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.