Celebrating National Historic Districts & Places That Matter

The William B. McAntire House

William McAntire (1848-1911) was born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. He came to Joplin in
May 1873 and was considered an early pioneer of Joplin. He was also a pioneer member of the Commercial Club of Joplin, which would many years later become the Chamber of Commerce. William married Charlotte “Lottie” Martin on February 14, 1876. She was born in June 1853 and lived until July 1909. William was an attorney and on several
occasions was elected police judge of the city.

He was in practice by himself and part of the time in partnership with his first cousin, J. W. McAntire. In the early 1890s he gave up active practice of law and entered the real estate business.

In Judge McAntire’s obituary he was described as a “…pioneer of Joplin and no man in the city’s history ever bore a better reputation.  He forgot selfish ends where a question of integrity or honesty was concerned.”  He also fostered many city improvements.  One of Judge McAntire’s honorary pallbearers was Charles Schifferdecker.

His parents W.S. and Elizabeth E (VanMeter) McAntire were natives of Virginia. In 1849 William’s parents went west to Missouri locating at Memphis Scotland County where they engaged in agricultural pursuits for eight years. W. B. attended the schools while there acquiring a liberal education.

Mrs. McIntire was born in Scotland. From the marriage there were two children William Edwin born June 26, 1877 and Arthur Benford born October 1880. Mr. And Mrs. McAntire resided in their beautiful home on the corner of Fifth and Moffet.

ARCHITECTURE – The two-and-one-half-story Queen Anne house has a hip roof with lower cross-gables.  Gabled wings project from the north, east and south elevations.  A side-wrap hip-roof porch projects from the primary (north) and east elevations.  It has limestone piers with round wood columns and a lattice railing.  A pediment defines the entrance.  A stylized Palladian window fills the peak of the gable above the cornice.

The John Johnson House aka Schifferdecker Gardner’s House

The John Johnson House
419 South Jackson Avenue Caretakers House and/or Schifferdecker Gardener Cottage

The house was built by Charles Schifferdecker and is located directly west of the Schifferdecker mansion at 422 South Sergeant Avenue. Research and restoration are. ongoing and it is believed that the structure could have also been an office for the Schifferdecker businesses.

The original residents of this house were John Richard Johnson (1882-1946) and Louisa K. Martens Johnson (1884-1985). Born in Sweden, John came to Girard, Kansas as a young boy and then to Joplin at age 21. He secured a job as a gardener for Charles Schifferdecker and soon oversaw the extensive Schifferdecker property holdings.

He married Mrs. Schifferdecker’s niece in 1903, thus becoming a Schifferdecker heir after Charles and Wilhelmina’s death in 1915. John became a naturalized citizen in 1920.

In John’s obituary, the Joplin Globe newspaper reported that he was orphaned at seven years old when both parents and siblings died. However, the 1910 and 1920 U.S. Census shows John’s father, Andres Johnson residing with John and Louisa at 419 South Jackson Avenue!

This mystery is undergoing further research and may be a story for another day. Several years after Charles, Wilhelmina, and Wilhelmina’s mother died, the Johnson Family moved into the Schifferdecker mansion, but it was short lived. According to Johnson descendants, Louise was uncomfortable living at the house because she claimed to hear the rustling of petticoats on the staircase and believed it to be the ghost of her departed aunt!

Another mystery, although much more salacious associated with this house is the 1916 unsolved murder of Samuel C. Davis of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The mystery intertwines with the adultery trial of Mr. Davis and his mistress, Mrs. Daisy Carter. Daisy was living at 419 S. Jackson when Samuel came to visit. Shots rang out and Samuel lay dead inside the house! Mr. Davis was a wealthy, alcoholic half-breed Creek oilman that was also associated with the grand conspiracy to defraud Native American Indians of their oil lands.

The Henry Weymann House

Architect: W. B. Rees
Henry’s wife, Matilda planned the design of the house

Portions of Mr. Weymann’s Death Notice: To the Fatherland (Germany) is Joplin indebted for one of her representative citizens, Henry Weymann. One of the most progressive and enterprising men identified with the local mining industry and one who has the distinction of having been connected with the operation of the first zinc smelter built west of the Mississippi River and of shipping the first car load of zinc ore from the mines west of the Mississippi River to the smelter.

When his home was built, it contained some of the modern conveniences such as speaking tubes and a central vacuum system.

The house is an example of the Free Classic subtype of the Queen Annestyle. The structure  includes small round modillions and a side-wrap porch that continues north as a porte cochére. Look up to see fish scale shingles, and then focus below on the tapered square wood columns and an arched stained glass transom at the front porch. The current façade dates to circa 1935. The north side of the home features an asymmetric multi-segmented arched stained-glass window that overlooks the entrance hall and stair landing, in which the unusual window lets in soft light. The elements of design in the window depict a Tree of Life.

His mining crew discovered the Crystal Cave at Fourth and Gray. It is reported to have the largest calcite crystal ever found in the United States. It is now entombed in water.

historic photo of people standing in front of Crystal Cave, ca. 1900

The Thomas Connor Nolan House

Thomas C. Nolan was a prominent business man and nephew to one of Joplin’s most noted citizens, Thomas Connor who built the Connor Hotel.  Nolan was closely connected with his uncle in the management of the Connor Realty Company, which had extensive interests in Joplin and around the country for several years before assuming the presidency of the company. Following his graduation from Notre Dame University in 1899, he came to Joplin and two years later married Miss Margaret Lawder.  Uncle Thomas Connor gave them this residence as a wedding gift in 1902. The home is largely in the Queen Anne style but might have been called transitional.  Some of the outstanding features in this elegant residence are the grand paneled staircase, sliding pocket door and the beautiful detailed molding.

This elegant house once featured a wraparound open-air porch. The Ionic columns that support the porch and tongue-and-groove ceiling remain. At some point, the owners removed the side porch then in 1969, the porch was enclosed. American architecture in post-World War II dramatically changed. The noisy automobile and air-conditioning caused people to retreat into their homes or enclose their porches.

At the turn of the century, health experts recommended fresh air for the treatment of tuberculosis and for overall health. This medical trend resulted in the addition of sleeping porches to homes. Typically the second story was used because the air was better at higher elevations and the height provided privacy.

The Henry McNeal House

Henry H. McNeal was at the head of one of the important manufacturing industries that lend commercial precedence to the city of Joplin during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s

He was with a leading contractor and builder who was at that time engaged in the erection of several large buildings in Kansas City and who was also the owner of a zinc mine at Joplin. This honored employer, F. M. Sharpe, came to Joplin in 1890, to supervise the operation of his mine, and he made Mr. McNeal manager of the property, thus showing his appreciation of the latter’s ability and fidelity. Mr. McNeal retained this incumbency until 1898 and in the meanwhile he gained a thorough knowledge of the mining business and the accessories utilized in the connection. Thus, he became impressed with the idea that there was an excellent opportunity to engage in the manufacturing of mining machinery at Joplin, he organized the firm of McNeal & Company, which forthwith instituted the manufacturing of such machinery, with a well-equipped repair department. The venture proved successful from the beginning and it rapidly expanded in scope and importance. In September 1905 to facilitate operations and extend the scope of the business, a reorganization was effected, by the incorporation of the McNeal Machinery Company, of which Mr. McNeal became president and general manager. His former employer, Mr. Sharp was vice-president of the company until his death. In 1910, an important addition was made to the business controlled by the McNeal Machinery Company, which title was adopted in 1905. In June 1910, Mr. McNeal purchased American Pump Company, of Joplin, and the plant was absorbed by the McNeal Machinery Company.  The plant of the McNeal Machinery Company was one of the largest and best equipped of its kind in the southwest and the business constantly expanded in all departments. Mr. McNeal was held in high esteem in his home community and gained distinctive success through his efforts, which have given him precedence as one of the leading business men of Jasper county. Mr. McNeal was also vice president of the Conqueror Trust Company, one of the important financial concerns of Joplin, and is treasurer of the Stewart Lumber Company, in which he had the controlling interest. He advanced through the various degrees of both York and Scottish Rite Masonry, in which latter he has attained to the thirty-second degree, and he is also identified with other fraternal and social organizations of representative character.

In the year 1889 Mr. McNeal was united in marriage to Miss Mary Heinz, who was born and reared in the state of Illinois, and they had two daughters, Lorena and Helen. Mrs. McNeal and her daughters were valued factors about the leading social activities of Joplin and the family home was a center of gracious hospitality.

After Henry’s death, Frank Sharp, Jr. was named president of McNeal Machinery; and after his death, Mrs. Mary Frances McNeal (Henry’s widow) was named president.