SEDALIA

city, seat of Pettis county, west-central Missouri, U.S., 75 miles (121 km) eastsoutheast of Kansas City. Established in 1857 by George R. Smith and originally named Sedville for his daughter Sarah (nicknamed Sed), it developed along the Missouri Pacific Railroad right-of-way. It became a Federal military post during the American Civil War and was raided by the Confederate general Sterling Price. Generals Nathaniel Lyon and John C. Frmont outfitted Union forces there in 1861. Renamed Sedalia, it was an important railhead for the Texas cattle drive of 1866. With the arrival of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, large railroad shops were built in Sedalia. The city is now an agricultural shipping and distributing point and has diversified manufactures, including shoes, clothing, tools, and home appliances. Because composer Scott Joplin wrote and played Maple Leaf Rag at the town's Maple Leaf Saloon, the ragtime craze is supposed to have begun here. Sedalia is the site of the Missouri State Fair and the State Fair Community College (1966). Whiteman Air Force Base is nearby. Inc. 1864. Pop. (1990) 19,800; (1994 est.) 20,255.