Joplin, MO, Christmas Lights and Events, 2015

There's a 2016 version of this post. This is an archived version from 2015.





Latest Additions
Updated January 3, 2016



Why am I updating this on January 3? Because a lot of Joplin's Christmas lights are still lit, like Main Street (top), and I found more stuff. Close to the Walling house (below), are a few more stand-out houses in the Oak Pointe addition, like this one at 1202 Carrington Terrace with the huge angel and nice nativity. Here's another view.



And here's that nativity. (another view)




Santa gazes down of passers-by from a window at 1011 Carrington Terrace.




The lawn of Jack and Becky Walling, 612 Seville Circle Drive, sparkles with 50,000 lights and Jack's wood cut-outs of Christmas personalities. (another view) As of January 2, 2016, the whole thing is still lit.





You'd better see it this year, though, as Jack (pictured) says he's selling the house and moving in 2016.




The driveways of Freeman Hospital are lined with dozens of red and green trees. The streaks in between them in this picture are from passing cars in the time exposure. Here's another view. As of January 2, 2016, they were still lit.




The folks at 2216 South Florida tell me their pole tree is a tradition. As of January 2, 2016, it was still up and they say it'll certainly be back in December. Here's a closer view.




A tree and snowman made of tires regard motorists at Anytime Tire and 24-Hour Road Service, 1131 West 4th Street. Here's a Here's a rainy night view. As of January 2 it was still up but not lit.




F&L Truck Trailer and Equipment, 803 Orr Ave, has a Christmas tree held aloft by a huge...uh...piece of equipment like a mega bucket truck. It's beside 7th Street on the south side, just across from Northpark Lane.




The historic Shifferdecker home may be for sale, but it's decked out for Christmas anyway.




Visible to the south from hwy 171, a giant red pole tree decorates the lawn of BEI (Bill's Electric Incorporated).




Neat detail: the top of the flagpole used for the tree has a small lightning bolt.




The crescent moon shines earlier tonight on 2916 South Patterson Ave. These folks have decorated for at least the past few years and do so early in the season. Their lawn has equal density for Halloween.




This dinosaur "Merry Christmasaurus" display is at 1728 South Kansas, on the corner of 18th and Kansas. I don't usually go in for nylon inflatables but this is a nice grouping. Hat tip to Leslie Breedlove for emailing to tell me about this.




2709 South Massachusetts features a roof and lawn of lights and nice "Noel" atop. They have used speakers with music in the past.




In the 1970s and 80s, many houses north of NW Murphy Blvd. used green C7 lights at Christmas. This uniformity of green is no longer the case, but one can still find a few houses outlined in green as this one was in 2013.



A tree in Triangle Park is decorated. Beyond it at Crest Drive and Laurel Road is a peaked house in green.




Just west of the intersection of NW Murphy Blvd and N Lone Elm Road, this red floodlit tree seems to gesture as if telling a story like one of Tolkien's Ents at Entmoot. The house and expansive grounds near it feature a number of large stars though trees somewhat limit the view.





The Petro truck stop has a huge display of music-synced truck tail lights.




Santa and Mrs. Clause with an entourage of stuffed animals observe you from 3431 South Brownell.


Main Street

Many of the photos below are from previous years, but none are included unless there is reason to believe a similar display will be seen in 2015.




For Christmas aficionados, especially those who like their décor a bit retro, one of the most appealing features of Joplin, Missouri, is a stretch of South Main street from 8th St. to 20th St. which features plastic lanterns that are about 20 years old. Here they are accompanying the vintage Wilders sign one foggy night in 2012.





As of December 1, 2015, they are already up and lit.




Since 2006, the windows of  Joplin's City Hall have been decorated in a style reminiscent of mid-20th century downtown department store Christmas displays, which is fitting as the city hall is in the former Newman's Department store, built in 1910.




 This year's unveiling of the Christmas Window display was held November 30, 2015. Many of the windows are more or less like they've been in recent years, but a couple windows are devoted to different types of Christmas trees this year. I've been shooting pictures and video of the windows every year since it started. Here's 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012, when the theme was Route 66 ( Facebook album, video)





Club 609, a restaurant and bar at 609 South Main, owns a sleigh and reindeer that were once at the Dan Stanley Ford dealership. This year they are not displaying them but do have out a few vintage decorations and some whimsical Christmas-themed art.





There is a photo-op in Spiva Park in the form of a sleigh in which folks can pose.


Decorated Houses


Below are pictures and locations of houses that have been decorated every season for the last few years. The newest pictures are at the top of this post but will be integrated here in a couple days.



Lou and Jo Ann Molinar, 2623 South Shifferdecker, have displayed these pole trees every Christmas season for over 25 years and already have them going in 2015. Lou even put them up in the 2011 season when their house wasn't yet repaired from the EF5 tornado in May of that year. The trees behind show the damage; each year since 2011 I've photographed the changes as new construction takes place.




I spoke with the couple at length in 2013. Said Lou: "After the tornado hit, I can't tell you how many people came by 'cause we were about the only people who had lights. I decided I was gonna put it up if it killed me. I got it up there and it was absolutely worth it...some little kid said "Oh Mommy. look at that" and I about melted right there."






The Murphysburg Historic District contains many vintage (mostly Victorian) homes decorated for Christmas. This is picturesque house is one of the less elaborate examples but looked great in the early 2014 snow. The district decided not to hold what would have been their sixth annual DickensFest this year, having instead held a Halloween event centering on the life of local historical figure Charles Shifferdecker.





The Murphysburg district has its own street decorations.




Another Murphysburg home




This home has utilized Moravian stars the last few years.




Snow is always a good accessory.




And another Murphysburg home  - this year they don't have the colored lights in the lamp post but they have more on the house.






This house at 3132 South Minnesota Ave. on the NW corner of Minnesota and 32nd St. is highly visible and for the past few years has displayed an array of roof lights and a blow mold Santa on the chimney. Last year they added disco ball lights projecting onto its walls. The yard features nylon inflatables but the house is really the thing. For many years there was a luminaria along Minnesota Ave. between 32nd and 26th streets but that petered out in about 2008.





This house 2802 south Illinois, on the SW corner of 28th and Illinois has featured carolers in the windows the past few years, just as it does this year.


Railroad Salvage and Restoration, 1710 S Joplin Ave, has decorated a large part of the block it occupied these last few years, and they've got it running this year.


Joplin Events (all past for this year)


The 45th Annual Joplin Christmas Parade was held Tuesday, December 1, 2015. It's a rather long nighttime parade with lots of lights. The sponsor was Freeman Hospital and the parade ran north on Main Street, starting at 15th Street and ending at 3rd Street. For a sense of the Joplin parade, here's the entire 2014 version.





Ozark Christian Collage has scheduled the 2015 presentation of its annual Living Christmas Tree concert for Thursday-Sunday, Dec 3-6 at 7:30 p.m. with matinées on Saturday and Sunday, December 5 and 6 at 4 p.m. The visual hook is the Christmas tree form in which singers stand. I'd like to get a look inside that thing.




The event is a concert with an interwoven play. This year the title is "If You're Missing the Baby Jesus." For ticket prices and other details, see the college's website.





The Kansas City Southern railroad's Holiday Express stopped in Neosho December 8, Joplin Dec 9, and Pittsburg December 10.  The children's part of the train is a walk-through set of cabooses and freight cars filled with model trains and Christmas decorations. Sometimes Santa greeted kids outside. To check for other cities, see their schedule.





The Thomas-like Christmas train is pulled by the KCS executive train, the Southern Belle, with its vintage streamlined diesels. Here the Southern Belle at Noel, Missouri a few years ago. Previous posts: video of Holiday Express at dusk, Noel MO, 2008


Christmas Past




This is a personal video (Hi8) I took on Christmas Eve of 1991 as I came home to Joplin. It shows a number of long-gone sights including the Watts Paint and Tick-O-Time neon signs on Main, the discontinued Minnesota Ave. luminaria and St John's Hospital.


Things that didn't appear this year


In 2014, green lights and a white star were added to a tower behind Innovative Objects (picture) at 2340 Range Line Road. The tower is visible for miles. As of December 15, 2015, the tower was not lit.

"The Lights on 28th Street," 2531 E. 28th, was a music and light show that broadcasted at 94.5 FM the past few years. As of December 15 it is not up and running but I'll check back before Christmas. Here's a picture of it last year.

See also:

Christmas Lights of Webb City, Missouri - updated for 2015

Carthage, MO, Christmas Lights, 2015

Oronogo, MO, Christmas Lights, 2015

Pittsburg, KS, Christmas Lights, 2015

Hutchinson, KS, Christmas Lights and Sights, 2015