Joplin's Mercy Park has a new bronze sculpture in the Rotary Sculpture Garden. The "Ground Boss" is a life-size depiction of the miners who worked in the Tri-State Mining District. This sculpture's name refers specifically to a boss on the ground floor of a mine.
Former car salesman Henry Robertson donated the funds for the statue. This statue is personal to him—his father and grandfather were miners. His daughter and son-in-law were in attendance during the reveal.
Robertson said the history of miners is vital to the area's development.
"The foundation and the only prosperity that jump-started the economy for our city and also the Tri-State Mining District," said Robertson.
It was sculpted by Texas designer Garland Weeks.
Weeks consulted with Robertson, the Rotary Sculpture Garden's Bob Headlee, and the Joplin History and Mineral Museum for the historical details of the statue. He’s been building sculptures for fifty years and is knowledgeable about sculpture and statue work.
The "Ground Boss" is his first creation for Joplin. For the sculpture's design, he wanted to ensure that all of the miners' clothing was accurate for the time of the mining district.
"Clothing is unique to the period, not necessarily Joplin, but that's exactly what the miners wore," he explains.
The statue is about six feet tall and shows a miner in time-specific garments standing on what looks like a hill of concrete or gravel. A box of dynamite is behind him. The miner looks as if he's about to climb the gravel hill.
"It took me a little longer to complete it than I had hoped, but it's here, and it'll be here forever," Weeks adds.
The Tri-State Mining District is about 2,500 square miles in southeast Kansas, southwest Missouri, and northeast Oklahoma. It was in production from 1851 to 1967. During its peak production in 1925 after World War One, it was one of the world's leaders in zinc and lead production.
Between 1908 and 1930, the area produced more than $222 million in zinc and $88 million in lead, which equaled nearly half of the zinc and lead needed for World War I.
The TSMD is also sometimes called the Joplin Region because Joplin was the central hub for the manufacturing, transportation, and financial industries.
According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, miners stayed with the TSMD for thirty successful years despite numerous job hazards. Employee numbers started to dip when unions began recruiting after the Depression in 1953.
This story was updated and republished on April 4, 2025.
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