History and Bicycling in Sedalia

We had a play day yesterday. Jim got the bicycles off the car and put air in the tires, and we pedaled off to the Katy trail. It was a sunny, gorgeous day and we had a great time getting a little bit of exercise and learning some history. So, why is it called the Katy? This is the old MKT railroad. The Missouri, Kansas, Texas railroad. 'Miss Katy' became the spokesperson, promoting rail travel in the late 1800s. The dining cars and sleeping cars made it quite a luxurious way to travel. The intersection of the MKT and the Missouri-Pacific railroad is what put Sedalia on the map ... literally. An enterprising man named George Smith bought the land in 1860 when he learned that the railroads would go right thru it. He set about to found the town and named it after his daughter 'Sarah', nicknamed Sed. What started out as Sedville, became known as Sedalia and was a booming railroad town from about 1870 - 1930. The train depot in downtown Sedalia is now a museum. Sedalia was also home to Scott Joplin and the Ragtime music he created. Scott Joplin was a black man who moved from Texas to Sedalia, Missouri to attend college here. A pretty amazing story for the 1860s. The Scott Joplin festival is visited by people the world over. It starts next week, just a little too late for us to stick around. Here is a video of the Maple Leaf Rag - probably most famous of Joplin's creations. But, enough of history from the 1800s - Sedalia is also famous for a rock concert that rivaled Woodstock! Called the Ozark Music Festival, attendance estimates go as high as 350,000! With performances by Jefferson Starship, Eagles, and Marshall Tucker Band among many others, the main attraction was the hippie culture that took over the Missouri State Fairgrounds for four days in July of 1974. Picture from the aftermath of the Music Festival (from the website linked above): Yes! That's the same Missouri State Fairgrounds where we have been parked this week along with 700 other RVs! These RVers were a much more subdued crowd I'm sure - but many of us are still rock 'n rollers at heart! Picture of the aftermath of the Escapade Rally at the same fairgrounds.

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