Lead and Zinc. Early mining was for lead but since zinc is seven times more abundant than lead in this area, the mining soon shifted mainly to zinc.

Many people from Joplin have gone on to become quite influential. Some of the more well-known are:

	Dennis Weaver, actor		Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, infamous depression era outlaws
	Bob Cummings, actor		Lonnie Chapman, actor
	John Beal, actor		Hale Irwin, golfer and three time U.S. Open champion
	Langston Hughes, poet		Gabby Street, 1931 manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, World Series Champions
	Thomas Hart Benton, artist		Carl Richard, Missouri Bowling Hall of Fame
	Ky Laffoon, pro-golfer		Wade Kurtz, founder of Wade, Kurtz and Dobson, one of the top ten accounting firms in the country
	Ed Dudley, member of the Golf Hall of Fame		Percy Wenrich, noted composer
	Micky Mantle, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame		Hornet Spook Light, an unexplained phenomenon
	Horton Smith (a.k.a. The Joplin Ghost), member of the Golf Hall of Fame		The Joplin Goat, the first motorized fire engine west of the Mississippi River

Dorothea B. Hoover was instrumental in the formation of the Joplin Historical Society and the Historical Museum. She was an early advocate of historic preservation, actively collecting and preserving artifacts of Joplin's early history. As the daughter of an early pioneer family, the Bliedungs, she lived in the magnificence of Joplin's boom years. After attending Wellsley College and pursuing a career in Washington, D.C., she returned to her hometown to become a major cultural force.

Everett Ritchie was the curator of the Tri-State Mineral Museum for over thirty years. He was a Chemical Engineer at Eagle Picher prior to his involvement with the mineral museum. It was Mr. Ritchie who organized the specimens and created the displays in 1994, which are still used in the mineral museum wing. The Joplin City Council decided to honor Everett's years of dedication by renaming the mineral museum wing after him.