Joplin, Missouri - History and Information

MISSOURI LEGENDS

Joplin - A Lead Mining Maven

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Greetings From Joplin Postcard

Greetings From Joplin, Missouri postcard.

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When traveling Route 66, the path from Webb City to Joplin is seamless, as Webb City has virtually become a suburb of its larger sister city.

Joplin, Missouri, the self-touted lead mining capital of the world, was first settled by the Reverend Harris G. Joplin in 1839. The minister held church services in his home for other area pioneers long before the city of Joplin was ever formed. Before the Civil War, lead was discovered in the Joplin Creek Valley; but, mining operations were interrupted by the war.

In 1870, a large lead strike occurred which brought many miners to the area and numerous mining camps sprang up. Soon, a man named John C. Cox filed a town site plan on the east side of the valley which was quickly populated by a number of new businesses. The town was named for Joplin Creek, which was called such, after the Reverend Harris G. Joplin.

Soon afterwards, a Carthage resident named Patrick Murphy filed another town plan on the west side of the valley, calling it Murphysburg. Before long, a fierce rivalry sprang up between the two towns, but before it could get out of hand, the Missouri State General Assembly combined the municipalities in 1873. That same year, the city of Joplin incorporated. Today, Murphysburg is a residential historic district of Joplin. It encompasses Sergeant Avenue from First Street to Seventh Street and Moffet Avenue from First Street to Fourth Street.

With the large influx of miners, Joplin became a wild town, filled with saloons, dance halls, gambling establishments, and brothels -- so much so, that press referred to the city as being in the midst of a "Reign of Terror." However, the riches of the mining fields also drew investors and speculators and a need for a banking institution was obvious. Though Patrick Murphy had lost his bid for the new city of Murphysburg, he saw opportunity and stepped up to the plate, forming the Banking House of Patrick Murphy in 1875. Situated in a 2-story brick building on Main Street between Second and Third Streets, his enterprise was a huge success. By 1880, the city had grown to more than 7,000 people.

While Joplin was first put on the map by lead, it was zinc, often referred to as "jack," that built the town. With the railroads passing through the area, Joplin was on the verge of dramatic growth. What began as a simple mining town was soon filled with smelters, mines, large homes, businesses, and the ever present saloons, the most popular of which, was the House of Lords, which featured a bar and restaurant on its first floor, gambling on the second, and a brothel on the third floor. The building still stands today.

In 1897, soaring prices and continued active demand produced large profits for mines in the Joplin District, and the following year was one of the most prosperous in the history of zinc mining. These profits attracted the attention of wealthy Eastern investors and in 1899, a group of Boston capitalists formed a corporation they called American Zinc, Lead, and Smelting Company. American Zinc, as it was commonly known, became one of the major players in the Tri-State Mining District.

Joplin Lead Mine

By the turn of the century Joplin was quickly becoming the center of the mining activity for the Tri-State Mining District, which consisted of Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. By this time, the city boasted more than 26,000 people. Construction centered around Main Street, with many bars, hotels, and fine homes nearby. Trolley 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. Lead, and specifically zinc, created and would sustain Joplin's economy for more than seven decades.

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