Built by the Frisco Railroad Company, the nine-story, Chicago style, reinforced concrete and steel structure was the first modern office building erected in Joplin. The Frisco Building was the home of many prominent businesses. In 1923, Wade Kurtz, for example, opened the accounting firm of Baird, Kurtz & Dobson in the Frisco Building. The firm soon became a nationally-recognized authority on accounting and tax issues affecting the mining industry. Kurtz frequently traveled by train to represent the interests of mining clients and to testify in congressional hearings on percentage depletion for lead and zinc. During the height of the railroad era, 26 trains stopped daily at the Joplin terminal. Train service ended in 1955. After urban flight left the Frisco Building vacant and deteriorating, it enjoyed a rebirth as an apartment complex in 2003.