Connor Hotel (Joplin, Missouri)

The Connor Hotel was an beaux arts style hotel at 324 Main Street in Joplin, Missouri. Built between 1906 and 1908, the structure is best known nationally because of its unexpected collapse in 1978 which killed two men.

Joplin Connor Hotel
Location324 Main St., Joplin, Missouri
Coordinates37°5′17″N 94°30′49″W
Area9.9 acres (4.0 ha)
Built1906 (1906)-1907
ArchitectBarnett, Haynes & Barnett
Architectural styleClassical Revival
NRHP reference No.73001042[1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 28, 1973

Construction

The Connor Hotel was the brainchild of Thomas Connor, an early 20th century Joplin, Missouri millionaire. Before the Connor Hotel was built, Connor owned the Joplin Hotel. The Joplin had 3 stories and about 50 rooms. It sat where the Connor hotel would later be built. Rumors went around that Connor would expand the Joplin Hotel. Instead, in 1906, Connor demolished the building to make a new hotel.[2]

The new hotel's construction began immediately after demolition, and it was going to be called the Joplin Hotel, like its predecessor. However, in 1907, Connor died at the age of 60. When the new hotel opened in 1908, the new hotel was named the Connor Hotel, in memory of Thomas Connor.[2]

Structural Collapse

One day before its scheduled demolition in November 1978, the hotel collapsed with three workers inside it. Two of the men, Thomas Oaks and Frederick Coe, did not survive. The third, Alfred Sommers, was rescued 82 hours after the collapse.[3]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "Blog Archive » The Connor Hotel – Part One". Historicjoplin.org. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
  3. Quick, Dowe. "Buried Alive – Return to the Connor Hotel – KOAM TV 7". Koamtv.com. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
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