Noel

History

A post office called Noel has been in operation since 1886. The community was named for Clark Wallace "C.W." and William Jasper "W.J." Noel; brothers, stockmen, and owners of a sawmill. The town was founded after the Kansas City, Pittsburg, and Gulf Railroad arrived. Noel has capitalized on its Christmas-themed name, along with North Pole, Alaska, Christmas, Michigan, Santa Claus, Indiana, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Each year, tens of thousands of Christmas cards and letters are sent to the USPS Noel Post Office during the holiday season to be stamped with a postmark reading, Noel, Mo. - "The Christmas City in the Ozark Vacation Land". This practice became popular in the late 1940s when Kate Smith, a radio and television singer, began telling the "Noel Story" during her broadcasts. Most of the year, area residents pronounce Noel as rhyming with "mole", in honor of the town's namesake, Bridges Noel. On August 3, 1969, a freight train exploded while passing through Noel, spraying fragments of metal through houses and buildings over a six-block area. One person was killed, and 40 others injured. Noel was home to a Tyson Foods chicken-processing plant. By 2010, an estimated 400 to 500 Somali refugees, and 60 and 70 Sudanese refugees, out of 1,800 residents, lived in the town, most of whom worked for Tyson Foods. Tyson Foods later released a statement dismissing it as a cross-cultural misunderstanding. A few days after the fire, the Islamic Society of Joplin launched a fundraising campaign to find a new home for the mosque. The goal was met, raising $100,480.

Geography

Noel is in southwestern McDonald County, north of the Arkansas border. Missouri Route 90 passes through the city as its Main Street, leading east to Jane and west to Southwest City next to the Oklahoma border. Missouri Route 59 runs through the west side of Noel, briefly joining Route 90 near the center of town. Route 59 leads north to Anderson and south to Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Noel has a total area of , of which are land and , or 3.62%, are water. The Elk River passes through the city, flowing northwest to join the Neosho River in Oklahoma and part of the Arkansas River watershed.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  892
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  684
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  674
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  639
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  637
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  637
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  603
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  595

Largest nearby schools

• MCDONALD COUNTY HIGH
  High · ANDERSON · 1,051 students · 15:1 ratio
• ANDERSON ELEM.
  Elementary · ANDERSON · 513 students · 12.2:1 ratio
• SOUTHWEST CITY ELEM.
  Elementary · SOUTHWEST CITY · 363 students · 13:1 ratio
• NOEL ELEM.
  Middle · NOEL · 359 students · 13.8:1 ratio
• NOEL PRIMARY
  Elementary · SOUTHWEST CITY · 235 students · 11.8:1 ratio
• ANDERSON MIDDLE
  Middle · ANDERSON · 234 students · 15.6:1 ratio
• PINEVILLE ELEM.
  Middle · NOEL · 121 students · 10.1:1 ratio
• PINEVILLE PRIMARY
  Elementary · ANDERSON · 100 students · 12.5:1 ratio