Joplin was founded in 1910 by Lebanese immigrant Joseph E. Rehal, who was its first postmaster. It was a station house on the Great Northern Railway as early as 1902.
On September 25, 2021, at approximately 3:55 p.m., Amtrak passenger train 7/27, also known as the westbound Empire Builder, suffered a derailment 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Joplin while en route from Chicago to Seattle. Three people were killed and 50 more were injured when the eight rear cars of the ten-car train derailed.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (1), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2005