Katy Trail State Park became one of the most successful rail-to-trail conversion projects in the United States over its 25-year history and, as the nation’s longest developed rail-trail, was inducted into the national Rail-Trail Hall of Fame. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, known as the Katy, began in the 1870s and by the 1890s ran through much of the Missouri River valley. Although it came later than earlier Missouri rail lines such as the Pacific Railroad and the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, it became a vital link between central Missouri agriculture and the developing American Southwest, supporting towns along the corridor and helping new towns such as Mokane and Tebbetts emerge. In the fall of 1986, severe flooding washed out several miles of track, and because of repair costs, declining railroad use, and the company’s financial trouble, the MKT ceased operations. On Oct. 4, 1986, trains 101 and 102 made the final run from Sedalia to Machens. The National Trails System Act Amendments of 1983 had created railbanking to preserve rail corridors by converting them to public trails while keeping them available for possible future rail use. After the railroad ended operations, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources obtained a Certificate of Interim Trail Use for the Sedalia-to-Machens corridor in April 1987 and developed the route into a major trail. First called the Missouri River State Trail, the initial section opened between Rocheport and McBaine in April 1990, 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 in honor of its railroad history. By 1996, the corridor from St. Charles to just past Sedalia had been developed, and after a Union Pacific Railroad donation the trail was extended to Clinton, with the Sedalia-to-Clinton section opening in September 1999. The final 12-mile section between St. Charles and Machens opened in 2011, completing the 240-mile trail. The trail attracts an estimated 400,000 users annually. Its creation and growth depended heavily on community support, especially Ted and Pat Jones, whose initial $2.2 million donation made it possible to acquire the MKT corridor and develop the park. After Ted Jones’s death in 1990, Pat Jones and Edward Jones continued to support the trail through reconstruction funding after the 1993 flood, support for ceremonies and brochures, and broader advocacy for state parks. Other communities and conservation organizations also helped expand access and support early development, including trail spurs, the Jefferson City Katy Spur, Boonville’s early local section, and management of the Turner Katy Trail Shelter in Tebbetts.