JOPLIN, Mo. — Joplin resident Kenny LaNear remembers the Union Depot as a swanky place to catch a train.

“It was the Cadillac of the train industry in Southwest Missouri,” he said, adding that he could not describe specific details of the interior because it’s been 50 years since he was inside. “The only thing I can remember is it was very attractive. At that time, it was uptown uptown.”

City officials would like for residents to lend any mementos or photographs they have of the depot, particularly of the interior, for work on a plan aimed at exploring renovation of the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Architect Chad Greer, who is preparing a cost estimate of the restoration, is especially interested in photographs that show the interior lights, walls and decorations. He said the photos may be focused on family members or soldiers, but he will be looking for those that show details around the subjects.

“We need to look at the level and quality of the original details in order to put together a more accurate assessment of what it will take to re-create some of those original details,” Greer said.

The Prairie-modern styled depot was described nearly 100 years ago as “delightfully cosmopolitan” in style. It had polished terrazzo floors, geometric plaster designs on the walls that repeated the outside detail, and was decorated in rose, cream and green colors.

It is an angular designed building that established the reputation of Kansas City architect Louis Curtiss, especially in the field of fireproof concrete construction technique. The Joplin depot was among at least a dozen that he designed in the early 1900s.

Redevelopment of the depot, possibly as a new home for the Joplin Museum Complex, is part of a sweeping downtown revitalization plan proposed at a July 6 meeting of the City Council by City Manager Mark Rohr.

He presented a plan to place a town green urban park in the area of Second Street and Virginia Avenue, redevelop the depot, and construct a performing arts center using largely tax credits and grants to pay the bill.

LaNear, like many other area residents, remembers catching a train at the depot before passenger service ended in 1969.

“I left from there when I went to the service in World War II in 1943,” LaNear recounted.

“That was a very active station. Taxis ran back and forth to and from the depot. It was the hub of the railroad industry in Southwest Missouri.”

There were two trains available to passengers in those days.

“They had the Flying Crow, and it stopped at every puddle jump,” LaNear said. “I think they called it a milk train because it stopped at every little community for milk and grain. But they upgraded to the Southern Belle, and it was streamlined. It was a straight shot from Joplin to Kansas City. It only stopped at the bigger depots, so it was a faster train.” During the 1940s, the train line was expanded to eventually run all the way from Kansas City to New Orleans.

“If you were going to Kansas City, you always tried to get the Southern Belle because it was twice as fast,” LaNear said.

Residents who want to give or lend their Union Depot items for the project may contact the architectural firm employed by the city, Corner Greer and Associates Inc., at 417-673-3134. The firm is located at 110 W. Broadway in Webb City.

Greer said the photographs can be copied, so people can get their originals back if they wish.

He also is hoping for donations.

“We’re planning on taking some of the photos and archiving them for the history records” of the building, he said. “Now there is nothing that exists showing the interior. There are photographs of the exterior, but there is nothing on the interior.”





Depot details



Construction of the Union Depot started in 1909 but was delayed when a lead mine was struck while the footings were being dug. After the hole was mined, the building was finished. The first train pulled in on June 30, 1911.