Katy Trail - Tebbetts, MO - Rails to Trails on Waymarking.com

County of marker: Callaway County
Location of marker: CR-4011 & Katy Trail State Park Trailhead, Tebbetts
Marker erected: 2010
Marker erected by: Missouri Department of Natural Resources

NOTE: I was asked to clarify the term "Trailhead". I guess back east it is only used for the beginning and end of a trail. Here in Missouri each site with a pavilion rest bench is called a "trailhead" Using eastern terms it would be called an entry point. On the Katy Trail there are over 50 entry points without the pavilion, why we use the terms we do when the pavilion is present

"A steamboat town known as Hord or Hord's Landing was founded near the river in 1881. When the railroad came through the area in 1893, most of the town migrated across the floodplain to the stie that is now Tebbetts. Tebbetts was named for Louis B. Tebbetts, a railroad officer with the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT or "Katy"). Naming railroad towns after company officials was a common practice. Other examples include Peers and Gore, two communities on the east end of the trail." ~ Missouri Department of Natural Resources

The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT)
Begun in the 1870s, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, also known as the Katy, ran through much of the Missouri River valley by the 1890s. With the Pacific Railroad running from St. St. Louis to Jefferson City by 1856 and the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad becoming the first cross-state railroad in 1859, the Katy was a relative late comer to the railroad game. However, it provided a vital link between the agriculture of central Missouri and the quickly developing American southwest. The Katy added to Missouri's prosperity, supporting towns along the corridor and causing several new towns, such Mokane and Tebbetts, to spring up almost overnight.

The Katy Ceases Operation
In the fall of 1986, the Katy experienced severe flooding that washed out several miles of track. Due to the cost of repair, the fact that railroad use was in decline, and the company was in financial trouble, the company decided to cease operations. On Oct. 4, 1986, trains 101 and 102 became the very last trains to use the corridor and the Katy ceased operations on its route from Sedalia to Machens.

The Railroad Amendment
The National Trails System Act Amendments of 1983 provided that railroad corridors no longer needed for active rail service can be banked for future transportation needs and used on an interim basis for recreational trails. When the Katy Railroad ceased operations, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources filed for a certificate of interim trail use for the corridor from Sedalia to Machens and it was granted in April 1987. The department used the opportunity to develop one of the most successful rails-to-trails conversions in the United States.

The Development of Katy Trail State Park
The first section of the trail from Rocheport to McBaine opened in April on 1990. In August of 1990, another section from Augusta to jut northeast of Defiance opened. The rail corridor from St. Charles to just past Sedalia was developed by 1996. Through a donation from the Union Pacific Railroad, the department then extended the trail to Clinton, opening the section between Sedalia and Clinton in September of 1999. Funds from the Missouri Department of Transportation will be used for construction of the final section of Katy Trail from St. Charles to Machens. Future plans include the Rock Island Trail-Katy Connector, which will connect the trails at Windsor to Pleasant Hill" Missouri State Parks, Department of Natural Resources