Sedalia, Missouri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This is about the city in central Missouri; for other places with this name, see Sedalia (disambiguation).
Sedalia is a city located in Pettis County, Missouri, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 50 and U.S. Highway 65. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 20,339. It is the county seat of Pettis CountyGR6 and the largest city near Whiteman Air Force Base. As of 2005, its estimated population was 20,430. The Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Pettis County.
Sedalia was once the residence of the famous ragtime composer Scott Joplin. Joplin and ragtime music are honored in a yearly Ragtime Festival, usually held in June.
The Katy Trail passes through the city. The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, located on the campus of State Fair Community College, is nationally known and has been the home of many art exhibitions from well known artists around the world. Smith-Cotton High School, Sacred Heart High School, and St. Paul's Lutheran are located in Sedalia.
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[edit] Climate
Sedalia has a typical temperate climate. As with most continental climates, the micropolitan area has four seasons. Springs here are noted for their rainy days and variable temperatures. Thunderstorms are common and tornadoes occur during this time of year. Summers are usually hot and dry, with droughts occurring during several summers. Autumns are usually cool and rainy, although several days of warm weather are not uncommon. Winters are generally cold, with accumulating snow several days of the winter season. Although not as common, ice storms can and do occur as well.
[edit] State Fair
Every year in late summer the Missouri State Fair is held in Sedalia. Many singers and actors make the annual trip to the fair.
Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and other presidents have given speeches on the fairgrounds, though not during the State Fair.
In 1974, the Missouri State Fairgrounds was the host to The Ozark Music Festival which was one of the largest but least remembered music festivals of the 1970s. While the plan was for a pop/rock/bluegrass festival with no more than 50,000 tickets sold, there was an influx of about 184,000 fans and many rock bands that strained the capacity of the fairgrounds and the city. Some estimates have put the crowd count at 350,000 people which would make this one of the largest music events (Rock Festivals) in history.
[edit] Cuisine
A historic place to eat here is the Wheel Inn Drive In, which opened in 1947 and still serves its famous "gooberburger," a hamburger with peanut butter slathered on the patty. The common opinion is that this actually tastes much better than it sounds and is a delicacy. The Wheel Inn will close its doors in September 2007 due to an intersection expansion.
Another historic restaurant here is Eddie's Drive-In. Built like a classic American diner, Eddie's serves classic fare such as hamburgers and french fries. Eddie's was featured on Food Network when Al Roker came to visit the drive-in.
El Tapatio Mexican restaurant is a Sedalia tradition. Owned by the Perez family for several years, this authentic Mexican restaurant features a full cantina and live music and dancing on the weekends.
La Maire's Seafood Restaurant is again different. This small yet well known restaurant is the home of cajun and seafood, serving everything from fried catfish to alligator. Raven-Symone and her family stopped into this restaurant on the way to a State Fair performance. A food enthusiast herself, she praised the restaurant for its unique southern flavor.
One of the newest places to eat and relax is the New "Malone's On Main!" located in the historic district of downtown Sedalia. Malone's is notable for being located in a building that was built originally in 1880 as the Anheiser Busch Bottling Works. It was the only bottling works outside of St Louis and operated for nearly 20 years and is on the National Historic Registry. Malone has brought back much of the original interior design including a bar front and back bar that is over 80 years old and original stamped metal ceilings over 100 years old.[1]
[edit] Cinema
In the film The Day After, Sedalia is destroyed when minuteman missile silos around the area come under attack. Although all Minuteman Missiles in Missouri were dismantled in the 1990s and this scenario is not likely now, this movie was released many years before the missiles were dismantled, and its release led to mass hysteria.
Two of the most recognized films in which Sedalia is featured are the 1977 movie Heroes, starring Henry Winkler and Harrison Ford, and the 1977 film Scott Joplin, starring Billy Dee Williams.
Sedalia was mentioned briefly in the motion picture MASH, when it was announced that Sedalia's VFW unit had sent goodies to the 4077 in Korea.
The classic Western show Rawhide was based on the cattle drives from Sedalia to Colorado.
[edit] History
The area that became Sedalia was founded by General George R. Smith in 1857 with the name Sedville. Until it was incorporated in 1860 as Sedalia, the city existed only on paper. General Smith would later go on to found nearby Smithton, Missouri.
Both Sedville and Sedalia were named after Smith's daughter, Sarah "Sed" Smith-Cotton. According to local lore, the town council changed the name to Sedalia in part because "towns that end in -ville don't amount to anything." (Lawrence Ditton)
Sedalia's early prosperity was directly related to the railroad industry with tracks and machine shops for the Missouri Pacific and Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad lines. Sedalia was also an important railhead for the Texas cattle drive of 1866.
Sedalia's library was built in 1895 and was the first of the Carnegie libraries in Missouri. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its magnificent white pillars distinguish it from the Victorian style architecture around the area.
[edit] Sister Cities
Sedalia has an unofficial sister city, McComb, Mississippi. The community of Sedalia struck a friendship with the small southern town after the community pulled together to send rescue workers and supplies down south to McComb after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the nation.
[edit] Geography
Sedalia is located at 38°42'11" North, 93°13'52" West (38.702918, -93.231147)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31 km² (12 mi²), none of which is covered by water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 20,339 people in the city, organized into 8,628 households and 5,228 families. The population density is 656.6/km² (1,700.8/mi²). There are 9,419 housing units at an average density of 304.1/km² (787.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 88.62% White, 4.95% African American, 0.40% Asian, 0.39% Native American, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.75% from other races, and 1.86% from two or more races. 5.55% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 8,628 households out of which 28.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% are married couples living together, 12.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.4% are non-families. 33.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 14.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.32 and the average family size is 2.94.
In the city the population is spread out with 24.7% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 86.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $28,641, and the median income for a family is $34,938. Males have a median income of $28,208 versus $19,520 for females. The per capita income for the city is $15,931. 15.3% of the population and 12.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 20.8% of those under the age of 18 and 10.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- Sedalia Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Sedalia Chamber of Commerce
- Map and information on the Sedalis trailhead for the Katy Trail
- Katy Trail Maps, Events, Businesses, and more
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
