unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
Prosperity started as one of the lead and zinc mining camps in the
tri-state mining district
The Tri-State district was a historic lead-zinc mining district located in present-day southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma. The district produced lead and zinc for over 100 years. Production began in the 1850s and 1860s ...
of southwestern Missouri. It began in 1888 at the site of the Troup Mining Company operation on 40 acres of land. By the next year, twenty mines were in the area, and the settlement had a population of 1500. A post office called Prosperity was established in 1891, and remained in operation until 1920. The community most likely was so named on account of the lucrative local mining industry.
Operations
Rail lines came in to serve the workers and mines. The Southwest Missouri Electric Railway Company, forerunner of the
Southwest Missouri Railroad Company
The Southwest Missouri Railroad Company was a rail carrier in the tri-state mining region of southwestern Missouri, southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma. An outgrowth of passenger streetcar lines with 94 miles of track, it became a smal ...
, which had already linked Joplin to Webb City in 1893, was expanded from Webb City in 1894 to Carterville and into Prosperity. The line was further extended in 1903 to link Prosperity with Duenweg. The
Missouri Pacific Railway
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...
also built a spur. Commerce followed: in its heyday, the settlement had a bank, stores, and other businesses. In 1907, the elaborate Prosperity School building was erected for the schoolchildren of the area.
Decline
A reduction in lead prices in the late 1920s and other factors resulted in ongoing decline in the settlement. The school closed in 1962. The building was renovated as a bed and breakfast in 1994, but that closed in 2016. Only the school building and some houses mark the old settlement now.
Geography
The community of Prosperity is located northeast of Joplin and just southeast of Carterville. It is localized around the junction between the
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad o ...
Public education in the community of Prosperity is administered by
Webb City R-VII School District
The School District of Webb City R-7 (or Webb City R-7 School District) is a school district headquartered in Webb City, Jasper County, Missouri, USA. The Webb City R-7 School District was ranked 3rd nationally in its class in 2010. The schoo ...