Latest news with #JoplinCelebrationsCommission
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Joplin's birthday celebration highlights history and Irish heritage
JOPLIN, Mo. — We caught up with Joplin's CVB director this evening, as city leaders took time to recognize Joplin's upcoming birthday. Joplin will turn 152 years old on March 23rd, but the city's celebration commission took time during tonight's council meeting to recognize the milestone. PREVIOUS: 152 years of Joplin history to be celebrated A presentation was made specifically on St. Patrick's Day to recognize Joplin's roots and its founding fathers' Irish heritage. Presenters feel marking the city's birthday is important every year, to remember its roots and where it came from. 'Joplin's always been a city of resilience. You go back to the mining days and the struggling of mining. You know, when they first started there were 20 prospectors here. And, one year later, when they discovered lead, there were 500. And it got as big as 8,000 before the mining was done. So, it's been a mega area for all kinds of development through the years. So, remembering that birthday is important to all of us,' said Patrick Tuttle, Joplin CVB director/ Joplin Celebrations Commission member. The commission also recognized the fact city hall has been in the historic Newman building for 20 years. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Joplin Heritage Trail expands with two new historical markers
JOPLIN, Mo. — Two new additions are now on the Joplin Heritage Trail, providing more insight into the city's past. A small crowd gathered today on East Persimmon Street, focusing specifically on the site of the Cox family estate. Joplin Celebration Commission members unveiled a marker honoring the history of John C. Cox, who established Joplin's first homestead in 1838. Despite some additions, Cox's original home is still on the property and is still in his family, one of Mr. Cox's descendants currently lives there. 'It's important, I think, for every community to know and preserve its history. And, to do this for John C. Cox and his family was just, wow. Could have knocked us over with a feather. It really, really means a lot,' said Michael Apfel, John C. Cox's great-great grandson. 'Come to the storyboard and learn about him. He was friends with Reverend Joplin, who he named the city for. We're talking about almost 30 years before the city became incorporated. And the things that he did from being the first postmaster, to surveyor, all kinds of jobs he had in the area as Jasper County itself was being developed. And, he put Joplin on the map,' said Patrick Tuttle, Joplin CVB director/ Joplin Celebrations Commission member. The other marker recently added tells the story of 'The Unrest,' which details the tension between mining camps. That makes the 8th and 9th markers on the trail, which are mainly in or near Landreth Park. Funding comes from the Joplin tourism tax through the Visit Joplin budget, then allocated to the Celebration Commission. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Cox homestead marked with new historic sign
The John C. Cox homestead was recognized Monday with the unveiling of a new storyboard sign installed near the end of the property's driveway to provide information about its significance in Joplin's heritage. The Joplin Celebrations Commission, a group of residents formed by the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau, began installing storyboards three years ago to tell stories of key points of history and events in Joplin, a town that found its future in early lead and zinc mining and associated industries. The Joplin Celebrations Commission is led by Brad Belk, community historian, and Patrick Tuttle, director of the Joplin Conventions and Visitors Bureau. Tuttle said several other Heritage Trail storyboards commissioned by the celebrations group can be found in Landreth Park and Spiva Park and in East Town. Metal signs had been placed on some historic properties in the 1960s to 1980s, but Tuttle said they are being replaced with the storyboards because they did not give enough information about why the locations or people named on them were important in Joplin's history. Joplin author and retired Missouri Southern State University department chair Chad Stebbins said Cox is regarded as the father of Joplin. Cox, a pioneer, named the community around his homestead in what today is the East Town neighborhood in honor of a preacher who became his friend, the Rev. Harris G. Joplin. Joplin was a settler in 1839 and founded the first Methodist church in the town that was incorporated in his name. Cox was born in 1811 in North Carolina and moved with his family to Tennessee, Stebbins said. In 1838, Cox and his wife, along with the couple's 15-year-son and Cox's mother, came to Jasper County by wagon and settled here, Stebbins said. Cox held many positions to develop the rural area. He established the first post office at his home, which then was called Blytheville, and was the first postmaster. He was the county surveyor, justice of the peace and the first judge. History attributes the first lead strike occurring on the Cox property in about 1849, Stebbins said. "The Civil War a decade later kind of brought that to a halt," Stebbins said of mining efforts. A cemetery was built there in 1849, and Cox's mother was the first interred there. The cemetery still exists with burials of the immediate Cox family and other early visitors, settlers and some of the later residents of the original Joplin township, which is now known as the East Town neighborhood. The foundation for the Cox home, 619 E. Persimmon Ave., was built at the time the Civil War broke out. "He and his family had to flee to Neosho during the Civil War because of all the raiding parties that were coming through this area," Stebbins said of the Cox family. They returned from Neosho in 1867, after the war; he finished the house then. Michael Apfel is one of the Cox descendants who attended Monday's ceremony. He is the son of the late Ron and Mindy Apfel, who inherited and lived on the property for years. "Just to be part of a place that your family was involved in the founding and the initial growth and development of the area, that is inspiring and very humbling," Michael said. "We always celebrated great-great-grandpa Cox and Sarah (his wife). We used to do a tour of the cemetery. It was lots of fun and fascinating" to learn about what took place on the homestead. During the Civil War, while the Cox family was relocated, the site served as a hospital for soldiers, some of whom were buried in the cemetery on the property, Apfel said. Asked how it feels to see the expansion of the community started by his great-great-grandfather, Apfel said: "You can't take any credit for what the people here have done in the time since. But it is a thrill to see a community thrive and come back from a horrible, horrible disaster and the spirit that still remains here," Apfel said, referring to the 2011 tornado. "As a kid, I rode my bike all over the city, and there was a real sense of belonging and sense of self as a boy and still, even though those years are long gone. It's just a wonderful, wonderful feeling." What words would Cox have today about what he started here? "Probably 'Please don't mention my name,'" his descendant said. "He was an extremely humble man. Despite his very public works, he was very, very quiet, and a very humble man. He would have taken a page from Dickens: 'God bless us, every one.'"
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Cox homestead marked with new historic sign
The John C. Cox homestead was recognized Monday with the unveiling of a new storyboard sign installed near the end of the property's driveway to provide information about its significance in Joplin's heritage. The Joplin Celebrations Commission, a group of residents formed by the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau, began installing storyboards three years ago to tell stories of key points of history and events in Joplin, a town that found its future in early lead and zinc mining and associated industries. The Joplin Celebrations Commission is led by Brad Belk, community historian, and Patrick Tuttle, director of the Joplin Conventions and Visitors Bureau. Tuttle said several other Heritage Trail storyboards commissioned by the celebrations group can be found in Landreth Park and Spiva Park and in East Town. Metal signs had been placed on some historic properties in the 1960s to 1980s, but Tuttle said they are being replaced with the storyboards because they did not give enough information about why the locations or people named on them were important in Joplin's history. Joplin author and retired Missouri Southern State University department chair Chad Stebbins said Cox is regarded as the father of Joplin. Cox, a pioneer, named the community around his homestead in what today is the East Town neighborhood in honor of a preacher who became his friend, the Rev. Harris G. Joplin. Joplin was a settler in 1839 and founded the first Methodist church in the town that was incorporated in his name. Cox was born in 1811 in North Carolina and moved with his family to Tennessee, Stebbins said. In 1838, Cox and his wife, along with the couple's 15-year-son and Cox's mother, came to Jasper County by wagon and settled here, Stebbins said. Cox held many positions to develop the rural area. He established the first post office at his home, which then was called Blytheville, and was the first postmaster. He was the county surveyor, justice of the peace and the first judge. History attributes the first lead strike occurring on the Cox property in about 1849, Stebbins said. "The Civil War a decade later kind of brought that to a halt," Stebbins said of mining efforts. A cemetery was built there in 1849, and Cox's mother was the first interred there. The cemetery still exists with burials of the immediate Cox family and other early visitors, settlers and some of the later residents of the original Joplin township, which is now known as the East Town neighborhood. The foundation for the Cox home, 619 E. Persimmon Ave., was built at the time the Civil War broke out. "He and his family had to flee to Neosho during the Civil War because of all the raiding parties that were coming through this area," Stebbins said of the Cox family. They returned from Neosho in 1867, after the war; he finished the house then. Michael Apfel is one of the Cox descendants who attended Monday's ceremony. He is the son of the late Ron and Mindy Apfel, who inherited and lived on the property for years. "Just to be part of a place that your family was involved in the founding and the initial growth and development of the area, that is inspiring and very humbling," Michael said. "We always celebrated great-great-grandpa Cox and Sarah (his wife). We used to do a tour of the cemetery. It was lots of fun and fascinating" to learn about what took place on the homestead. During the Civil War, while the Cox family was relocated, the site served as a hospital for soldiers, some of whom were buried in the cemetery on the property, Apfel said. Asked how it feels to see the expansion of the community started by his great-great-grandfather, Apfel said: "You can't take any credit for what the people here have done in the time since. But it is a thrill to see a community thrive and come back from a horrible, horrible disaster and the spirit that still remains here," Apfel said, referring to the 2011 tornado. "As a kid, I rode my bike all over the city, and there was a real sense of belonging and sense of self as a boy and still, even though those years are long gone. It's just a wonderful, wonderful feeling." What words would Cox have today about what he started here? "Probably 'Please don't mention my name,'" his descendant said. "He was an extremely humble man. Despite his very public works, he was very, very quiet, and a very humble man. He would have taken a page from Dickens: 'God bless us, every one.'"
