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There’s plenty of fun to be found in Joplin. Here’s a sampling:
Joplin Museum Complex: The complex is home to two outstanding educational museums as well as Boomer's good friend, Percy the Cat. Percy is sort of a local celebrity in Joplin and he's in charge of the museums, making sure all guests have a good time while visiting.
'The Everett J. Ritchie Tri-State Mineral Museum was founded in 1931 and boasts the world's most extraordinary and unique collection of lead and zinc ore dating back to Joplin's mining days in the late 1800's. The Mineral Museum is a highly respected institution with a worldwide reputation among geologists. Tools of the mining trade, various mining models, maps and photographs from Joplin's mining days are also on display. And best of all, the Mineral Museum sits in a reproduced mine shaft so it feels like you are actually under ground experiencing firsthand the workings of a real zinc mine.
The Dorothea B. Hoover Historical Museum takes you back to Joplin's beginnings as a mining boomtown telling the story of the city's growth and development into Missouri's 4th largest metropolitan area that it is today. The museum features displays about Historic Route 66, Bonnie & Clyde's adventures in Joplin, the famous Spook Light and is home to the Joplin Sports Hall of Fame and the National Cookie Cutter Historical Museum.
The Wildcat Glades Conservation & Audubon Center is a flagship nature center program of the National Audubon Society. The Center connects people to the beautiful and unique natural resources of our region through a network of trails, a state-of-the- art "green" building and hands-on interactive programming.
Adjacent to Silver and Shoal Creeks, the Audubon Center showcases a premiere 1,300-gallon aquarium and Ozark stream. The aquarium will house some of our areas most unique aquatic organisms like orange throat darters, rainbow darters, bluntface shiners and more common species such as small and largemouth bass, gar, various sunfish, crayfish and more.
Positioned next to 25 of the last 60 acres of globally unique chert glade habitat, the Center includes a large collared lizard terrarium (a state listed species of conservation concern). The terrarium will also showcase tarantulas, snakes, and other lizards found on the chert glades.
There is also a remarkable wildlife viewing area for visitors to see animals in their natural habit. A specially designed preschool area with large oversized exhibits featuring animals found on the glades is available for preschoolers to climb and play on. Throughout the three miles of trail system in the park, there are five outdoor learning stations positioned at the major ecological areas in the park: cave, pond, stream, glade, and naturescaping, which focus on the unique natural features of the site.
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