 1942, it was founded in Bentonville, Arkansas by Seth Wilson. In 1985, OCC received accreditation by the Association for Biblical Higher Education...
and
Messenger CollegeMessenger College is the national college of the Pentecostal Church of God located at 300 E 50th St., Joplin, Missouri. A Christian college with programs to serve many people, the institution is accredited through the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools and eligible for...
. Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences is currently collaborating with Missouri Southern State University in an effort to open a branch medical school in Joplin. Joplin is also served by the
Joplin Public LibraryThe Joplin Public Library District was established in 1902 when the citizens of Joplin voted a 10¢ tax levy to operate a public library. A Carnegie Foundation grant of $40,000 paid for the construction of a library building at 9th Street and Wall Avenue. In 1980 the present building at 300 S. Main...
, which is situated on Main Street between the intersections of 3rd and 4th Streets.
Joplin is home to thirteen public elementary schools in the Joplin R-VIII School District: Cecil Floyd, Columbia, Duenweg, Duqeusne, Eastmorland, Emerson, Irving, Jefferson, Kelsey Norman, McKinley, Royal Heights, Stapleton, and West Central. It has three public middle schools, Memorial, North, and South and one high school, Joplin High School.The JHS student population was nearly 2200 kids in the 2008-2009 school year. A school bond issue for $57.3 million was passed in April 2007, allowing the district to build two new middle schools (East and South Middle Schools) to replace the old Memorial and South Middle Schools, and to give a major renovation and double the size of North Middle School. Joplin also has many private schools, such as College Heights Christian School, St. Mary's Catholic School, Martin Luther School, and more. There is also one Independent School, Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School, which has been running since 1993.
Demographics
As of the
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
of 2000, there were 45,504 people, 19,101 households, and 11,517 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
was 1,448.4 people per square mile (559.2/km²). There were 21,328 housing units at an average density of 678.9/sq mi (262.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.44% White, 2.67% African American, 1.53% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.98% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.51% of the population.
There were 19,101 households out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 13.5% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,555, and the median income for a family was $38,888. Males had a median income of $28,569 versus $20,665 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...
for the city was $17,738. About 10.5% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Joplin is served by the mainline of the Kansas City Southern (KCS) railroad, as well as by branchlines
of the
BNSF RailwayThe BNSF Railway , formerly known as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway, is an American freight railroad company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas; it is one of four remaining transcontinental railroads, and one of the largest freight railroad networks, in North America. Only the Union...
and
Missouri and Northern Arkansas RailroadThe Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad headquartered in Carthage, Missouri.MNA operates approximately of line in Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri. Its main line extends 384.1 miles from Kansas City, Missouri to Newport, Arkansas...
(MNA). The city was once a beehive of railroad activity, however, many of the original railroad lines serving Joplin were abandoned after the demise of the mining and industrial enterprises. Passenger trains have not served the city since the 1960s. The city's Union Depot is still intact along the KCS mainline and efforts are underway to restore it.
Interstate 44Interstate 44 is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, Texas at concurrency with US 277, US 281 and US 287; its eastern terminus is in St. Louis at Interstate 55 . Interstate 44 is one of five interstates built to bypass U.S...
connects Joplin with Springfield and St. Louis to the east and Tulsa and Oklahoma City to the west.
U.S. Route 71U.S. Route 71 is a north-south United States highway. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstate highways. Currently, the highway's northern terminus is in International Falls, Minnesota at the Canadian border, at the southern end of the Fort...
runs east of the city, connecting Joplin to Kansas City on the north and Ft. Smith, AR to the south. They will soon convert Highway 71 into Interstate 49 in the future in 2011 start date.. http://www.modot.org/southwest, http://www.modot.org/southwest/I-49MapsandInformation.htm.. The highway is already built to four-lane freeway and expressway standards from Kansas City but has a few at grade intersections that need to be upgraded to interstate standards. It is interstate standards through Joplin south to Ft. Smith, AR.
A trolley opened on July 25, 2007, with a fee of one dollar. You can request a door to door service for a fee of two dollars. The trolley is expanding and now has a total combined 63 different stops, including the Major Hospitals, Shopping Centers, and Walmart. It has three different routes, The Blue Route, The West Route, and The South Route.
Famous people born in Joplin, Missouri
- Tony Alamo
Tony Alamo is an American preacher, singer, entrepreneur, religious evangelist, and convicted child sex offender. He and his late wife Susan are best known as the founders of a nominally Christian organization currently known as Tony Alamo Christian Ministries...
, religious evangelist, convicted child sexual abuser and polygamist
- John Whitby Allen
John Whitby Allen was an American model railroader who created the famous HO scale Gorre & Daphetid model railroad in Monterey, California and authored numerous magazine articles on the subject starting in the 1940s...
, photographer and model railroading pioneer
- Emily Newell Blair
Emily Newell Blair was an American writer, suffragist, feminist, national Democratic Party political leader, and a founder of the League of Women Voters.-Early life and ancestors:...
, was an American writer, suffragist, national Democratic Party political leader, a founder of the League of Women Voters and feminist.
- Robert Cummings
Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings , known professionally as Bob Cummings, , was an American motion picture and television actor....
, actor
- Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes, was an American poet, novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form jazz poetry...
, poet and writer
- Hale Irwin
Hale S. Irwin is an American professional golfer. He is one of the few players in history to have won three U.S. Opens and was one of the world's leading golfers for much of the 1970s and 1980s. He has also developed a career as a golf course architect.Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri, but was...
, golfer
- Jack Jewsbury
Jack Jewsbury is an American soccer player who currently plays for Kansas City Wizards in Major League Soccer.-Youth and College:...
, midfielderIn association football, a midfielder is a player whose position of play is midway between the attacking strikers and the defenders. Their main functions are to dispossess the opposing team, to retain possession of the ball, and to feed it to the strikers, and perhaps, to score as well...
for the Kansas City WizardsThe Kansas City Wizards are an American, professional soccer club based in the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area that participates in Major League Soccer. In 2007 the team moved from Kansas City, Missouri to Kansas City, Kansas with plans to build a new stadium there near the Kansas...
of Major League SoccerMajor League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by United States Soccer Federation . The league comprises 15 teams, 14 in the U.S. and one in Canada...
- Tito Landrum
Terry Lee Landrum , is a former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues primarily as an outfielder from 1980-1988.-Fast Facts:...
, baseball player
- Jamie McMurray
James Christopher McMurray is an American race car driver. McMurray is best known for winning the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 as a substitute driver in his second Winston Cup start...
, NASCAR driver
- Charles McPherson
Charles McPherson is an American jazz alto saxophonist born in Joplin, Missouri and raised in Detroit, Michigan, most notable for his work from 1960-1972 with Charles Mingus...
, jazz musician
- Elva Miller, singer
- Darrell Porter
Darrell Ray Porter was a former American catcher in Major League Baseball, and one of the first American professional athletes to publicly admit he had a problem with substance abuse.-Playing career:...
, baseball player
- Mel Purcell
Mel Purcell is a former World No. 17 tennis player in the ATP tennis rankings. He is the head coach of the Murray State University men's tennis team...
, tennis player
- Pattiann Rogers
Pattiann Rogers is an American poet who has published 11 books and received numerous awards, grants and fellowships.She was born in Joplin, Missouri, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri in 1961...
, poet
- William Tobin
William "Bill" J. Tobin was an American newspaper journalist, reporter and editor. Tobin was the first correspondent for The Associated Press to be based in Juneau, Alaska.-Early life:...
, journalist
- Dennis Weaver
Dennis Weaver was an American actor, best known for his work in television, including roles on Gunsmoke, as Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud and the Motion Picture Flim Duel in 1971....
, actor
- Percy Wenrich
Percy Wenrich was a United States composer of ragtime and popular music.Born in Joplin, Missouri, he left for Chicago in 1901 and moved on to New York City around 1907 to work as a Tin Pan Alley composer, but his music retains a Missouri folk flavor...
, composer
- Grant Wistrom
Grant Alden Wistrom, , is a former American Football defensive end who played for the St. Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks during his 9 year career...
, football player
Famous residents of Joplin, Missouri
- Ferrell Anderson
Ferrell Jack Anderson , nicknamed "Andy", was a catcher in Major League Baseball.Anderson was signed by the New York Yankees in 1939 after spending four years as an all conference football tackle at the University of Kansas. He was purchased by the Brooklyn Dodgers from the Yankees system in 1942...
, baseball player
- Thomas Hart Benton
Thomas Hart Benton was an American painter and muralist. Along with Grant Wood and John Steuart Curry, he was at the forefront of the Regionalist art movement. His fluid, almost sculpted paintings showed everyday scenes of life in the United States...
began his art career with a local newspaper
- Lonny Chapman
Lonny Chapman was an American television actor best known for his numerous guest star appearances on detective dramas, including Quincy, M.E., The A-Team, Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, and NYPD Blue...
, actor, graduated from Joplin High School and Joplin Junior College (now Missouri Southern State University)
- Alan Cockrell
Atlee Alan Cockrell is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder, presently employed as the hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners...
, coach, Seattle Mariners
- H. Dale Jackson
Reverend Dr. H. Dale Jackson was a Baptist minister, denominational leader and ethicist. He is most remembered for his efforts in promoting the historic distinctives...
, Baptist minister and ethicist, lived here with his wife when they were newly married in 1949
- Preston Lacy
Preston Lacy is an American performer and writer for the television show and companion movies, Jackass. Lacy is most often featured with Jason Acuña . Their most common skit involves Lacy chasing after "Wee-Man" down public streets in nothing more than their briefs and white T-shirts...
, member of the cast of JackassJackass is an American television series, originally shown on MTV from 2000 to 2002, featuring people performing various dangerous, crude, ridiculous, and self-injuring stunts and pranks. The show served as a launchpad for the television and acting careers of Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera...
' graduated from Joplin High School
- Rod Smith, wide receiver for the NFL's Denver Broncos, graduated from Missouri Southern State University
- Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle was an American baseball player who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974....
, played with the Joplin Miners minor league baseballMinor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in North America that compete at levels below that of Major League Baseball. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses, and many are members of Minor League Baseball, an umbrella organization for leagues...
team
- Jamie McMurray
James Christopher McMurray is an American race car driver. McMurray is best known for winning the 2002 UAW-GM Quality 500 as a substitute driver in his second Winston Cup start...
NASCAR driver of the number 26 Ford Fusion
- Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were well known outlaws, robbers, and criminals who, with their gang, traveled the Central United States during the Great Depression. Their exploits were known nationwide...
had a hideout in Joplin for several weeks before a shootout with local police
- J. Eddie Peck
John Edward Peck is an actor.Peck lived in Joplin, Mo., in the 1970s and graduated from Joplin Parkwood High School in 1976. He also attended Missouri Southern State University....
, actor, was raised in Joplin graduating from Parkwood High School
- James Thrash
James Thrash is an American football wide receiver free agent.-Professional career:Thrash was signed as a rookie free agent out of Missouri Southern State University by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1997, but was quickly released and signed by the Washington Redskins during training camp.He played...
, wide receiver for the NFL's Washington Redskins, graduated from Missouri Southern State University
- Gabby Street
Charles Evard "Gabby" Street , also nicknamed "The Old Sarge", was an American catcher, manager, coach and radio broadcaster in Major League Baseball during the first half of the 20th century. As a catcher, he participated in one of the most publicized baseball stunts of the century's first decade....
, manager of the St. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball...
, adopted Joplin as his hometown
- Christofer Ingle, acoustic/pop artist, aka NeverShoutNever!
In popular culture
- Joplin is mentioned in the script of The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson. The show is based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping...
and in the lyrics of the song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" Route 66", often rendered simply as "Route 66", is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961 and The Rolling...
".
- In the 1962 film "Lonely Are the Brave" starring Walter Matthau
Walter John Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
and Kirk DouglasKirk Douglas is an American actor and film producer recognized for his prominent cleft chin, his gravelly voice and his recurring roles as the kinds of characters Douglas himself once described as "sons of bitches". He is the father of Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas...
, Joplin is the starting point for the truck (driven by Carroll O'ConnorJohn Carroll O'Connor , best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...
) that hits Jack Burns (Douglas) and his horse in the end.
- In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Joplin was referenced in at least one episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom which initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 and ran until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. A three-camera/studio audience format was used during production...
(flashback episode #6, November 6, 1961 that shows Rob and Laura falling in love while Rob was stationed at Camp Crowder in Neosho, MissouriNeosho is the most populous city in and the county seat of Newton County, Missouri, United States. Neosho is an integral part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area....
)
- The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American television sitcom. It ranked among the top 12 most watched series on television for seven of its nine seasons, twice ranking as the #1 series of the year, with a number of episodes that remain among the most-watched television episodes of all time...
(indicated to be a big town to the Clampetts and friends).
- Joplin was mentioned in the TV series "The Fugitive" and in the western movie "The Long Riders", a movie about the James/Younger gang.
- Joplin was the hometown that actor Steve Guttenberg was hitchhiking to in the 1983 movie "The Day After" which attempted to demonstrate the results of a Nuclear War between the US and Russia.
- Joplin was also referenced as a trucking distribution center in the 1980s movie The Secret of My Succe$s
The Secret of My Success is a 1987 comedy film starring Michael J. Fox and Helen Slater, produced and directed by the late Herbert Ross . The screenplay is written by Jim Cash, who previously co-scripted Top Gun.-Plot:Brantley Foster The Secret of My Success (sometimes stylized as The Secret of My...
starring Michael J. Fox.
- Joplin was the setting of a Saturday Night Live skit called "Joplin Alive! Podcast" (Season 31: Matt Dillon host).
- These regular mentions of Joplin in multiple mass media led the City fathers to erect a billboard that described Joplin as "the town you've heard so much about."
- Mickey Mantle, Dennis Weaver & Robert "Bob" Cummings often mentioned "Joplin" on TV & radio interviews. On the Bob Cummings Show on TV his character, Bob Collins, was from Joplin, and he would make telephone calls to his father in Joplin.
- Trick My Truck
Trick My Truck is an American reality television program that premiered on February 3, 2006 on Country Music Television. Created by Varuna Entertainment, the series features a group of vehicle fabricators known as the "Chrome Shop Mafia" who renovate the trucks of "deserving" drivers in response to...
, a CMTCMT may refer to:* Cadmium Mercury Telluride* California mastitis test* California Musical Theatre, a nonprofit arts organization in Sacramento, California* Cambridge Mathematical Tripos* Canadian Music Trade Magazine...
reality show, is filmed in Joplin.
- In the Hal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
comedy film short series starring Thelma ToddThelma Todd was an American actress of the late 1920s and early 1930s film. Appearing in over 40 pictures between 1926 and 1935, she is best remembered for her comedic roles in films like Marx Brothers' Monkey Business and Horse Feathers, a number of Charley Chase's short comedies, and co-starring...
and ZaSu PittsZaSu Pitts The earliest date is supported by census records: the 1900 census gives her age as 6, though puzzlingly lists March as her month of birth; the 1910 census gives her age as 15, but by the time of the 1920 census she had begun her film acting career and her age is given as 21...
, Pitts often makes references to Joplin as being her home town. In real life, Pitts was born in nearby Parsons, KansasParsons is a city in the northern part of Labette County, located in Southeast Kansas, in the Central United States. The population was 11,514 at the 2000 census, and it was estimated to be in the year...
.
- In the ending credits of the movie "RV", Robin Williams and Jeff Daniels sing the Route 66 song and include the lyrics: "Go to St. Louie! Joplin, Missouri!"
- Chic Young
Murat Bernard "Chic" Young was an American cartoonist known primarily as the creator and original artist of the comic strip Blondie. He received the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for Blondie in 1948....
claimed the characters of his comic strip BlondieBlondie, Blondy or Blondi may refer to:* Blondie , an American rock band** Debbie Harry, lead singer of Blondie who is often referred to by that name**Blondie , the eponymous debut album from Blondie...
live in the suburbs of Joplin.
External links