Pennington Drug Company

In attempting a pen picture of the great " lead metropolis," and a portrayal of the various features which have given her place among the most important municipalities of the land, the writer is by no means sanguine of success. The enormity of the task is only recognized after weeks of diligent researcli. .loplin is yet in her infancy, although an extraordinary vigorous growth lias crowded into the few years of lier existence achievements of which cities of far greater pretensions might well be proud. Behold her, the " wonder of the West," a splendid city, covering an area of two square miles, containing upwards of eight thousand inhabitants, and all the adjuncts of first class modern civilization, grown up in little more than a decade of years. Joplin stands to-day the center of all the greatest lead and zinc regions in the world. A business center because it is a railroad center, having railroads in all directions except due south, where one is principally graded and will doubtless soon be in operation. A manufacturing center because here are established numerous lead and zinc works, white lead works (the most extensive, and in fact the only one of the kind in the world), foundries and machine shops, woolen mills, cornice works, carriage and wagon works, paint and oil mills, etc., etc. A financial center, because of inexhaustible mineral resources, wholesale houses, banks, etc. Twelve years ago the present site of Joplin was an uninviting waste of prairie, cut by water-courses, with here and there a clump of bushes or solitary tree. The only evidences of civilization were the log cabins of John C. Cox and the Rev. Mr. Joplin, two of the pioneer settlers of Jasper county. Of course there were others in neighboring parts, but not in this immediate vicinity. To-day a metropolitan city of almost fabulous wealth nestles on the scene as if by magic. To-day forty-nine miles of streets are traversed by myriads of busy beings lost in the activities of life. To-day the ring of bells, the shrill scream of whistles, the clank of hammers, the hum of machinery, and the rattle of vehicles over graveled ways, "join in one grand, harmonious chorus to the sons of toil. To-day fine, broad streets, over eleven miles of which are macadamized, substantial two and three story brick business houses and dwellings, lead and zinc works, white lead works, foundries and machine shops, churches, schools, daily and weekly newspapers, flour, and woolen mills, cigar manufactories, wagon and carriage works, railroads, telegraph lines, telephones, gas-works, water-works, a fire department, a street railway, hotels, banks, and numerous other elements, included under the term of modern improvements, give evidence of what can be accomplished by men of broad ideas, liberality, and genuine pluck. The population is steadily on the increase, and the work of building up and enlarging the town with more buildings, streets, public buildings, manufactories, and educational institutions, is still going on with unabated vigor. During the first years the growth of the city was that of a mining camp and frontier town. Much energy was misdirected and misspent. Plans were hastily laid and carried out with a view only to transient needs; but now the upbuilding is entirely different; the people see, and are profited by, the mistakes of the past, and all is done carefully, solidly, with intelligence, and commendable liberality.

Passage source: The History of Jasper County, Missouri : Including a Condensed History of the State, a Complete History of Carthage and Joplin, Other Towns and Townships : Together with Numerous Portraits of Prominent Men : Cuts of Elegant Residences and Public Buildings : a Sectional Map of the County : Biographical Sketches of Many Enterprising Farmers, Merchants, Mechanics, Professional, and Business Men : the Constitution of the State : an Abstract of Laws : an Elaborate History of Jasper County - Its Topography, Natural History, Pioneers, Organization, Political History, Courts and Bar, Religious, Educational, Medical, Agricultural, Mining, and Horticultural, Its Commercial and Business Interests, Etc, published 1883.

Not only is the city progressive, but the surrounding villages are imbued with the same spirit of progression. As the grand oak sends its roots far reaching in all directions for necessary nutrition, so Joplin claims them as

Passage source: The History of Jasper County, Missouri : Including a Condensed History of the State, a Complete History of Carthage and Joplin, Other Towns and Townships : Together with Numerous Portraits of Prominent Men : Cuts of Elegant Residences and Public Buildings : a Sectional Map of the County : Biographical Sketches of Many Enterprising Farmers, Merchants, Mechanics, Professional, and Business Men : the Constitution of the State : an Abstract of Laws : an Elaborate History of Jasper County - Its Topography, Natural History, Pioneers, Organization, Political History, Courts and Bar, Religious, Educational, Medical, Agricultural, Mining, and Horticultural, Its Commercial and Business Interests, Etc, published 1883.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Joplin Township - 80,318 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.