News Release 249

HISTORIC PRESERVATION COUNCIL
TO CONSIDER JASPER COUNTY NOMINATION
FOR NATIONAL REGISTER MAY 16

Volume 36-248

Contact: Sue Holst

(For immediate release)

573-751-6510

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, MAY 7, 2008 -- The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will consider nominations to the National Register of Historic Places during its quarterly meeting May 16 in Branson. The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 9 a.m. in the Bee Creek Conference Room, Second Floor, Branson Convention Center, 200 East Main St. 

Twenty-eight nominations are scheduled to be considered for listing in the National Register. Properties on the agenda include historic residences, commercial buildings, historic districts, and a Santa Fe Trail site. More than 1,200 historic resources are represented in the nominations.

The following property in Jasper County is being considered.

The Joplin Downtown Historic District consists of 33 historic commercial buildings located primarily on South Main Street between E. 4th and E. 6th streets in Joplin, Jasper County. Once the heart of the booming Tri-State mining area, downtown Joplin housed mining supply stores, huge department stores, and myriad restaurants and saloons constructed to service and supply area residents. Easily accessed by train, an extensive interurban rail system, and later US Route 66, downtown Joplin hosted both the elite of the community and its more rowdy denizens. The district is nominated in association with the newly developed "Historic Resources of Joplin, Missouri," a document that provides a historic overview of Joplin and its historic commercial and residential properties.  Preparation of the nominations was partially funded by an FY-2007 Historic Preservation Fund grant to Joplin.  The grant was administered by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' State Historic Preservation Office.

Other properties that are being considered follow:

In addition to nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, the council will receive status reports on programs provided by the State Historic Preservation Office and discuss business related to its own function and duties. Council will also discuss coordination and preparation of Missouri's five-year statewide preservation plan. 

The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is a 12-member group of historians, architects, archaeologists and citizens with an interest in historic preservation. The council is appointed by the governor and works with the Department of Natural Resources' State Historic Preservation Office, which administers the National Register program for Missouri. The council meets quarterly to review Missouri property nominations to the National Register, the nation's honor roll of historic properties. Approved nominations are forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register in Washington, D.C., for final approval.

For more information about the May 16 meeting or the council, call the State Historic Preservation Office at 573-751-7858 or the department toll free at 800-334-6946.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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