St. Joseph, Missouri

St. Joseph (informally St. Joe) is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri, United States. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County, Missouri.[4] It is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Buchanan, Andrew, and DeKalb counties in Missouri and Doniphan County, Kansas. As of the 2010 census, St. Joseph had a total population of 76,780, making it the eighth largest city in the state, and the third largest in Northwest Missouri.[5] St. Joseph is located roughly thirty miles north of the Kansas City, Missouri city limits and approximately 125 miles south of Omaha, Nebraska.

St. Joseph, Missouri
Downtown St. Joseph in 2006
Nickname(s): 
St. Joe
Location in the state of Missouri
U.S. Census Map
Coordinates: 39°45′29″N 94°50′12″W
CountryUnited States
StateMissouri
CountyBuchanan, Andrew
Government
 • MayorBill McMurray
Area
 • Total44.77 sq mi (115.95 km2)
 • Land43.99 sq mi (113.93 km2)
 • Water0.78 sq mi (2.02 km2)
Population
 • Total76,780
 • Estimate 
(2019)[3]
74,875
 • Density1,700/sq mi (660/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP Code
64501-64508
Area code(s)816
Websitestjoemo.info

The city was named after the town's founder Joseph Robidoux and the biblical Saint Joseph.[6] and is located on the Missouri River. It is the birthplace of hip hop star Eminem[7] as well as the death place of Jesse James; it is also the starting point of the Pony Express. St. Joseph is also home to Missouri Western State University.

History
The intersection of Francis and North 4th Streets in downtown St. Joseph

St. Joseph was founded on the Missouri River by Joseph Robidoux, a local fur trader, and officially incorporated in 1843.[8] In its early days, it was a bustling outpost and rough frontier town, serving as a last supply point and jumping-off point on the Missouri River toward the "Wild West". It was the westernmost point in the United States accessible by rail until after the American Civil War.

The main east-west downtown streets were named for Robidoux's eight children: Faraon, Jules, Francois (Francis), Felix, Edmond, Charles, Sylvanie, and Messanie. The street between Sylvanie and Messanie was named for his second wife, Angelique.

St. Joseph, or "St. Joe", as it was called by many, was a "Jumping-Off Point" for those headed to the Oregon Territory in the mid-1800s. These cities, including Independence, and St. Joseph, were where pioneers would stay and purchase supplies before they would head out in wagon trains. The town was a very lively place, and was the second city in the US to have electric streetcars.

Between April 3, 1860, and late October 1861, St. Joseph was one of the two endpoints of the Pony Express, which operated for a short period over the land then inaccessible by rail, to provide fast mail service. The pony riders carried additionally, along with the mail, a small personal Bible. Today the Pony Express Museum hosts visitors in the old stables.

On April 3, 1882 outlaw Jesse James was killed at his home, originally located at 1318 Lafayette, now sited next to the Patee House. In the post-Civil War years, when the economy was down, the hotel had served for a time as the home of the Patee Female College, followed by the St. Joseph Female College up to 1880.[9] James was living under the alias of Mr. Howard. The song, "Jesse James", includes the lines, "...that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard has laid poor Jesse in his grave."[10]

The Missouri River in St. Joseph

The Heaton-Bowman-Smith Funeral Home maintains a small museum about Jesse James. Their predecessors conducted the funeral. His home is now known as the Jesse James Home Museum. It has been relocated at least three times, and features the bullet hole from that fateful shot. St. Joseph is identified by the slogan, "Where the Pony Express started and Jesse James ended."

Among properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places are the Patee House, a former hotel now maintained as a museum of transportation, and the Missouri Theatre, an ornate movie palace.

St. Joseph's population peaked in 1900, with a census population of 102,979. This population figure is questionable, as civic leaders tried to inflate the numbers for that census.[11] At the time, it was the home to one of the largest wholesale companies in the Midwest, the Nave & McCord Mercantile Company, as well as the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, and the C.D. Smith & Company, which would become C.D. Smith Healthcare.

The Walnut Park Farm Historic District near St. Joseph was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.[12]

Honors

In 1997, St. Joseph was named an "All-America City" by the National Civic League.[13] St. Joseph was voted the top true western town of 2007 by True West Magazine, in the January/February 2008 issue.

2019–20 coronavirus pandemic

On May 1, 2020, the city's local meat packaging plant run by Triumph Foods confirmed that 295 workers became infected with COVID-19 during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.[14] the next day 64 more cases were confirmed resulting in a total number of 359 infected workers.[15] As of May 3,the case tally is currently at 373 infected workers.[16] As of May 5, 412 workers were reported to have contracted the virus while showing no symptoms.[17]

Geography and climate
Downtown St. Joseph in 2006

Saint Joseph is located at 39°45′29″N 94°50′12″W (39.757944, -94.836541),[18] on the Missouri/Kansas border in northwestern Missouri, also close to Nebraska; Iowa is another 70 miles farther north. The nearest major metropolitan area to St. Joseph is the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, which begins approximately 30 miles (48 km) to the south. The nearest major airport is Kansas City International Airport, which is approximately 35 miles (56 km) to the south. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 44.77 square miles (115.95 km2), of which 43.99 square miles (113.93 km2) is land and 0.78 square miles (2.02 km2) is water.[1]

The monthly weather averages listed below are taken from National Weather Service 1981-2010 Normals recorded at Rosecrans Airport. Because of the Airport's location near the Missouri River and at a low elevation, official overnight lows during wintertime especially are often several degrees colder than at other places within the city.[19] Snowfall is not recorded at the St Joseph weather station although surrounding reporting stations typically receive 12-20 inches of snowfall annually.[20][21][22]

St. Joseph, Missouri (1981–2010 Normals, 1892-2019 Records)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F 73 83 90 96 103 105 108 110 107 97 82 73 110
Average high °F 37.1 42.3 54.5 65.8 75.4 84.0 87.0 86.3 79.1 67.0 52.9 39.2 64.2
Average low °F 17.4 21.6 31.4 42.5 53.3 63.3 67.1 64.3 54.0 42.5 31.0 19.7 42.3
Record low °F -17 -23 -13 2 29 41 41 41 29 11 -5 -24 -24
Mean precipitation inches .56 .93 2.25 3.79 5.42 4.18 5.19 3.98 3.42 2.81 1.55 1.52 35.60
Source: NOAA (Summary of Monthly Normals 1981-2010)

[23][24]

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
18608,932—
187019,565119.0%
188032,43165.8%
189052,32461.3%
1900102,97996.8%
191077,403−24.8%
192077,9390.7%
193080,9353.8%
194075,711−6.5%
195078,5883.8%
196079,0350.6%
197072,748−8.0%
198076,6915.4%
199071,852−6.3%
200073,9903.0%
201076,7803.8%
Est. 201974,875[3]−2.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[25]

2010 census

As of the census[2] of 2010, there were 76,780 people, 29,727 households, and 18,492 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,745.4 inhabitants per square mile (673.9/km2). There were 33,189 housing units at an average density of 754.5 per square mile (291.3/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 87.8% White, 6.0% Black, 0.5% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 2.0% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.7% of the population.

There were 29,727 households of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.0% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.8% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city, the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18; 11.7% between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.1% from 25 to 44; 24.9% from 45 to 64; and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age in the city was 35.6 years. The gender makeup of the city was 49.8% male and 50.2% female.

2000 census

As of the census[26] of 2000, there were 73,990 people, 29,026 households, and 18,460 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,687.7 people per square mile (651.6/km²). There were 31,752 housing units at an average density of 724.2 per square mile (279.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.9% White, 5.0% Black, 0.5% Native American, 0.5% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.7% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.6% of the population.

There were 29,026 households out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were single-family households. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the city, the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,663, and the median income for a family was $40,995. Males had a median income of $31,300 versus $21,592 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,445. About 9.1% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.5% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.

Business

Saint Joseph has a vibrant and diversified local economy. The local area supports a large food processing industry. Bio-fuels, meat and grains processing, candies, and various other products well known throughout North America are made in Saint Joseph. With this specific industry come other associated packaging and food processing equipment suppliers that employ many more persons.

Saint Joseph is at the center of the Kansas City Animal Health Triangle, which extends from Manhattan, KS to Columbia, MO. With this advantageous location, Saint Joseph is home to several Animal Health Pharmaceutical, Animal Nutrition, and associated research facilities. Other agricultural products including herbicides for crop production are produced in St. Joseph.[27]

Transit America Services, a subsidiary of Herzog, provides conductors and other railway technical positions for transit rail systems nationwide. Herzog Contracting, parent company to Transit America, is based in the city and provides construction services, rail equipment, rail testing, and signaling services to freight and transit systems throughout North America and the Caribbean.[28][29] Attached is a list of the largest employers in St. Joseph, MO. Other privately held manufacturing companies are also top employers but they do not publicly disclose employment numbers.[30] Saint Joseph has the 3rd largest manufacturing economy in Missouri, after Saint Louis and Kansas City. In June 2019, total employment in the St. Joseph Metropolitan Area was 65,099 persons.[31]

Largest Employers Product / Service Employment
Mosaic Life Care Health Care 3,471
Triumph Foods Food Processing 2,767
St. Joseph School District Education 2,047
139th Airlift Wing, MO Air National Guard Government 1,494
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. Animal Pharmaceuticals 1,191
Missouri Western State University Education 820
American Family Insurance Insurance 767
City of St. Joseph Government 740
Wal-Mart Retail 712
Johnson Controls Manufacturing [32] 658

Retail

St. Joseph is home to several retail areas, many of which are grouped along Belt Highway on the city's east side. East Hills Mall is located at North Belt Highway and Frederick Boulevard. The mall opened in 1965, was expanded in 1988, and was renovated in 2001 with a far more extensive renovation in 2008 and 2009. Developed in 2005, the Shoppes at North Village is concentrated along North Belt Highway between approximately Cook and County Line roads. This serves as a regional shopping destination. Other shopping districts include Belt Center, Hy-Vee Shopping Center, Hillcrest Plaza, East Ridge Village, and Woodlawn Shopping Center. Saint Joseph's trade area encompasses parts of NE Kansas, NW Missouri, SE Nebraska, and SW Iowa.

Education

Public schools

The St. Joseph School District operates three public high schools, four public middle schools and 16 public elementary schools in St. Joseph. There are three private grade schools, a private high school and a private K-12 Christian school. Two new elementary schools (Oak Grove and Carden Park) have been constructed, and both opened by the 2014–15 academic year. In addition, there is an active home education community that serves the city and surrounding areas. In higher education, St. Joseph is the home of a regional public university as well as a public university outreach center, a public technical school and a private technical school.

Private schools

Colleges and universities

Special focus institutions
  • Vatterott College[34]
  • American College of Technology[35]
  • Hillyard Technical Center
  • Colgan Alternative Resource Center[36]
  • Webster Learning Center

Library

St. Joseph has a public library, the East Hills Branch library.[37]

Transportation

The St. Joseph Transit is publicly owned and provides bus service. Rosecrans Memorial Airport is a joint municipal/military owned airport for general aviation. It is the home of the 139th Airlift Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard, and does not have commercial service. The nearest commercial airport is Kansas City International Airport, which is approximately 35 miles (56 km) to the south.

The city is served by two Interstate highways and four U.S. Routes:

In addition, four state routes serve the city:

Cityscape

Numerous parks, golf courses, sports complexes, skate parks, a water park, a riverwalk along the Missouri River, and a small conservation area can be found throughout St. Joseph proper. The city is also nationally known for its 26-mile (42 km) parkway system, which is accompanied by an urban trail system.[38] Two of the city's largest parks are Krug Park and Hyde Park; these respectively anchor the parkway and urban trail on the north and south. A dog park has been added to the parkway system near Corby Pond.[39]

The Buchanan County Courthouse in downtown St. Joseph

Media

St. Joseph currently ranks 201st largest designated market area out of 210 media markets in the United States (as ranked by Nielsen Media Research); the market covers six counties in northwestern Missouri (Holt, Worth, Nodaway, Andrew, DeKalb and Buchanan) and Doniphan County in northeastern Kansas. The St. Joseph area has three low-power and two full-power television stations, and ten radio stations. News-Press & Gazette, a media corporation, is headquartered in Saint Joseph. They have interests in numerous television, radio, and newspaper markets throughout the Midwestern and Western United States.[40]

Television

Due to its proximity to Kansas City and Topeka, stations from those markets serve as default affiliates of MyNetworkTV (KSMO-TV/Kansas City and WIBW-DT2/Topeka, on Dish Network only) due to the lack of affiliates of the programming service licensed to the market. ABC affiliate KQTV had long been the only major commercial station in St. Joseph, but in June 2012, the locally based News-Press & Gazette Company signed-on KNPN-LD as a Fox affiliate, KBJO-LD as a CW affiliate, and KNPG-LD as a Telemundo affiliate. This in turn was followed by the conversions of KBJO-LD to NBC affiliate KNPG-LD in November 2016 (retaining the CW as a LD2 subchannel),[41] and the original KNPG-LD (which assumed the KBJO-LD call letters) to CBS affiliate KCJO-LD in June 2017,[42] ending out-of-market reliance for major network programming.

Local broadcast stations
Channel Callsign Network Subchannels Owner Website
(Virtual/RF) Channel Programming
2.1 (7)KQTVABCN/AN/AHeartland Media
16.1 (21)KTAJ-TVTBN16.2
16.3
16.4
16.5		The Church Channel
JCTV
TBN Enlace USA
Smile of a Child Network		Trinity Broadcasting Network
21.1 (16)KNPG-LDNBC21.2
21.3
21.4
21.5		The CW
Telemundo
Bounce TV
Grit		News-Press & Gazette Company



26.1 (15)KNPN-LDFox26.2
26.3
26.4
26.5		CBS
News-Press 3 NOW
Escape
Laff		News-Press & Gazette Company

30.1 (28)KCJO-LDCBSN/AN/ANews-Press & Gazette Company

Local independent cable channels
  • News-Press 3 NOW, Suddenlink channel 3/KNPN-LD virtual channel 26.3 (Local news)

Radio
Frequency Callsign Nickname Format Owner Website
AM stations
680KFEQ680 KFEQNews/talk/sportsEagle Communications
1270KGNMThe KingdomContemporary ChristianOrama, Inc.
1550KESJJoeTown 1550 & 107.7 1550Classic HitsEagle Communications
FM stations
89.7KJCV-FMBott Radio NetworkReligiousCommunity Broadcasting, Inc.
91.1KSJIJoy 91.1Contemporary ChristianGood News Ministries, Inc.
91.9KSRDAir1Contemporary ChristianEducational Media Foundation
92.7KSJQQ-Country 92.7Country musicEagle Communications
99.3KFOH-LPSJMF RadioAll GenresSt. Joseph Music Foundation
100.7KLHM-LPReligiousLighthouse Radio Ministry
102.5 KGNM-FM KY-102 Classic Hits Eagle Communications
105.5KKJOK-JO 105Hot adult contemporaryEagle Communications
106.1KEXS-FMThe Catholic Radio NetworkCatholic religiousCatholic Radio Network
107.5 KESJ-FM Joetown 107.5 80's 90's Eagle Communications

Newspapers

Notable people
Main article: List of people from St. Joseph, Missouri
See also: List of Missouri Western State University notable people

References
  1. "US Gazetteer files 2010". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2012-01-25. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  2. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  3. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  4. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on 2011-05-31. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  5. U.S. Census Bureau (2007). "Population Estimates: 2000-2007". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved July 12, 2008.
  6. https://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_buchanan.html Missouri Place Names
  7. "The Mystery Of Marshall Mathers". Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  8. North America Travel Guide. "Saint Peters : Missouri". North America Travel Guide. Archived from the original on 2007-10-06. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
  9. St. Joseph History - Jesse James Home Archived 2006-04-26 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. Settle, William A. (25 November 1977). Jesse James Was His Name: Or, Fact and Fiction Concerning the Careers of the Notorious James Brothers of Missouri. U of Nebraska Press. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  11. Bob Slater. "Civic pride ran amok with 1900 census". St. Joseph News-Press. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  12. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  13. "Winners" Archived July 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, National Civic League
  14. Ketcham, Bailey (May 1, 2020). "295 confirmed positives in Triumph testing". News-Press NOW.
  15. "Triumph's COVID-19 cases exceed 350C". News-Press NOW. May 2, 2020.
  16. "Positive tally hits 373 at Triumph". News-Press NOW. May 3, 2020.
  17. Nozicka, Luke (May 5, 2020). "Dozens of KC, WyCo residents among 412 asymptomatic workers at St. Joseph food plant". The Kansas City Star.
  18. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
  19. "St. Joseph Weather Station - St. Joseph, Missouri - AgEBB". agebb.missouri.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
  20. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov
  21. "Kansas City, Missouri Climate". BestPlaces. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  22. Team, National Weather Service Corporate Image Web. "National Weather Service Climate". w2.weather.gov. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  23. "1981-2010 U.S. Climate Normals | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) formerly known as National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  24. "National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) formerly known as National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) | NCEI offers access to the most significant archives of oceanic, atmospheric, geophysical and coastal data". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  25. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  26. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  27. "Bioscience". St. Joseph, MO Economic Development Partnership. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
  28. "Caltrain Board Approves TransitAmerica to Run Train System". Caltrain News Archive. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  29. "TransitAmerica combines Herzog, Stagecoach's expertise". Metro Magazine. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  30. "Largest Employers". Choose Saint Joseph. The St. Joseph Economic Development Partnership. Archived from the original on 2019-02-14. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  31. "Eye-Opening Facts You Might Not Know About St. Joseph". St. Joseph, MO Economic Development Partnership. 2018-09-12. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  32. "Largest Employers - St. Joseph, MO Economic Development Partnership". St. Joseph, MO Economic Development Partnership. Retrieved 2017-07-08.
  33. "Missouri Western State University". Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  34. "Vatterott College - Career Training School across Midwest". Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  35. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-08-17. Retrieved 2010-08-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  36. "Colgan Center / Homepage". Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  37. "Missouri Public Libraries". PublicLibraries.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  38. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  39. News-Press, Kim Norvell St. Joseph. "Council gives nod to new dog park". Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  40. "News-Press & Gazette Co – About NPG". Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  41. "NBC affiliate coming to St. Joe". St. Joseph News-Press. News-Press & Gazette Company. August 18, 2016.
  42. NPG to add local CBS affiliate in June, St. Joseph News-Press, February 24, 2017.
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