Sunday – December 3, 2023
Joplin | Webb City | Oronogo
1:00 to 6:00 PM
The lecture starts at 1:00 pm. Tour sites open at 1:30 and run until 6:00 pm. Guests can pick up their tickets at headquarters before or after the lecture and then start their self-guided tour of the sites. Guests can visit the sites in any order.
Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc. will host a lecture and tour on Sunday, December 3rd from 1:00 to 6:00 pm featuring eighteen historic structures built between 1890 and 1917 designed or associated with the distinguished local architect, Mr. Austin Allen. Tour sites include Joplin City Hall, which was originally built as the Newman Building, St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, the United Hebrew Congregation Temple, Old Elk’s Club, and many more historic buildings in use today or under renovation. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to tour the ongoing restoration of the Olivia Apartments or stand inside Austin Allen’s mausoleum—his final resting place at Mount Hope Cemetery.
1:00 PM – Lecture by Brad Belk on the life and work of Austin Allen, Joplin’s premier architect between 1903 and 1917
Doors open at 12:15.
Brad Belk, Principal Historian & House Site Director for Joplin Historical Neighborhoods, Inc. and Community Historian for Missouri Southern State University will deliver a lecture on the life and work of Mr. Allen at tour headquarters, the Joplin Schools Administrative Building, 310 West Eighth Street, Joplin. The administrative building, originally Joplin High School, was designed in 1916 by Mr. Allen.
A commemorative booklet (which is also the ticket and map) will describe each tour site and its history. The tour includes fifteen sites in Joplin, two in Webb City, and one in Oronogo. The tour will have approximately ten sites where the interior and exterior will be open to guests. The remaining eight sites will only be visible from the outside or street view.
Purchase tickets in advance at www.murphysburg.org for $25 per person til December 2. Tickets can also be purchased on December 3rd at tour headquarters for $30 per person. Children ages 12 years and under are admitted for free with an adult.
Due to the design of these historic properties, handicap accessibility is limited. There are two handicap entrances on the west side of the Joplin Schools Administrative Building at 825 South Pearl Avenue.
$30 Day of Tour at tour headquarters, Joplin Schools Administrative Building, 310 W. Eighth Street, Joplin (doors open at 12:15 PM)
Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc. is a non-profit organization that implements
charitable and educational activities, which promotes and stimulates historic awareness
throughout the Joplin area. The Historic Murphysburg District is generally on Sergeant,
Moffet, and Byers Avenues between First to Seventh Streets near downtown Joplin.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Paula Callihan, Historic Murphysburg Preservation, Inc.; 417-208-9376;
Murphysburg@gmail.com; www.Murphysburg.org.