Maple Leaf Park honors the living legacy of Scott Joplin and Sedalia, known as "The Cradle of Ragtime." In Sedalia, Joplin premiered ragtime dance music at Wood's Opera House, was a member of the Queen City Cornet Band in September 1896, attended George R. Smith College, and became known as "The King of Ragtime." His Maple Leaf Rag and his 1899 contract with publisher John Stark are part of this history, as is the Maple Leaf Club, which occupied the second floor of Abbot's Recreation Parlor until the building was destroyed by fire in the late 1950s.