The Last Thing Thomas Hart Benton
Ever Signed Was Hanging in Joplin
Inside one of downtown Joplin's most historic buildings, a masterwork by one of America's greatest artists tells the story of this city's extraordinary past — and it almost never happened.
Thomas Hart Benton was one of the most celebrated American painters of the 20th century. His murals hang in the Missouri State Capitol, the Truman Library, the Nelson-Atkins Museum. His work defined an era of American art.
The last mural he ever signed hangs in Joplin, Missouri.
The Newman Building at 602 S. Main Street has been a fixture of downtown Joplin for over a century — a handsome, historic structure that today houses the Convention and Visitor's Bureau. But the reason to walk through its doors isn't the building itself. It's what's on the wall.
In 1973, for Joplin's centennial celebration, Thomas Hart Benton was commissioned to create a mural capturing the city's turn-of-the-century spirit. The result, "Joplin at the Turn of the Century," is a sweeping, vivid panorama of life in a boomtown at its peak — miners and merchants, energy and ambition, the particular electricity of a place that believed it was at the center of everything.
Benton completed the mural and signed it. It was the last signature he would ever put on a piece of finished work.
The Newman Building doesn't just display the mural. The mezzanine level houses a remarkable companion exhibit: The Evolution of a Mural, which traces Benton's process from concept to completion — sketches, studies, and the choices that shaped a masterpiece. It's the kind of exhibit that makes art approachable and artists human.
Two blocks north, Spiva Park marks another historically layered spot. The intersection of 4th and Main has been one of the most economically vital corners in Joplin's history. Heritage Trail signs in the park tell the stories of the Connor Hotel, the House of Lords, and the Keystone Hotel — landmarks that once defined this city's downtown and whose artifacts are preserved at the Joplin History and Mineral Museum.
A last signature
A centennial celebration. A corner of downtown that has watched Joplin transform for more than 150 years.
Come see what Benton saw when he looked at this city. Then walk two blocks north and read what this intersection once meant to the people who built their lives here.
Every corner of downtown Joplin has a story underneath it. Some of the best ones are just steps from each other.
A Leadership Joplin Class 2026 Project
Powered By
Various Joplin, MO photographs provided by 1281 Photography and Waypoint UAV.