The Joplin Union Depot is a historic

railroad station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

located at Joplin,

Jasper County, Missouri Jasper County is located in the southwest portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 122,761. Its county seat is Carthage, and its largest city is Joplin. The county was organized in 1841 and named for W ...

. The station was served by a number of railroads, two of which were the

Kansas City Southern Railway The Kansas City Southern Railway Company is an American Class I railroad. Founded in 1887, it operates in 10 midwestern and southeastern U.S. states: Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and ...

and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. The station was completed in July 1911. On November 4, 1969, the last train, the ''Southern Belle'' visited the station, ending 58 years of constant service. After train service ended, the station slowly deteriorated. (includes 2 photographs from 1971) Designed by the Canadian-born architect

Louis Curtiss Louis Singleton Curtiss (July 1, 1865 – June 24, 1924) was a Canadian-born American architect. Notable as a pioneer of the curtain wall design, he was once described as "the Frank Lloyd Wright of Kansas City".Kansas City Public Library"The Fran ...

, the station was featured in the January 1912 edition of ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

'' for its use of mining waste in the concrete. On March 14, 1973, the station was entered into the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It is currently unoccupied. There are currently plans to restore the depot. There have been many ideas for its use, but none have been made certain. This would tie in with the revitalization of downtown. On October 20, 2021, the station was listed as a Place In Peril by Missouri Preservation, a statewide organization advocating for the preservation of architectural and historic landmarks. Joplin Union Depot supporters announced on May 4, 2022, plans for a national marketing effort to find an interested party to restore and use the 110-year-old station.

References

Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Union stations in the United States Kansas City Southern Railway stations Former Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1911 Railway stations closed in 1969 Buildings and structures in Joplin, Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Jasper County, Missouri Former railway stations in Missouri {{JasperCountyMO-NRHP-stub