Forest Park Cemetery is unique among Joplin's municipal cemeteries for its long history of changed ownership and as the most recently acquired of the city's four cemeteries. An early citizen of what would become Joplin donated land to Shoal Creek Baptist Church to establish a church and develop a cemetery. The church later split into two factions, with the Joplin faction acquiring the land in 1884. Forest Park Cemetery was laid out in 1888. Before then, it was known as Old Baptist Cemetery, Turk Cemetery, or Kirk Cemetery. The City of Joplin acquired Forest Park Cemetery in 1988.