Newton County, Missouri

Neosho's National Fish Hatchery and the Tri-State mining district - from the Neosho National Fish Hatchery (the oldest federal fish hatchery in the United States, established in 1888 - Neosho's cold spring-fed waters made it the ideal location for the nation's first federal hatchery, which continues operating today) to Newton County's position in the Tri-State Mining District (the zinc and lead mining region spanning Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma that was one of the most productive metal mining areas in the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries) and Crowder College's regional education mission.