The freemasons established the Scottish Rite, Valley of Joplin in June 1901 and met in two building the following&nbsp;years before increasing membership—by 1923 there were 1,256 members—prompted the construction of the current building. Construction began in 1914 but World War I halted the work until 1919.

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Built in 1923, the Scottish Rite Cathedral is a freemason social hall located in Joplin, Missouri. It was designed by Herbert Greene in the Beaux Arts style. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Individual and group tours are available and the auditorium dining hall, and rooms for meeting space are available for rent.

Scottish Rite Cathedral

Starting at Joplin's Union Depot, this short drive moves through the heart of downtown Joplin with stops at historic homes, churches, and downtown buildings such as Joplin's Fox Theater, the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Building, and the city's downtown public library. 

<div><div><div>The turn of the Century in the United States called for the expansion of infrastructure to accommodate a growing economy in cities across the nation. Joplin, Missouri was no exception. The need to establish a rail transportation hub in the city was apparent, and the citizens and railroad company were both eager to get work underway.</div><div><br></div><div>In October of 1908, a heated debate among multiple parties took place as to determine the language of the Joplin Union Depot franchise. The Missouri and North Arkansas railroad (company planning to fund construction and own the depot), the Joplin city council, and the Joplin Commercial Club (group of top local businessmen) were keen on setting the franchise terms. The Joplin city council wanted the depot to not only serve Missouri and North Arkansas railroad, but any other railroad company so long as the depot facility could quarter them (Commercial Club's main point of contention). In addition, the Joplin City Council wanted the Missouri and North Arkansas railroad to help fund the construction of viaducts to enable travel to the depot. Though the Commercial Club tried to influence the city council in their decision making, they were ultimately unsuccessful. After a few weeks of deliberation, compromise between the railroad company, and the city council was reached. The depot was to be opened to other railroad companies, such as the Kansas City Southern railroad, who in return would help fund the building of the viaducts (in the case of Kansas City Southern, the Third Street Viaduct). On the 26th of October, the franchise was affirmed by the Mayor of Joplin after an almost unanimous vote in favor by the City Council.</div><div><br></div><div>The construction did not begin immediately, as funds needed to be raised, land need to be graded, and architectural plans needed to be drawn. “$750,000 OF UNION DEPOT BONDS ARE SOLD” was a <i>Joplin Daily Globe</i> headline on the 12th of February, 1909. The grading of the land was estimated to cost $50,000, and require a minimum of eight months to accomplish. It was not until March of 1910 that residents of Joplin would see an image of the future Union Depot, designed by Canadian architect Louis Curtiss. It was printed as a header on the front page of the <i>News Herald</i>. Construction would be of concrete. The site for construction was the Kansas City Bottoms, a hilly area with a creek and hollows. In April, grading for the land was contracted to Jennings &amp; Jenkins firm of Joplin. The work was to take two months to complete. Three days into the excavation, bones were found three feet under the soil. The Joplin Police could not determine whether they were human remains or not. A few workers left the excavation, not wanting to potentially disturb human remains, though the project continued as planned.</div><div><br></div><div>While the grading of the depot site was underway, bidding for the depot construction contract was open. Nine bids were received, but all were too high. On April 8th a proposition was made to revise the design of the depot and reopened the bidding. The changes to the building materials were made and on the 18th bidding was reopened. Manhattan Construction Company won the contract on June 5th for $60,000. Construction begun on July 25th, one day after the completion of the main grading operation. Flint and limestone from local mining operation waste was used in the concrete mixture for the depots construction. These ingredients were often used for sidewalk other small projects, but it was a first for a such a large building. The construction was completed in late June of 1911.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>On July 1st, 1911 the Joplin Union Depot was opened&nbsp; and the first commercial train, from the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad entered the depot with over 2,500 spectators. The depot saw use through the Great Depression and both World Wars until November 4th, 1969. In 1972 an attempt to renovate the depot into a museum was rejected by the City Council. In 2010 similar plans to renovate the depot into a museum were proposed and were under consideration but were overshadowed by the 2011 Tornado that destroyed a significant portion of Joplin. The depot remains vacant until plans to renovate it are once again brought to the table.</div></div></div>

The Joplin Union Depot is a railroad depot in the city of Joplin, Missouri. Its construction was started in 1910 and was completed in 1911. The depot operated through the Great Depression and both World Wars, until its closing in 1969. The depot was of notable architectural significance in that the construction used wastes from local mining operations for the ingredients of its concrete. The depot became a Nationally registered Historic Place in March of 1973. Many attempts have been made to renovate the now vacant depot into a museum. The first was rejected by the Joplin City Council in 1972. In 2010 another attempt to renovate the depot was proposed, but the May of 2011 tornado forced the city to redirect the intended finances and the project has been suspended since.  

Joplin Union Depot

<p>By 1930, movies had become incredibly popular around the country as evidenced by the fact that around 100 million Americans went to the movies each week. The idea for the Fox Theater originated in 1927 with L.P. Larsen, who was one of the country's leading theater architects at the time. He established the Joplin Building Corporation which, after receiving financial backing for the project, bought the property. A theater company called the Fox Midland Corporation agreed to operate the theater for 20 years and this why is why it was named Fox Theater. It featured a seating capacity of 2,000, heating and air conditioning, which was rare for the period.</p><p>Opening night on November 3, 1930 was a big event. It was sold out and nearby mayors attended. There was a big, live dancing cowboy and cowgirl stage performance and then a showing of a movie called "Up the River". News reels were probably shown before the film. For the rest of the decade, the Fox remained the city's most popular movie theater despite the Great Depression. For a time 35 employees worked at the Fox and even had a full orchestra. It should be noted that African Americans were not allowed in the theater until the 1960s since there is no upper balcony. It was also inaccessible to people in wheelchairs. </p><p>Fox Theater operated until competition and increasing costs forced it to close. The next year, Central Christian Center (then known as Central Assembly Church), which was seeking a new home to accommodate its growing congregation, bought the theater and proceeded to restore it. It appears much like it did when it opened.  </p>

<p>The historic Fox Theater became the largest and grandest movie house in Joplin when it opened in 1930. It is now a church called the Central Christian Center and is also available to rent for concerts and events. The building, which is in an "L" shape, is an elegant example of Mission/Spanish Revival architecture. This is most evident on the main entrance facade, which features diamond-shaped brickwork, columns of yellow glazed terra cotta tiles along the sides, a terra cotta cartouche, a curved roofline with decorative terra cotta urns, floral panels, inset shield designs and other decorative detailing. Fox Theater was designed by Chicago-based theater architect L.P. Larsen. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.</p>

Fox Theater

<p>Joplin developed into an important passenger and freight railroad hub in the mid-1800s. Eventually, seven major railroads operated in the city including the SL&amp;SF, which was also known as the "Frisco." In 1908, the city was planning to build Union Depot, which is now completely abandoned. The SL&amp;SF did not participate in the discussions and, in fact, tried to stop the depot from being built. The SL&amp;SF wanted to maintain its status in Joplin and prevent other railroads from reaching the city. This effort failed and Union Depot was built in 1911.</p><p>Interestingly, the SL&amp;SF didn't construct the building. It was built for the railroad by the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall (the Odd Fellows are a fraternal organization), which recognized the important role railroads had and would continue to play in Joplin and the surrounding area. The St. Louis-based architecture firm Mauran, Russell &amp; Crowell designed the building in the Chicago style. Trains entered the building from Kentucky Avenue and passengers embarked from the east side. At the depot's peak, up to 52 trains per day arrived and departed from the building.</p><p>By the 1950s, it was clear that train service at the building was coming to an end. The SL&amp;SF ceased operations in 1955. The next year, the Financial Reserve Life Insurance company, which was based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, bought the building and remodeled the lobby. However, around this time a new medical office building was built closer to the hospital and as a result, many of the SL&amp;SF building's medical professionals moved there. In the coming years professionals continued to relocated to other buildings away from downtown. With fewer tenants it became costly to heat the SL&amp;SF building. Financial Reserve Life Insurance eventually returned to Tulsa and the building began to fall into disrepair under the next owners. The last tenant in the building, a jewelry store, closed in 1987. It appears the building remained vacant until renovation work began 2002 to convert it into a senior housing residence. It reopened on October 23, 2003.</p><p></p>

<p>Constructed in 1913 for the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad (SL&amp;SF), this was Joplin's first modern high-rise and fireproof office building and remains one of Joplin's most prominent landmarks The SL&amp;SF occupied the building for several decades and operated a depot on the first two floors. The waiting room, ticket office, and telegraph office were located on the first floor and the dispatcher's office and a cafe were on the second. The remaining floors housed the offices of medical professionals, lawyers, dentists, insurance agents, barbers, and beauticians. The building is now a residence for seniors called Frisco Station Apartments.</p>

St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Building (Frisco Station Apartments)

<p>In 1971, Joplin hired Thomas Hart Benton to create a mural to celebrate the city’s 100th anniversary. Benton immediately decided to depict the range of social classes he observed in his youth. He used the resources available to do justice to reality. Despite the fact that he was nearing the end of his life, Benton worked on the mural with the same dedication he always had.</p><p>Benton focused on the different types of people he saw in Joplin between 1896 and 1906. Starting at the left, an upper-class woman stands dressed in a fancy dress and hat and carrying a parasol to shade her from the sun. Below her, two men play poker. Benton’s old favorite saloon, House of Lords, is in the background. A young Benton sits drawing cartoons while newcomers arrive in a wagon with a “Joplin or Bust” sign on the back. Finally, Benton depicted the town’s industry by including laborers and mining equipment. A small sign points in the direction of Neosho. Benton wanted to represent Joplin’s duality. He believed that “multiple meanings are characteristic of all pictures.”<sup>[1]</sup> While there was honest work and industry, some people made their money gambling. The prim woman and the laborers are on opposite sides of the mural. People could find whatever meaning they wished in the mural. However, they could not deny that all these people gave the city its character.</p><p>Once again, Benton made numerous drawings, studies, and three-dimensional models before starting the final piece. His most helpful assets, besides his memory, were pictures of Joplin around 1900. His friends found photographs so that Benton could represent the buildings and people in his mind authentically. He also used local rocks and minerals from the Joplin Mineral Museum to make the geology accurate. The minerals at the miners’ feet almost sparkle. Despite his age, Benton would not do the job halfway. He took pride in his work until the end.</p><p>Joplin unveiled the mural in 1973, the city’s centennial year. The piece held a special place in Benton’s heart. As he said, “Every old codger likes, now and then, to recall his youth and, if he can get anybody to pay attention, tell stories about it.”<sup>[2]</sup> Joplin was lucky that its anniversary year was not any later. On January 19, 1975, Benton died of a heart attack in his home studio. He was 85 years old. The artist had just finished his final mural, The Sources of Country Music, and was about to add his signature. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, only just received the work it had commissioned. </p><p>Benton’s Joplin mural contains many of his characteristic elements. The artist focused much of his work on Midwestern laborers and rural life. At the same time, his experiences in Washington, DC, Paris, and New York made him interested in the upper class. He did not shy away from highlighting vice and the unappealing parts of life. His dedication to depicting the world realistically led him to do extensive research. While Benton was controversial in his time, his work has continued to survive and influence other artists, as Ken Burn’s 1988 documentary shows. Benton’s work directly contrasts the more abstract modern art that coastal painters such as Jackson Pollock made during the 20th century. Thomas Hart Benton set a high standard of care for the Midwest with his dedication to Regionalism. Examining his art can help viewers better understand the duality of their country and region.</p>

<p>Thomas Hart Benton completed his final mural in Missouri in 1972. Originally located in the old Municipal Building, Joplin at the Turn of the Century marked his first return to the town in nearly 70 years. The scene depicts the people of his home region as he remembered them from his childhood. In addition to his usual preparations, Benton used photographs and local rocks to get every element correct. The mural now hangs in City Hall. Visitors can see the painting and the Evolution of a Mural exhibit during business hours.</p>

"Joplin at the Turn of the Century"

<p>The turn of the Century in the United States called for the expansion of infrastructure to accommodate an increasingly sophisticated set of needs&nbsp;in cities across the nation. Joplin, Missouri was no exception. As schools became larger and more accessible, the need for libraries increased. When students and professionals&nbsp;need to be able to access&nbsp;information quickly, a library is an excellent solution.&nbsp;<br></p><span><br>The Joplin Public Library Association established itself&nbsp;in April of 1893 as a response&nbsp;to the growing need of a public library. Funds to create&nbsp;a library&nbsp;were raised&nbsp;through charity events, specifically&nbsp;through the Century Club, an all women's literary society. The Club won a Joplin election&nbsp;in 1901. An annual&nbsp;tax was implemented to help sustain&nbsp;a library. A non-partisan board was formed to manage and operate the new library. This board also formed a committee to the mange the construction&nbsp;of the new library.&nbsp;<br><br>In order to fund the construction, the committee reached out to Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie had been funding the construction of libraries across the nation, so long as the library would continue to be funded and maintained. The committee wrote a donation request&nbsp;to Carnegie. The letter Carnegie's secretary&nbsp;returned&nbsp;read:&nbsp;<br></span><em><br>"Dear Sir – Responding to your letter of May 6th—If the city of Joplin will furnish a suitable site and pledge Itself to maintain the library at a cost of not less than $4,000 a year. Mr. Carnegie will be glad to provide $40,000 for a suitable building.<br></em><em><br>Very Respectfully.</em><em><br></em><em><br>James Bertram. Private Sec’y."<br><br></em>Once funding had been pledged the City of Joplin needed to determine a site for the library. Ninth and Wall Street was chosen by vote as it would&nbsp;give the cities largest concentration&nbsp;of people quick access to the library.&nbsp;Many firms submitted plans to build the library,&nbsp;and after much deliberation, Architect August C. Michaelis was chosen for the project.&nbsp;Ten-thousand spectators attended a massive parade celebrating the cornerstone laying for the new library on October 8th of 1902.&nbsp;&nbsp;The library was completed later that year. By the year of 1911, 15,737 books and 2,643 magazines were kept in the library as well as 7,000 people held library cards. In 1914 the City of Joplin wrote Carnegie again and recieved $20,000 to build an addtion to the library.&nbsp;<br><em><br></em>The library is now privately owned and is in need of restoration. As of 2010, the City of Joplin was planning to restore or renovate the building, but the 2011 Joplin Tornado set back any plans that had been made.<em><br></em><em><br></em>

The Joplin Carnegie Library was established to meet the growing demand for access to information. Initial construction and subsequent additions and expansions were funded by Andrew Carnegie. The library was designed by German architect August C. Michaelis and completed in 1902. By 1911 the library held roughly fifteen-thousand books and three-thousand magazines. The Joplin Carnegie Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Joplin Carnegie Library

<p>St. Peter the Apostle was founded in 1876 by Father Henry O'Reilly, four years after the first mass in Joplin was celebrated by Father Bonocini, who arrived from the Osage Indian Mission in Kansas. Joplin was established in 1873. The church's congregation initially consisted of fifteen families and grew in the coming years. The first church was located at 8th and Wall Street. Twelve nuns from Louisville arrived in 1885 and founded the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy Convent and a school. The nuns and Father O'Reilly contributed to Joplin in many ways including establishing the first hospital in the city St. John's Hospital, which still exists today. </p><p>The first church building was no longer adequate by the early 1900s. Allen, who had designed a number of buildings in the city, was hired to design the church in 1905. It was completed the next year at a cost of $50,000. The rectory was built 1917 and a nearby grade school was erected in 1926. According to the National Register nomination form, until the early 1990s the size of the congregation ranged between 500-1000 members. </p>

<p>St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church was built in 1906. Designed by local architect Austin Allen, it is an excellent example of Late Gothic Revival architecture and for this reason was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. It features a limestone exterior, lancet stained glass windows, a large rose window, a pair of towers with finials, and buttresses. Inside, the roof is supported by vaulted ceilings and the chancel features a large altar, which has 46 spires, and two smaller altars all hand carved in Germany (the altar used today was added in 2013). The property also includes the adjacent church rectory. </p>

St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church

<p>Joplin, Missouri, was founded in 1873. Settlers lived in the area for several decades before that, and many of those families were Jewish. Some were shopkeepers or managers, and others were miners, but all came to the area to take advantage of opportunities connected to natural resources including the area's rich lead and zinc mining. By the 1880s, the Jewish community included small prayer groups, and shortly after the turn of the century, there were enough Jewish residents to establish a formal congregation. In 1904, the young Rabbi Emanuel Kahn organized an unnamed Jewish congregation in Joplin. They started to use the name B'nai Israel in 1905 and held their services in rented space at the Stevens Hotel. In 1911, under the leadership of a different rabbi, they officially named themselves the United Hebrew Congregation.</p><p>By the 1910s, the congregation had doubled in size and had to pay more money to rent a larger space. Over the next several years, they held plays as fundraisers, with the proceeds from tickets going to fund their own synagogue. At a 1916 fundraising banquet, Jews from Pittsburg, Carterville, Webb City, Galena, Carthage, and even New York City, were present and pledged $10,000, equal to more than $207,000 today, within forty minutes. Work quickly went ahead on the new building designed to blend Byzantine and Muslim Turkish styles.</p><p>The synagogue has been carefully maintained and occasionally updated by its congregants. New additions include the metalwork by Marv Dahmen on the front door of the temple, the ark in the sanctuary, and a new Torah, rescued from Nazi Germany and brought to Joplin by the Levy family. Many small-town Jewish congregations have declined over the last several decades as congregants' children move to bigger cities after college. However, the United Hebrew Congregation is not one of them, and they are still going strong today. They celebrated their centennial in 2016.</p>

<p>The first synagogue in Joplin formed in 1904, nearly three decades after the city was incorporated. Prior to that time, the relatively small Jewish community formed prayer groups and following the turn of the twentieth century, the congregation grew large enough to support the renting of space for worship services, and eventually, the construction of this building. The United Hebrew Congregation has operated out of the same building since its completion in 1916. While other small-town Jewish communities have declined over the years, Joplin's is still going strong today, more than a hundred years after the synagogue opened its doors.</p>

United Hebrew Congregation - Joplin, Missouri

<p>Charles Schifferdecker immigrated to the United States from Baden, Germany as a young man in 1869. Once arriving in America, Schifferdecker began working at a brewing company in St. Louis, Missouri. Over the next decade, Schifferdecker continued his work in brewing, moving from St. Louis to Baxter Springs, Kansas, then finally residing in Joplin, Missouri in 1875. That same year, Schifferdecker began working with a business acquaintance in the brewing industry, Edward Zelleken. Schifferdecker operated their beer, bottling, and ice business from Joplin. Zelleken, a fellow German immigrant, became Schifferdecker's business partner, friend, and eventual neighbor.</p><p>In 1877, Charles married Wilhelmina (Mina). They had a prosperous life in Joplin. The brewing company was successful, and Mr. Schifferdecker became a prominent member of the community. Charles became involved in Joplin's booming mining industry, the founding of the First National Bank, and extensive land investments. Along with his business success, Schifferdecker was a pillar philanthropist in his community. He served on education and parks boards, built gardens and parks on his land, and left public parks to the city. Mina was well-known in the community not only for her support of Charles but also for her own work in philanthropy. She was an active member of the Ladies Aid Society and involved in her local Lutheran church.</p><p>Fifteen years after arriving in Joplin, Mr. Schifferdecker began construction on his home on Sergeant Avenue. The building was inspired by Rhine Valley German-style castles, with a German craftsman hired by Schifferdecker to work on the project. After its completion, Charles, Mina, and Mina’s mother, Frederika, resided in the house for the rest of their lives. The same year the Schifferdecker house was completed, in 1890, Zelleken began construction on his home next door, which was completed in 1893. The couple passed away in 1915, days apart. Mina passed away on October 20, 1915, after fighting breast cancer for over a year. Ten days later, Charles died. The two were laid to rest in a custom mausoleum at Mount Hope Cemetery, which Charles was a co-founder of. The city of Joplin was deeply saddened by the deaths of the Schifferdeckers. After the deaths of Charles and Mina, Frederika continued to live in the home until her death later that year. Their legacy, however, can still be seen in Joplin today, with their public parks in active use and the ongoing restoration of their home.</p><p>Since 1915, the Schifferdecker house has passed to multiple owners as the city of Joplin continued to grow around it. The house was damaged by a “horrific fire” in 1991 and fell into disarray. In 2017, the founders of Joplin Historical Neighborhoods (JHN), David and Debra Humphreys, bought the home and actively began restoration work in 2018. JHN has worked on restoring structural integrity to the home, as well as preparing the property to be a museum site. The museum is expected to open soon, which will not only shed light on the lives of the Schifferdeckers but also Victorian-era Joplin. </p>

<p>The Schifferdecker house was built in 1890 by prominent Joplin businessman and philanthropist Charles Schifferdecker. Charles immigrated to the United States in 1869 and quickly made a name for himself in brewing. After moving to Joplin, Schifferdecker founded a brewing company and became involved in the city’s booming mining industry. He married his wife Mina in 1877, who also became a prominent member of the community. The home, as well as various parks bearing Schifferdecker’s name in Joplin, display the family’s relevance to the city’s history, growth, and current culture. Restoration of the home began in 2018 and is currently in the process of becoming a museum. </p>

Joplin Missouri Driving Tour

Scottish Rite Cathedral

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information