Joplin historic buildings: a way to color them without being fined

Joplintoad-Lee-Humphrey-joplin coloring book-18.jpg

Some years ago, a gentleman named Lee Humphrey completed- with the help of the “Main Street Joplin” group- a project to make our local Joplin history a bit more colorful.

Terrible pun, but true story- Lee created a coloring book entitled “Joplin’s Rich Heritage”, featuring some of our most prominent and beautiful historical architecture.

We’re all about the new and exciting, but we also like celebrating heritage and the deep rooted history here at the Toad. So when we discovered this “long lost” coloring book, we asked Lee if we could resurrect it and re-release it via digital format for the modern Joplin audience.

Lee graciously said yes.

Below you’ll find a couple of our favorite images from the book, plus a pdf you can print off at home (or your local library) to color to your hearts’ content. Each page also contains a bit about the building on it.

Joplintoad-Lee-Humphrey-joplin+coloring+book-20.jpg

Here’s the blurb from the front page, to give you an introduction to the original project:

Joplin has had many nicknames since its founding in 1873. It has been called the “Klondike of the Ozarks” and ” the City that Jack Built” because of its humble beginning as a mining camp. But this ramshackle boom town quickly evolved into a cosmopolitan city, known all over the world for its elegant hotels and stately public buildings.

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, Joplin was dubbed the “Crossroads of America,” because of the major railroads that intersected it, then later due to its position on the famous highway, Route 66.

The buildings pictured in this coloring book represent several periods in Joplins’ history. There are the majestic Keystone Hotel and Jasper County Courthouse, constructed during the 1890s building boom. The first decade of the Twentieth Century brought Classical-Revival architecture as demonstrated by the Elks Building and the Federal Building. Advanced construction techniques made high-rises such as the Connor Hotel and the Newman building possible. The Scottish Rite Cathedral represented the finest in architectural and artistic design. During the era of train transportation, the Union Depot and Frisco Depot bustled with activity. Peopled flocked to the Fox Theater to see their favorite movie stars and drove their new automobiles to Gooch’s One-stop for service.

Main Street Joplin is dedicated to preserving the architectural heritage of the downtown area. Although the Keystone, the Connor, and the Courthouse shown in this book ar gone, Joplin has many historic buildings of which it can be proud. We urge you to do your part to encourage their preservation so that future generations can enjoy them as well.

author unkonwn- if you know who wrote this blurb- or if you have more interesting Joplin history that we could feature- email joplintoad@gmail.com!