Tebbetts to N. Jefferson - Tebbetts, MO
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member YoSam.
N 38° 37.264 W 091° 57.552
15S E 590604 N 4275241
Today's North Jefferson is an area once the town of Cedar City...wiped away by the Great Flood of 1993.
Waymark Code: WMT44M
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 09/22/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member Geo Ferret
Views: 0

County of marker: Callaway County
Location of marker: CR-4011 & Katy Trail State Park Trailhead, Tebbetts
Marker erected: 2000
Marker erected by: Missouri Department of Natural Resources

"The distance from Tebbetts to North Jefferson is 12 miles. Katy Trail State Park passes through Wainwright, which was nemed after a St. Louis financier who helped establish the Missouri, Kansas & Eastern Railroad, later part of the Katy. Although the trail still parallels the Missouri River, it is closer to another mode of transportation -- Missouri Highway 94. Bluffs are on the right side of the trail with an agricultural landscape on the left.

"Côte Sans Dressein (milepost 134) or "hill without design (purpose)" runs parallel to the Missouri River. It is about a mile from the trail (on the left) and is a mile long ridge, 200 yards wide at the base and 150 feet high. Côte Hill, as it's known locally, is composed of dolomite. This "lost hill" was probably once connected to the bluffs on the south side of the Missouri River. French Canadians settled the Côte Sans Dresein area in 1808, when it was the westernmost settlement in the United States.

"In 1821, the commission to chose a state capital site wanted Côte Sans Dresein as the location. It fit the constitutional requirement of being within 40 miles of the mouth of the Osage River and on the banks of the Missouri River. The General Assembly selected what is now Jefferson City instead. Two of the reasons given for not selecting Côte Sans Dresein were controversy over land speculators and uncertainty of land ownership. A flood destroyed the village in 1844.

History of Mark:
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.



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