Katy Trail State Park became one of the most successful rails-to-trails conversion projects in the United States during its 25-year history and, as the longest developed rail-trail in the country, was inducted into the national Rail-Trail Hall of Fame. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, known as the Katy, began in the 1870s and ran through much of the Missouri River valley by the 1890s. Although it arrived later than the Pacific Railroad, which ran from St. Louis to Jefferson City by 1856, and the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, which became the first cross-state railroad in 1859, the Katy provided a vital link between central Missouri agriculture and the developing American southwest. It supported towns along the corridor and helped new towns such as Mokane and Tebbetts spring up quickly. In the fall of 1986, severe flooding washed out several miles of track, and because repairs were costly, railroad use was declining, and the MKT company was in financial trouble, operations ceased. On Oct. 4, 1986, trains 101 and 102 made the final run from Sedalia to Machens. The National Trails System Act Amendments of 1983 created railbanking to preserve rail corridors by converting them to public trails while keeping them available for future rail use. After the Katy ended service, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources received a Certificate of Interim Trail use for the corridor from Sedalia to Machens in April 1987 and developed the route into a major trail. First called the Missouri River State Trail, the initial section opened in April 1990 between Rocheport and McBaine, followed in August 1990 by a section from Augusta to just northeast of Defiance. In 1991, the trail was officially renamed Katy Trail State Park. The corridor from St. Charles to just past Sedalia was developed by 1996, a donated Union Pacific Railroad corridor allowed extension to Clinton with the Sedalia-to-Clinton section opening in September 1999, and the final 12-mile section between St. Charles and Machens opened in 2011, completing the 240-mile trail. Katy Trail State Park was made possible by the support of Ted and Pat Jones, whose initial donation of $2.2 million helped acquire the MKT Railroad corridor and develop the park. After Ted Jones's death in 1990, Pat Jones and Edward Jones continued supporting the trail, including reconstruction after the flood of 1993, assistance for the Sedalia-to-Clinton opening ceremony, and funding for full-color brochures. Pat Jones, an active member and past president of the Missouri Parks Association, continued to support the Katy Trail and state parks generally.