Joppa

History

During the first part of the 19th century, a riverboat landing known as Copeland's Landing operated at what is now Joppa. In the early 1870s, A.J. Kuykendall, a prominent local land owner, and Jesse Baccus, who operated a local sawmill, decided to establish a town. They named the town after the Biblical city of Joppa (in modern Israel). After the arrival of the railroad in 1900, the village thrived for several years as a river-to-rail transloading station. Joppa incorporated in 1901. Joppa has since lost a lot of population and stores, now only having a school and a few hundred people living there.

Geography

Joppa is located in western Massac County. The village lies along the Ohio River downstream from Metropolis, Illinois, and Paducah, Kentucky. Metropolis is southeast of Joppa, and Paducah is to the southeast. County Road 5 connects Joppa with U.S. Route 45 near Metropolis to the east. The Joppa Generating Station, a coal and natural gas power plant operated by Electric Energy, Inc., lies just west of the village. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Joppa has a total area of , of which , or 3.57%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,023
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,556
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,287
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,971
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  1,930
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,896
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,809
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  1,711

Largest nearby schools

• Massac County High School
  High · Metropolis · 583 students · 13.9:1 ratio
• Metropolis Elem School
  Elementary · Metropolis · 484 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• Massac Jr High School
  Middle · Metropolis · 244 students · 11.6:1 ratio
• Franklin Elem School
  Elementary · Metropolis · 139 students · 15.4:1 ratio
• Maple Grove Elem School
  Elementary · Metropolis · 128 students · 10.7:1 ratio
• Jefferson Elem School
  Elementary · Metropolis · 124 students · 15.5:1 ratio
• Joppa Jr & Sr High School
  High · Joppa · 98 students · 14:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.71 — 2025-05-02
  1 km NNW of Howardville, Missouri
• M 2.72 — 2024-12-01
  9 km N of New Madrid, Missouri
• M 2.75 — 2023-09-16
  9 km N of New Madrid, Missouri
• M 2.59 — 2023-08-23
  3 km ENE of Wilson City, Missouri
• M 2.59 — 2022-09-02
  10 km SE of Matthews, Missouri
• M 2.64 — 2022-04-21
  4 km SE of Howardville, Missouri