Meeting slated over possible nomination of East Town to National Register

Should Joplin’s East Town neighborhood be added to the National Register of Historic Places?

That question will be the focus of a meeting beginning at 6 p.m.Tuesday night at Bookhouse Cinema at 714 Langston Hughes Broadway.

An area of about 50 blocks would be included in the District.

A consultant hired by the city of Joplin and members of the Historic Preservation Commission will discuss the nomination process.

East Town for decades was largely populated by African Americans in Joplin.

During the 1940s, about 25 businesses were located between Main Street and St. Louis Street on Broadway.

Businesses in the area began to decline after integration began in the mid-1950s and separate grocery stores and other stores and services were no longer needed.

Route 66 ran directly through the area.

That highway is now Langston Hughes Broadway, named in honor of the poet who was born in Joplin in 1901.