>The Fifth and Main Historic District [†] in downtown Joplin, Missouri, contains three early 20^^ century commercial buildings. The district occupies the northern end of the 500 block of South Main; two of the buildings face west, to Main Street, and the third faces east, to South Virginia Avenue. All are of brick construction, with flat roofs and concrete foundations. Construction dates range from ca. 1903 to ca. 1920. The largest and most visually dominant building in the district is the Christman's Department Store, at 501-505 South Main Street. The Christman's building is a six-story brown brick two-part vertical block building that was built in 1917. It occupies the southeast corner of the intersection of Fifth and Main. Directly south of the Christman's store is the Paramount building, which was built ca. 1912. It is a wide two-part commercial block, with open storefronts at street level and dark brown brick on the upper facade. The third building is the Christman's Annex, which adjoins the Christman's Store building to the east. The annex is also of brick; it is three stories tall, and has elevations along Fifth Street and Virginia Avenue. The north part of the annex was built ca. 1903, and the southern part was added ca. 1920. The three buildings are the only resources within the district boundaries and all three are contributing. All have served a commercial function since they were built, and all are in fair to good condition.
† Adapted from, Debbie Sheals (With Becky Snider), Fifthe and Main Historic District, nomination document, 2006, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Street Names
Main Street South • Virginia Street