The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

Discussion

May 16, 2008

Joplin’s historic past featured in slide show

From staff reports

news@joplinglobe.com

People who want to see a little of what Joplin looked like in ages gone by may want to attend Leslie Simpson’s program “Extreme Makeover: Joplin Edition.”

It’s a slide presentation she put together from old photos and postcards and recent photographs of sites around town.

“I was asked to do a program on some aspect of historic buildings and I thought it would be interesting to view the site now and then see what it looked like before. I didn’t think that had been done before. People mentioned to me it would be interesting,” Simpson said.

Simpson, of the Post Art Memorial Reference Library at the Joplin Public Library, presented the show last week and she’s going to show it again at 3 p.m. Sunday in the main meeting room at the library.

Some photos show elaborate buildings that don’t exist anymore.

She also took contemporary photos of the sites and worked on the presentation for about six months.

There is a photograph of the Shubert Theatre that once stood where the parking lot is now located in front of Memorial Hall. It was where stars from the 1920s entertained Joplinites.

There are photos of buildings such as the former Miners’ Bank Building, which once stood on Fourth Street between Joplin and Wall avenues. Vacant or nearly vacant in the latter part of the century, the building burned in the 1980s and had to be demolished.

Most slides show what buildings once stood in Joplin, including the former Keystone Hotel at the southeast corner of Fourth and Main streets. In the Keystone’s case, it was eventually replaced with one-story office buildings and parking lots.

Viewers also might enjoy seeing some of the Victorian houses built downtown when the city’s founders and magnates situated their homes close to their Main Street businesses and offices.

Shots of several of the city’s historic churches, then and now, are included in the show.







Library link

Leslie Simpson said she used reproductions of a number of postcards from the library’s digitized postcard collection. She researched the history of the postcards at the Virtual Missouri state library site. That collection can be accessed by using the library’s Web site at www.joplinpubliclibrary.org.



Text Only
Joplin Metro
  • Ruby-Sapp-obit.jpg Longtime Democrat dies at 81

    Sapp, 81, died Thursday. Funeral services were Monday at the First Presbyterian Church of Joplin. A longtime Jasper County Democratic committeewoman and volunteer, Sapp for years was secretary to the county’s central committee.

    August 9, 2010 1 Photo

  • Motivational speaker offers free marriage course

    Presented by Mark Gungor, the course is being offered free to the community. The event is being held to aid in tornado relief. 

    January 12, 2012

  • District sends faculty, administrators on site visits

    With the design phase of several buildings in Joplin Schools ending in May, the district has sent 66 administration, faculty, parents and community members on site visits to 22 schools and two technology company headquarters across the country.

    January 11, 2012

  • 011012 Jop HS mural1_72.jpg Mural depicting Joplin High School dedicated

    A four-paneled mural depicting the recent history of Joplin High School was dedicated at the Memorial 9th- and 10th-grade Center Tuesday morning. The mural will be moved to the new high school when it is completed in 2014.

    January 10, 2012 4 Photos

  • Carl Junction chamber creating new committees

    The Carl Junction Chamber of Commerce is kicking off three new committees this week with meetings scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday.

    January 9, 2012

  • Body of missing Joplin man found

    The body of a missing Joplin man was discovered this afternoon inside his home in the Royal Heights neighborhood of Joplin.

    January 3, 2012

  • Wildcat Glades nature center receives $50,000 grant

    The Wildcat Glades Conservation & Audubon Center has received a $50,000 TogetherGreen Innovation Grant, which is being provided through an alliance between the National Audubon Society and Toyota.

    October 21, 2011

  • Joplin shooting victim’s name released

    The Joplin Police Department today released the name of a woman fatally shot in her home early Thursday and acknowledged that the shooting was reported as a suicide attempt.

    October 21, 2011

  • Barry Manilow to deliver donated instruments

    Singer-songwriter Barry Manilow will visit Joplin next week to donate more than $300,000 in musical instruments to replace those lost during the May 22 tornado.

    October 21, 2011

  • Extreme Makeover releases names of families

    "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" has released more details about the build in the 2400 block of Connor Avenue, including the names of the seven families. They are:

    October 19, 2011