National Murphysburg Residential District
HISTORIC MURPHYSBURG PRESERVATION, INC. (HMP)
2023 ACCOMPLISHMENTS & ACTIVITIES
JANUARY : For an understanding of the future, look to the past
Continued the distribution of the coloring book, Coloring JOMO: Women Who Made Their Mark, walking tour brochures, and hand illustrated maps. Continued research on original and or significant owners of Murphysburg houses. Received Visit Joplin (formerly known as Joplin Convention & Visitors Bureau) grant funding for HMP website updates.
MARCH: Bring to light often overlooked history
HMP promoted Women’s History Month by featuring two (unrelated) women that lived at 101 N. Sergeant in the early 1940s to late 1950s. Mary Kirk Kelly, as a professor at Joplin Junior College, started Model United Nations for students. They would travel to regional and national simulations which continues today; after retirement she became an internationally known ceramic artist. Dora Kneeland invented what came to be known as Williams Chili Seasoning and her son-in-law produced it in the garage before moving the operation to Webb City
APRIL: We envisioned new projects
Completed research on the Pearl Brothers House (101 S. Moffet) and requested a local historic marker sign. Continued advocacy for the rehabilitation or abatement of apartments at 117-121 S. Byers (built in May 1950) through direct conversations with Tyler Casey with ProX Management and City officials. Represented HMP at the Spring meeting of Missouri Route 66 Association and the Visit Joplin Tourism Connection regional meeting.
MAY: Bring awareness to underrepresented communities
Partnered with Downtown Joplin Alliance’s Loft Tour. Presentation to City Council asking for historic street name signs. Provided Mt. Hope Cemetery with QR codes for 50 original Murphysburg residents interred at the cemetery. Staffed a booth at DJA’s Third Thursday.
JUNE: The impact you helped make possible
Represented HMP at the annual Missouri Preservation Conference held in Joplin.
JULY: We advocated for
Partnered with the Scottish Rite Cathedral to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the building.
AUGUST : Promote heritage tourism
Facilitated a feature story & photographs of Murphysburg walking tour in the 417 Magazine.
OCTOBER: Benefitting from new energy
Hosted the annual membership appreciation meeting at the Cornell Complex with guest speaker Neely Meyers, Science Center Creative Learning Alliance director.
NOVEMBER: Home for the holidays…in Murphysburg
Installed Christmas Wreaths on Murphysburg District utility poles. Monitored HMP’s “Giving Tuesday” donation website. Guest appearance on MSSU TV Newsmaker show.
DECEMBER: Overlooked history
Conducted the Austin Allen, the Architect — Remembered historic building tour and lecture which was co-sponsored by Visit Joplin and Joplin Celebrations Commission . Received a Visit Joplin grant to pay for production of a booklet featuring Murphysburg District houses. Continued dialogue with City officials to save 130 S. Moffet, the Albert Newman House from demolition.
ONGOING
- Manage Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Mail Chimp, HMP website, liability insurance, storage unit, and more.
- Manage communications, inquiries about houses for sale, Joplin history & media inquiries.
- Conduct historical research using Ancestry.com, Find-a-Grave, Newspapers.com, etc.
- Interface with North Heights Neighborhood Group, Downtown Joplin Alliance, City of Joplin, Joplin Historical Neighborhoods, Inc., Connect 2 Culture, Bluehaven Homes & Bykota, REI (the Olivia Apartments) and many other community organizations/projects.
- Welcomed new Murphysburg homeowners with historical documentation on their house and general HMP membership information.
SOUTHWEST MISSOURI RAILROAD CLUBHOUSE
In 1889, Alfred Harrison “A.H.” Rogers (1858-1920) started a railway system between Webb City and Carterville pulled by mules. After 1893, the system was electrified. It continued until late summer of 1935 for Carthage, and 1940 for other communities. The clubhouse was constructed for officials and employees.
The A.H. Rogers House is in the Murphysburg Historic District at 623 W. Fourth Street and is currently being restored by Joplin Historical Neighborhoods, Inc.
Charlie22 Outdoor’s mission is to provide outdoor activities to the nation’s veterans and their families. For more information, contact Scotty Rae Hettinger at (417) 437-7247 or charlie22outdoors.com.
Following are excerpts from the Joplin History & Mineral Museum calendar published in 2021: Originally, the first floor was divided into a pool room, a gymnasium that was also used for large social groups, a locker room, a dressing room, toilets, and shower baths. The second floor housed the clubrooms, complete with a kitchen and dining area. The clubrooms were used for reading, writing, card playing, social entertainments, banquets, and to conduct business meetings. The third floor consisted of two dormitories, where a bed could be rented by the day or week. The facility was possibly best remembered for the elaborate employee banquets.
Austin Allen, The Architect… Remembered
Sunday – December 3, 2023
Joplin | Webb City | Oronogo
1:00 to 6:00 PM
The lecture starts at 1:00 pm. Tour sites open at 1:30 and run until 6:00 pm. Guests can pick up their tickets at headquarters before or after the lecture and then start their self-guided tour of the sites. Guests can visit the sites in any order.
Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc. will host a lecture and tour on Sunday, December 3rd from 1:00 to 6:00 pm featuring eighteen historic structures built between 1890 and 1917 designed or associated with the distinguished local architect, Mr. Austin Allen. Tour sites include Joplin City Hall, which was originally built as the Newman Building, St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, the United Hebrew Congregation Temple, Old Elk’s Club, and many more historic buildings in use today or under renovation. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to tour the ongoing restoration of the Olivia Apartments or stand inside Austin Allen’s mausoleum—his final resting place at Mount Hope Cemetery.
1:00 PM – Lecture by Brad Belk on the life and work of Austin Allen, Joplin’s premier architect between 1903 and 1917
Doors open at 12:15.
Brad Belk, Principal Historian & House Site Director for Joplin Historical Neighborhoods, Inc. and Community Historian for Missouri Southern State University will deliver a lecture on the life and work of Mr. Allen at tour headquarters, the Joplin Schools Administrative Building, 310 West Eighth Street, Joplin. The administrative building, originally Joplin High School, was designed in 1916 by Mr. Allen.
A commemorative booklet (which is also the ticket and map) will describe each tour site and its history. The tour includes fifteen sites in Joplin, two in Webb City, and one in Oronogo. The tour will have approximately ten sites where the interior and exterior will be open to guests. The remaining eight sites will only be visible from the outside or street view.
Purchase tickets in advance at www.murphysburg.org for $25 per person til December 2. Tickets can also be purchased on December 3rd at tour headquarters for $30 per person. Children ages 12 years and under are admitted for free with an adult.
Due to the design of these historic properties, handicap accessibility is limited. There are two handicap entrances on the west side of the Joplin Schools Administrative Building at 825 South Pearl Avenue.
$30 Day of Tour at tour headquarters, Joplin Schools Administrative Building, 310 W. Eighth Street, Joplin (doors open at 12:15 PM)
Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc. is a non-profit organization that implements
charitable and educational activities, which promotes and stimulates historic awareness
throughout the Joplin area. The Historic Murphysburg District is generally on Sergeant,
Moffet, and Byers Avenues between First to Seventh Streets near downtown Joplin.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Paula Callihan, Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc.; 417-208-9376;
[email protected]; www.Murphysburg.org.
The Arthur Waite House
Waite arrived in Joplin in 1880 at the age of 27. He grew up splitting rails in Nebraska and at the age of 21, applied and received a job at the country bank in Brownville, Nebraska. Thus began a lifetime career in the banking industry. Eventually he rode a “hog train” to St. Joseph, Missouri, and worked as a book keeper at the Merchant State Bank for Thomas Tootle. Tootle, meanwhile, was a partner of Joplin founding father, Patrick Murphy, in the ownership of the Miner’s Bank. It was a job at Miner’s Bank, located in the same building as the old Joplin Hotel, that brought Waite to Joplin.
Later on, Waite took a job as cashier at the Joplin National Bank, which for a time was located in the Keystone Hotel building. Eventually, Waite rose to the position of president of the bank. Established as a major figure in the Joplin banking community, he was the president of the Joplin National Bank and Trust Company, the Missouri Bankers Association, Jasper County Bankers’ Association and was a member of the Elks Lodge in Joplin.
Waite remained involved in banking and in the house that Garstang & Rea designed until his death in April, 1934.
Susie Chase Leonard Waite worked on the Y.W.C.A. board for many years, was a member of the Woman’s Club, Ridpath Club, Curtis Club, and Buddy Club. At the time of her death in 1956, she was a member of the Health and Welfare board, on which she had served since its establishment in the early 1900s. After Mr. Waite’s death in 1934, Mrs. Waite moved to the Olivia Apartments where she lived until the time of her death.
Credits to Historicjoplin.com
