Joplin

Southwest Missouri city with mining-era architecture, Route 66 traces, and nearby Grand Falls.

Joplin sits in the far southwest corner of Missouri, right where the state meets Kansas and Oklahoma. The city grew up on lead and zinc mining in the late nineteenth century, and traces of that boom era survive in the ornate downtown buildings and the grand houses along Sergeant Avenue. Route 66 ran straight through town, and a stretch of the original road is still marked with murals and signage for those tracing the old highway.

Grand Falls, just south of the city, is worth the short detour — it is the largest natural waterfall in Missouri, a wide cascade spilling over a shelf of chert rock. The city was devastated by an EF5 tornado in May 2011, one of the deadliest in modern American history, and the rebuilt landscape — including the Joplin Tornado Memorial at Cunningham Park — is a testament to the community's determination. Cunningham Park and Schifferdecker Park offer green space and local history, and the Bonnie and Clyde Hideout, a small apartment where the outlaws once lay low, is one of the more offbeat roadside attractions in the region.

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Getting There

Joplin sits at the junction of Interstate 44 and US-71 in the far southwest corner of Missouri, making it easy to reach by car from any direction. Kansas City is about two and a half hours northeast on I-44; Tulsa, Oklahoma, is roughly ninety minutes south on US-69. Springfield, Missouri, is just under an hour east on I-44.

The nearest commercial airport is Joplin Regional Airport (JLN), a small facility with connections through Chicago (United), Dallas (American), and Denver (United). Passengers needing more options typically fly into Tulsa International, which has significantly more routes, or Kansas City International for longer hauls.

Greyhound serves Joplin on its routes between Kansas City and Tulsa. The bus stop is downtown, close to the main commercial strip. There is no passenger rail service to Joplin.

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Things to Do

Joplin punches above its weight for a city of its size. The draw is partly the landscape — Grand Falls, the largest natural waterfall in Missouri, sits just south of the city and rewards a half-hour detour. But Joplin is also a place with a story to tell: it grew rich on lead and zinc, was a stop on Route 66, and was nearly erased by an EF5 tornado in 2011.

The Joplin Downtown Historic District holds the mining-era architecture — ornate commercial buildings and wide brick streets that still carry the confidence of a boom town. Route 66 murals and signage along Historic Route 66 mark what was once the busiest road in America. And the Bonnie and Clyde Hideout, a garage apartment where the outlaws hid out for weeks in 1933, is one of the more atmospheric roadside stops in the Ozarks.

For those who want to understand what the 2011 tornado meant to the city, the Joplin Tornado Memorial is a sober and moving tribute.