Sedalia

By Becky Carr Imhauser

Sedalia, now a bustling hub of central Missouri, began as a mere interruption to a vast expanse of prairie grass. George R. Smith purchased 337 acres of treeless prairie in 1856, leading his neighbors to question his sanity. When he persuaded the Pacific Railroad to locate a depot on his land, his image and that of his Sedville began to change. Sedville, later Sedalia, soon became the county seat of Pettis County and earned a reputation as the Queen of the Prairies. Sedalia chronicles the transformation of a rugged prairie town to the home of the Missouri State Fair and host to the international Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. Sedalia s history is illustrated through more than 200 vintage images, showing the people, places, and events that shaped the town.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Oct 10, 2007
• ISBN: 9781439634882

Becky Carr Imhauser

Rebecca Carr Imhauser is a descendant of one of Pettis County�s first settlers, Thomas R. Wasson, who gave land for the county�s first permanent seat of government. A retired magazine editor, Imhauser is a college English instructor. She has written four books about Sedalia history, as well as numerous articles for national magazines and newspapers.

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INTRODUCTION

In October 1833, Sarah Smith nestled against her mother’s side in the deep-cushioned carriage seat. She looked like a typical two year old settling in for a long journey.

The yellow carriage was part of an extended family caravan, crossing 700 rough, rugged miles from Kentucky to Missouri. Her grandfather David Thomson led the way on horseback. Her mother, grandmother, sister, and aunts rode with her in the commodious coach. Her uncles followed with ox wagons, carrying the family’s household possessions.

They were headed west to acreage Thomson had purchased in 1831. He believed Missouri was the wave of the future. The state offered inexpensive, plentiful land he felt would enable his children to establish businesses. He had persuaded several of his sons-in-law to move their families to the new state, including his granddaughter’s father, George R. Smith.

The carriage reached its central Missouri destination in November 1833. Sarah and her family alighted at a small settlement on the banks of Muddy Creek in Pettis County. This was the end of the journey for Sarah’s caravan, but the beginning of the story of Sedalia—the city her father founded and named for her.

Note: the term Ohio Avenue is used for consistency throughout this book. However, the word street frequently was used in conjunction with Ohio in early printed materials and remains in conversational use today.

George R. Smith and his family lived in log cabins for several years after moving to Pettis County. In 1849, they moved to a three-story brick home (illustrated above) in Georgetown. They remained there until Smith founded Sedville, or Sedalia.

One

ALMOST SEDVILLE

When George R. Smith approached age 30, he was ready for a fresh start. The Kentucky resident had lost most of his inheritance during the financial depression of 1828 and 1829. Smith and his wife, Melita, and daughters, Martha and Sarah, moved to Missouri in 1833. They initially settled five miles northwest of what now is Sedalia. Soon the Smiths relocated a few miles southeast to Georgetown, which became the first permanent Pettis County seat. While many considered Georgetown a promising city, Smith harbored concern about its future. He believed the city was destined for failure if it did not become a stop on the Pacific (later the Missouri Pacific) Railroad. When Smith could not convince the people of Georgetown to invest in bringing the railroad to the city, he started his own town. He purchased 503 acres of prairie land four miles south of Georgetown and filed a plat on November 30, 1857.

George R. Smith named his new city after his youngest daughter, Sarah, or Sed (right), since he already had named a boat after his older daughter, Martha (left). Shortly after selecting the name Sedville, Smith visited Josiah Dent in St. Louis. Dent expressed interest in the new city, but dismay at its name. The ‘ville’ was decidedly objectionable, as it did not comport with the large and flourishing city of his dreams, Smith’s daughter Martha wrote. Dent suggested the suffix alia, in keeping with larger cities such as Philadelphia.

Before Smith could move his family to Sedalia, he had to acquire logs to build a new home. Lumber was not available on his prairie, so he purchased timber along Flat Creek and erected a sawmill. He used its first lumber to build his cabin, located at what became 901 South Washington Avenue. His family moved from their three-story brick home in Georgetown to this cabin in 1859.

The Smiths experienced two life-changing events in April 1861: the beginning of the Civil War and the death of Melita. Smith always remembered his wife’s influence, and 15 years after her death, he said, She is as present with me now as when she was living. If it had not been for her, I should not have been worth anything, either morally or financially. She had more wisdom than any woman I ever knew.

Albert Ruger drew this bird’s-eye view of Sedalia in 1869. It illustrates the city’s phenomenal growth, largely due to the railroad.

In 1870, the Missouri-Kansas and Texas Railroad (MK&T, or Katy) established shops in northeast Sedalia. One of its roundhouses is illustrated at left. By 1876, the railroad employed 203 men in the shops and 60 men in its Sedalia offices. New Katy shops were built in 1898 on 60 acres between Clinton Road and Twentieth Street.

The $40,000 Katy depot was erected in 1896 at East Third Street and Thompson Avenue. By 1988, the once-bustling station had been abandoned by the railroad and acquired by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. A $1 million renovation began in 1998 and was completed in 2001. The Sedalia Katy Depot Historic Site now houses the Sedalia Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Sedalia Heritage Foundation, Depot Store, and Railroad Heritage Museum.