Here’s a view of the Joplin Fire Department proudly displaying their high tech fire fighting equipment in 1909. The photograph was taken in front of the City Hall of the time, which served as both a jail, police station, and fire station.
The accompanying article noted that the Kansas City Fire Department was impressed by Joplin's automotive capabilities.
Source: Joplin Daily Globe
In follow up coverage by the Joplin Globe, merchants along Main Street have voiced their support for the depot renovation for use as a museum, along with the rest of the plans from Tuesday’s, July 6, 2010, meeting. The Globe has also run an editorial supporting the plan, though with some worry about funding drying up in the current economic condition. The Globe‘s suggestion for the City Council? Act steadfastly. Make it so, Joplin!
Support the renovation of the Joplin Union Depot as a new home for the Joplin Museum Complex!
At last night’s City Council meeting, City Manager Mark Rohr proposed that the Union Depot be renovated to be used as a new home for the Joplin Museum Complex. As covered by the Joplin Globe, Rohr believes that existing sources of funding exist and as a result, no new taxes would be required for the project.
The Joplin Union Depot not long after it was opened. A great future home for the Joplin Museum Complex.
We, here at Historic Joplin, strongly support this proposal. We hope that it becomes reality and that someday in the near future, we can walk in and enjoy a beautifully restored depot. Even though the Carnegie Library appears not to have been part of the new plan, we hope it too has a bright future.
The Joplin Carnegie Library as it appears in 2010.
In April, 1911, it was announced that the Joplin Police Department had adopted a “metropolitan police” scheme of equipping the police officers with whistles. Viewed as one more step toward imitating the police departments of large cities, the whistles were thought useful:
“Although it is seldom that an occasion arises in this city when an officer cannot take care of himself, it is thought best to be on the safe side. When an officer hears one of these whistles, which are of a peculiar tone, he is to hasten at once to the scene of conflict, or wherever the sound comes from.”
It was thought at the time that the presence of a mere whistle may have prevented some of the deaths of Joplin’s police officers up to that point. It’s unknown if the whistle dramatically changed the safety of the police in a city with the rowdy reputation of a mining town.
Source: Joplin News Herald
Bingville Bugler, insert of Joplin News Herald, 4th of July banner.
The celebration of America’s Independence Day was no less important a hundred years ago in Joplin than it is today. A principal slogan of the city of Joplin in 1910 was to have a “Safe, Saner Fourth of July for Joplin.” In June of that year, the city council had passed the Kelso ordinance which oversaw the sale, display and use of fireworks. Proponents of the safer and saner Fourth were women groups and the Ministers Alliance. Both Mayor Guy Hume and Chief of Police John McManamy supported the measure and the idea of a “quieter Fourth.” Further support was also sought by the local school systems. Unsurprisingly, the motivation for the ordinance had been to reduce the injuries from the celebratory play with explosives. If injuries could be reduced it was hoped the city could proceed with more support for the holiday. The “Sane” Fourth motto was also raised the next year in 1911 and reinforced by a city ordinance that prevented the sale of firecrackers more than 2 inches in length, as well “exploding canes and blank pistols”.
If people were not buying fireworks, Joplin shopkeepers likely hoped they would do some holiday shopping. One such business was Meyers, which paid for a patriotic Fourth of July ad three years later (when the same belief in a “quieter Fourth” prevailed):
A patriotic ad from Meyers in 1913.
Many in Joplin opted instead of celebrating in town to travel to two of the popular recreational parks in the area, “Since early morning wagons, buggies, autos and street cars have been busy carrying people from the city. Contrary to the usual custom, there seem few people from the country coming to town to spend the day. Both Electric and Lakeside parks are the scenes of great activity.” The bill of events in 1911 for the Electric Park in, located within Schifferdecker Park, advertised a fun and entertaining day:
An advertisement for the Electric Park in 1911.
One area of the Electric Park where visitors enjoyed the nearby stage.
Not mentioned in the ad above was an inviting swimming pool, an escape from the hot July heat. Likewise, as the name reveals, Lakeside Park also offered a cool, aquatic retreat. The attractions at Lakeside in 1911 were several. The Trolley League, a local baseball league of four teams, was scheduled to present a doubleheader. A standard at Lakeside was boating, in addition to swimming, and a band had been secured for a patriotic performance. For those in the mood for dancing, a ballroom was also available.
By accounts, the there was far less room to stroll, as presented here in the photograph of Lakeside Park
A 1913 Fourth of July ad for Lakeside Park
For those in Joplin who opted to celebrate without visiting the parks, one option was to enjoy a meal and music atop the Connor Hotel. 48 booths were made available in “The One Cool Spot in Southwest Missouri,” each designated with a separate flag which represented one of the 48 states of the United States. “A telephone message to the Connor Hotel will be all that is necessary to have a state held.” For those who opted to reserve “a state,” the rooftop garden was decorated with lanterns, flags, and festoonings, and the evening was filled with cabaret singers such as, “Ward Perry, Ned LaRose, Nell Scott and Grace Perry.” Of course, fireworks of some sort were to be expected and for the Connor Hotel diners, a “grand illuminated display of pyrotechnics” among other novelties was offered.
Ad for the 4th of July entertainment atop the Connor Hotel
A view of the renovated Connor's rooftop area where the 4th of July celebration was held.
From we at Historic Joplin, have a great Fourth of July!
Sources: The Joplin Globe, Joplin News-Herald
For more on the Connor Hotel, click here!
On Saturday, July 3, the Joplin Globe spoke with City Manager, Mark Rohr, about an announcement he will give on Tuesday, July 6. Rohr was responsible for the planning behind the revitalization of the Sunshine Lamp district in 2005. It was implied in the article that remaining elements of the 2005 plan may be addressed, those being the restoration and use of the neglected Union Depot, the currently privately owned Carnegie Library, and the Rains building. It was in that plan that the Museum Complex was to theoretically be moved to the depot.
Historic Joplin supported this solution to the museum problem back in April and certainly continue to support it. The depot is one of the city’s last remaining architectural beauties and there need not be any further Connor travesties by allowing it to fall to pieces or purposely tear it down.
For a two part history of Joplin’s Carnegie Library, click here and here.
An early ritual of the Joplin Police Department concerned the changing of the guard between new officers and old upon the assumption of a new police chief into office. One of the powers of the chief was the appointment of selected officers, a relic of the days of political patronage. In April, 1911, such a changing of the guard occurred and was described in a city paper.
“At midnight tonight the forces of the police will change from the present “bulls” to the new assignment which Chief Myers has selected. At that time every prisoner in the city jail that is not held on a state warrant will be released so that the new force may enter with a clean slate.”
The preparation involved in this change concerned snipping brass buttons from coats and polishing the stars that the policemen wore to mark their station. These two things, plus revolvers, were to be handed over by the old guard to the new upon the stroke of midnight. The newspaper noted that most of the police force was to be dismissed with only a few experienced veterans retained. Those who were about to lose their jobs were expected to go into mining, many of which who claimed they intended to prospect rather than go into the earth for others.
The dramatic signal to bring all the police to the station was to turn on every red traffic light across the city. After the policemen had returned to the headquarters for the exchange of stars, buttons, and pistols, it was estimated 30 prisoners would be released. The recently freed criminals would not have long to play upon the streets of Joplin without oversight, as beats were already assigned to the new officers who would immediately take them up as soon as they assumed their new duties.
Source: Joplin News Herald
In Joplin’s first few years in the 20th Century, its ever growing population sent an ever growing amount of mail. A newspaper sketch decided to illustrate that amount of mail by showing how high it would stack in a single column. As noted, it would go well over the roof of the Keystone Hotel, the tallest building in town at that time (until eclipsed by the Connor Hotel).
The Keystone Hotel, once the tallest building in Joplin.
Source: Joplin Globe
The Joplin Police kicking out unwelcomed "tourists."
In mid May of 1911, visitors arrived on the outskirts north of Joplin. Their presence immediately brought about disapproval and a visit from the Joplin police. The police had been notified of the arrival of a “tribe of Gypsies” at what was called their “usual camping ground.” Gypsies or Roma, or Romani, as they presently prefer to be called, were not welcome visitors to Joplin. The Joplin News Herald, captured the feelings of the Joplin police chief, Joe Myers, who claimed that most (but not all) of the gypsies were of the type who would do anything but work for a living. Chief Myers added, “It is our intention to make life such a burden for them that they will not want to remain here long.”
One reason for the lack of hospitality came from the Joplin police department’s claim that a month long visit by the gypsies the year before had been accompanied by an explosion of “petty robberies, begging and small crimes.” The new arrivals hardly had time to unhitch their horses before the police arrived to inform them that no license would be granted to them to fortune tell. The News Herald reporter was told that the police force was expected to “make life miserable for them generally.”
The gypsies eventually packed up and departed Joplin only to face the likelihood of similar treatment in the next town. Their treatment at the hands of the Joplin police was not uncommon; tramps, transients, and migrant workers often faced the same fate upon arriving in town. Loafers, idlers, and hoboes were not welcome in many towns across the country, including Joplin. The gypsies that sauntered into Joplin were fortunate they were not sent to the city’s work house to break rocks like so many tramps and vagrants had before. Instead, these free spirits were encouraged to move on, lest an anticipated crime wave break out.
Source: Joplin News Herald, 1911.
Under a bright October afternoon sun, a crowd of ten thousand gathered to watch a parade snake its way from Fourth and Joplin streets to Main Street. It turned under the watchful gaze of the Keystone Hotel and then proceed south to Ninth, where it turned again to the right and came to a stop at Ninth and Wall. It was October 8th, and the people of Joplin had come to celebrate the laying of the cornerstone of the new Carnegie Library.
The parade had formed at 2:30 pm and consisted of a number of different groups. In the vanguard was Police Chief Jake Cofer with a platoon of police officers. Behind the police, the South Joplin band played and stomped in celebration, and were followed by 66 members of the Knights Templar from Joplin and the surrounding area. The contingent of Knights Templar was outnumbered by the 151 members of the Masonic Blue Lodge. Behind the Masons came 2,386 excited school children, headed by 29 high school students and teachers, walked four abreast down the city streets.
A different parade, but an example of a parade down Main Street and how the Elks might have marched that October afternoon.
Behind the flood of children came 24 grey headed members of the Grand Army of the Republic from Joplin’s O.P. Morton Post. As in 1865, the veterans marched proudly behind a cherished battle flag. Approximately 60 individuals of the Elks and Eagles followed the veterans and then bringing up the rear were thirty members of the Knights of Pythias commanded by Joplin attorney Joel T. Livingston.
Thousands surrounded the construction site of the library. The limestone walls soared over the crowd, such was the progress that had been made since Augustus C. Michaelis was selected as the architect in February. A platform rested against the side of the building next to where the cornerstone was to be laid. Children, anxious to see the ceremony, climbed the surrounding trees and hung perilously from branches.
A band took up position beside the platform while the mayor of Joplin, John C. Trigg, climbed onto the platform to address the crowd. His speech, the lengthiest of the day, began with the origin of the movement for the library. The mayor boasted that the tax revenue from property valued at $4,000,000 was more than sufficient to support the library, but also noted that it had not been enough for the construction of the building. For this, Mayor Trigg credited industrialist Andrew Carnegie who, “came to the rescue and dissipated all doubts and disquieting fears.” Trigg continued:
“No event in the history of the city of Joplin will perhaps stand out in bolder or more prominent relief in the future than the laying of the corner stone of the Carnegie public library building…It should be accentuated as a distinct epoch in the annals of the city, from which to date as from the dawn of the new century, an augmented zeal in the material, moral and intellectual improvement of our people of all classes and conditions…”
After the mayor established the effect of the library on the city, he then described the benefit of books, “The inestimable value of books is no longer a vexed or mooted question. The wise, the good and the great of all ages and nations, divines, poets, philosophers and statesmen, have contributed the most cogent and convincing testimony in support of the premise.” Trigg went on, reading excerpts from such authors as Joseph Addison, Richard DeBury, and Louisa May Alcott. Finally, and perhaps to the relief of some in the crowd, the mayor concluded his speech. This was followed by a brief rendition of the song, “Remember Now Thy Creator,” that setup the next speaker, Reverend Paul Brown. Brown was a substitute for Judge Picher, who had been unable to attend the ceremonies that day.
Reverend Brown reflected on the origin of free libraries and then spoke of libraries as essential to democracy:
“What is the end of democracy? I answer the end of democracy is a natural aristocracy. There is an aristocracy of nature which no contract or statute can ever abolish….Here in the district, our chief industry, mining, weeds out weaklings and cowards, and creates a natural aristocracy of physical courage and vision in the depths of the earth. Now what does democracy guard against? Not natural aristocracy, but artificial, the aristocracy of mere birth or place or force or accident. Democracy means that equality of opportunity which will give the natural aristocracy a chance.”
It was books, Brown argued, that provided the opportunity for men to overcome the privileged aristocracy who were born to fame, title, or fortune. Brown, after noting famous authors of history, praised the city’s superintendent, J.D. Elliff, whom Brown stated, had played the crucial role in seeing the library created. Brown soon concluded his remarks, followed by a song from the band, and again, when the time finally came for the actual laying of the cornerstone.
The laying of the cornerstone of the Joplin Carnegie Library.
This august moment was overseen by the Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Masons, John C. Yocum. The Grand Master announced the placement of the cornerstone, as it was guided by a small crane and lowered carefully into place. An invocation was given by the Mason’s Grand Chaplain, who was accompanied by the Masonic ceremonies of deposit and consecration. One last speaker arose, Dr. W.P. Kuhn, a senior grand warden of the Masons from Kansas City. Dr. Kuhn opted to win the crowd through praise of the children present, as well a quick joke about Methodist and Presbyterian preachers:
“ The Methodist preacher never prepared a sermon or at any rate never had any reference notes, but his services were largely attended, while the Presbyterian divine labored conscientiously over his discourses, wrote them painstakingly out and read them with painstaking fidelity. But, his flock was few, and in a spirit of discouragement he came to the Methodist preacher and asked him why it was that the people crowded to hear him who never prepared a sermon while his own church was all but empty. And the Methodist replied, “My good friend, you write out your sermons and the devil is right there behind you. He knows every word that you’re going to say and he is able to circumvent every effort you make, no matter how praiseworthy. Now I don’t know what I’m going to say and I know the devil don’t know what I’m going to say either, and that’s the difference between us.”
Dr. Kuhn concluded by stressing the importance of free libraries, as they were part of the “three planks that the structure of every American community is founded.” The other two planks were free thought and free speech. Immediately after the crowd sang, “America,” and the cornerstone laying ceremony ended with a benediction offered by the Rev. Charles A. Wood.
With the cornerstone laid, construction on the library resumed. The building incomplete, the actual Joplin library, which was already in existence was housed at the Joplin high school and overseen by Lucile Baker, the first librarian. Ms. Baker was a writer for the Joplin News-Herald and used the byline of “Becky Sharp” in a nod to Missouri’s own Mark Twain.
The library was finally completed a year later. The city received its first check from Andrew Carnegie at a sum of $5,000. Twelve years later, the city sought and received another $20,000 from the generous benefactor for an addition to the west side of the library. In charge of the library, now at home in its new building, was Mary B. Swanwick, who was joined by assistant librarians Blanche Trigg, Mary Scott, and Hattie Ruddy Rice.
The Joplin Carnegie Library not long after completion.
As of 1911, the library had 15,737 books as well as 2,643 magazines and periodicals. Over the year, over ten thousand people used the library, around 1/4th of the city’s population, and almost 65,000 books were circulated. Active card holders numbered almost 7,000. Ten years later, the head librarian, Swanwick, passed away and was eventually replaced by Blanche Trigg, daughter of Joplin Mayor John Trigg. She oversaw the institution until 1949. It was under the oversight of Trigg’s successor, Margaret Hager, who helped lead the movement in the 1970s to purchase the Connor Hotel and the rest of the 300 Block as the site of a new library building. That building, the present home of the Joplin Public Library, opened in April, 1981.
Sources: Joplin News Herald, Joplin Globe, “A History of Jasper County, Missouri and its People,” by Joel Livingston, and Missouri Digital History.
