A consultant hired to conduct the second part of a historic survey on Joplin’s East Town neighborhood will soon be working in that area to take photographs and gather information about the homes, buildings and landmarks.
Details about that will be discussed during a public meeting to be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at Joplin City Hall, 602 S. Main St.
The consultant, Ruth Keenoy of Keenoy Preservation in St. Louis, will give a presentation about the survey. She and city staff will answer questions from residents about the survey and the research and process that will be involved.
The survey is to identify and document the architectural styles of the buildings and homes within the neighborhood and compile the stories behind those that are significant and eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. That will provide information for further community development of historic preservation projects.
Residents may bring photos to the meeting and provide information about places they believe should be included in the research. The surveyors will not use the photos in the report but will use information about those places for consideration in the research.
Keenoy was in Joplin in January and held a meeting at Empire Market at which several residents of the neighborhood spoke about significant places and people of the past and present in East Town.
“We’re here not only to tell you something about what we’re doing, but to get some feedback from you because no one knows your neighborhood better than you do,” Keenoy said at that meeting.
She was hired by the Historic Preservation Commission and the city of Joplin to prepare the survey. This is the second part of the survey.
The first part of the survey includes the homestead of John C. Cox, the earliest noted settler who operated a post office and platted the area, naming the city after minister Harris Joplin.
In the first part of the survey, the John C. Cox house and property on the north side of the neighborhood was documented and identified as one that would qualify for inclusion on the National Register.
“You have a mining history, the original plat and township history, you have an African American neighborhood history, you have Route 66, so you have a lot of important themes that have been identified. So we will take that original survey and build on that” to research the south part of the neighborhood, Keenoy said at the January meeting.
She said there also are some important churches and schools that will be part of the survey.
The survey will be used by the city for its planning purposes for recognition of local landmarks as well as those that could be designated on the National Register of Historic Places. It also will be used by the State Historic Preservation Office, which administers grants from the National Park Service for historic preservation work.
People who have questions about the meeting or the survey may contact Tom Walters with the city’s Planning and Community Development Department at 417-624-0820, ext. 1539.
