Noel is a city in McDonald County, Missouri, United States, along the Elk River.

[3] The city is in the southwest corner of Missouri, just north of the Arkansas border.

[6] The town was founded after the Kansas City, Pittsburg, and Gulf Railroad arrived.

[7] Noel has capitalized on its Christmas-themed name, along with North Pole, Alaska, Christmas, Michigan, Santa Claus, Indiana, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

This practice became popular in the late 1940s when Kate Smith, a radio and television singer, began telling the "Noel Story" during her broadcasts.

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.

[11] In 2011, 130 Muslim employees stopped working temporarily after they were allegedly discouraged from praying five times a day for fear of low productivity.

[12] A mosque was established in 2009, and an African grocery store which sells headscarves and rugs in 2010; both are located on Main Street.

[11] In 2017, the mayor, John Lafley, said that the Muslim refugees "want to practice their Sharia law here, and that's one thing the city won't tolerate.

[13] A few days after the fire, the Islamic Society of Joplin launched a fundraising campaign to find a new home for the mosque.

[14] Noel is in southwestern McDonald County, 3 miles (5 km) north of the Arkansas border.

Missouri Route 90 passes through the city as its Main Street, leading east 13 miles (21 km) to Jane and west 8 miles (13 km) to Southwest City next to the Oklahoma border.

The racial makeup of the city was 31.2% White, 16.7% Black or African American, 2.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% Asian, 10.0% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 17.3% some other race, and 21.3% from two or more races.

Public education in Noel is administered by McDonald County R-1 School District.