Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Sedalia

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Sedalia

Sedalia’s post office opened in 1872, and 70% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Santa Fe Railway Water Tank. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1940 on, and the census since 2000.

1872first post office
1on the National Register
70%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sedalia’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sedalia began

When was Sedalia founded?

1872

The Sedalia post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 211 in 20002020 census: 177154 years
Founding year: the first Sedalia post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Sedalia’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Sedalia’s homes were built before 1938.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · The story

How Sedalia came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Sedalia.

Read it all →

The Sedalia post office has been in operation since 1872. The community was named after Sedalia, Missouri.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Sedalia, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s12 items
ALCOVE BETWEEN CHAMBERS ONE AND TWO - VIEW LOOKING FROM CHAMBER NUMBER ONE - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933ALCOVE BETWEEN CHAMBERS ONE AND TWO - VIEW LOOKING FR…BARN - NORTHSIDE OF HOUSE HABS, COLO, 18-SED.V, 2M-1 - Cheese Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933BARN - NORTHSIDE OF HOUSE HABS, COLO, 18-SED.V, 2M-1 …BATH NUMBER SIX FOR GUEST CHAMBER - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933BATH NUMBER SIX FOR GUEST CHAMBER - Highlands Ranch, …BATH NUMBER SIX FOR GUEST CHAMBER - SECOND FLOOR - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933BATH NUMBER SIX FOR GUEST CHAMBER - SECOND FLOOR - Hi…BATH NUMBER TWO FOR CHAMBER NUMBER TWO - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933BATH NUMBER TWO FOR CHAMBER NUMBER TWO - Highlands Ra…BLACKSMITH SHOP - VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST HABS COLO, 18-SED.V, 1N-1 - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933BLACKSMITH SHOP - VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST HABS COLO, 1…BLACKSMITH SHOP - VIEW OF INTERIOR HABS, COLO, 18-SED.V, 1N-2 - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933BLACKSMITH SHOP - VIEW OF INTERIOR HABS, COLO, 18-SED…BULL BARN - VIEW LOOKING NORTHEAST HABS COLO, 18-SED.V, 1D-1 - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933BULL BARN - VIEW LOOKING NORTHEAST HABS COLO, 18-SED.…BUNKHOUSE - VIEW LOOKING NORTHEAST HABS COLO, 18-SED.V, 2E-1 - Cheese Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933BUNKHOUSE - VIEW LOOKING NORTHEAST HABS COLO, 18-SED.…BUNKHOUSE - VIEW LOOKING NORTHEAST HABS, COLO, 18-SED V, 2H-1 - Cheese Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933BUNKHOUSE - VIEW LOOKING NORTHEAST HABS, COLO, 18-SED…BUNKHOUSE - VIEW LOOKING SOUTHWEST HABS, COLO, 18-SED.V, 1K-1 - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933BUNKHOUSE - VIEW LOOKING SOUTHWEST HABS, COLO, 18-SED…CHAMBER NUMBER TWO - SECOND FLOOR - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way1933CHAMBER NUMBER TWO - SECOND FLOOR - Highlands Ranch, …
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Timeline

Sedalia, 1872 to 1940

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1872Post officeThe Sedalia post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1906BuiltSanta Fe Railway Water Tank is built
  5. 1933In the archiveALCOVE BETWEEN CHAMBERS ONE AND TWO - VIEW LOOKING FROM CHAMBER NUMBER ONE - Highlands Ra…
  6. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Sedalia on the map, 1940 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Sedalia. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Sedalia on the 1940 USGS mapSedalia on the 1965 USGS mapSedalia on the 1980 USGS mapSedalia on the 1994 USGS map1940Castle Rock sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Sedalia.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

ALCOVE BETWEEN CHAMBERS ONE AND TWO - VIEW LOOKING FROM CHAMBER NUMBER ONE - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way
Retake this viewALCOVE BETWEEN CHAMBERS ONE AND TWO - VIEW LOOKING FROM CHAMBER NUMBER ONE - Highlands Ranch, 161 Holman Way, 1933

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sedalia’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Sedalia

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2003
Santa Fe Railway Water Tank
Santa Fe Railway Water Tank, built 1906
Structures

Architectural styles listings

Railroad Water Tank1
Santa Fe Railway Water TankRailroad Water Tank · Built 1906

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Sedalia, census by census

010020020002020Peak: 211

Between 177 and 211 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sedalia’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Sedalia

Nobody well known was born in Sedalia itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Ross LynchAmerican actor and singer · b. 1995
Dave GrusinAmerican composer, arranger, producer, and pian… · b. 1934
E
Ethan HorvathAmerican soccer player · b. 1995
Mallory SwansonAmerican soccer player · b. 1998
Madisen BeatyAmerican actress · b. 1995
S
Sheri S. TepperAmerican science fiction, horror and mystery no… · b. 1929
Help out

Finish Sedalia’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewALCOVE BETWEEN CHAMBERS ONE AND TWO - V…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Sedalia’s history

What year was Sedalia founded?

The Sedalia post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Sedalia?

One place: the Santa Fe Railway Water Tank (listed 2003).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.