Tidbits of Webb City History

This is what concrete abutments remaining on Daugherty Street between Webb City and Carterville were for – to elevate the streetcars above the railroad.

Jeanne Newby

January 20, 2021

The first photo of Earth from outer space was taken by Webb City graduate, Dale Shellhorn, class of 1949. The photo is at the Smithsonian.
A.H. Rogers, one of Webb City’s forefathers with the streetcars went to visit Thomas Edison and was one of the first to speak through Edison’s new invention… the telephone.
The Praying Hands statue was created by Jack Dawson and dedicated on April 28, 1974.
In 1880, Webb City was dubbed the “Zinc Capital of the World.”
In 1916, Webb City was known as the richest Zinc and Lead Mining district in the world.
In 1920, Webb City received recognition for having a 250% increase in industry following the shutdown of most of the mines in the area.
Ma Barker and her sons resided in Webb City. The police said she could peel the paint off the walls when she would come to argue each time the police arrested her sons. The Barkers moved from Webb City because the boys spent so much time in the Webb City jail cell. They moved to Stones’s Corner and then to Oklahoma.
1984 Olympic Gold Medal winner Bart Conner, who married fellow Olympian Nadia Comenici, was the grandson of Jacob and Ida Conner of Webb City.
Coach Charles Cummings, a 1925 graduate of Webb City, is listed in the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame.
The Webb City library is one of the few Andrew Carnegie Libraries still in operation.
1908 Howard W. Taft stopped by Webb City to rally votes for the November Presidential Election in which he was the winner.
In 1918, the new concrete highway to Joplin was completed by the Works Progress Administration. It started at 13th and Madison streets and went through Royal Heights to Broadway in Joplin. Webb Citians were relieved to finally have a second route to Joplin. instead of going on Webb City Road to Stone’s Corner and then south on Joplin’s Main Street.
.October 18, 1920, Webb City Councilmen voted to change the names of some of Webb City’s streets. Allen Street became Main Street; Main Street became Broadway from Webb Street east toward Carterville; Joplin Street became Broadway from Webb Street west to the edge of town.; John Street became Austin Street. No explanation given as to why the changes were made.
The concrete viaduct between Webb City and Carterville was constructed in 1906 by the Southwest Missouri Railroad Company at a cost of $100,000 instead of the estimated $75,000.
On May 3, 1940, the Southwest Missouri Viaduct between Webb City and Carterville was dismantled by R.L. Heisten and 20 men and an audience of several hundred spectators. The 55 ton viaduct that spanned 106 –feet was transported to the Grand River Lake near Jay, Oklahoma.
The first hospital in Webb city was founded in 1905 by Dr. Lincoln Chenoweth in the house of Captain Hemenway, which still stands on the northwest corner of First and Webb streets. It closed the same year as the second hospital opened at the Salvation Army, 300 East Main St.(Broadway). Jane and Charles Chinn donated $60,000 to build Jane Chinn Hospital 1910. Jane Chinn was 81 years old at the time.

Jeanne Newby

A lot of us appreciate the Bradbury Bishop Fountain, but Jeanne actually worked behind the counter making sodas while she was in high school. She knows everything about Webb City and is a member of the Webb City R-7 School Board.

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