During this year’s Aug. 10 celebration of Vandalia’s 150th, the Vandalia Area Historical Society asked attendees to vote on naming the town’s newest mural located at 100 S. Jefferson St.
Overwhelmingly, the selection was “Journey Through Progress.” It’s a fitting name for a display of a railroad town and the town’s succession of events over the past 150 years.
In support of its name, the following wording was partially painted onto the drifting pages of the Vandalia Leader located at the top of the mural—150 Year Journey Through Progress
It was a vision of one man, Aaron McPike, who brought the railroad across the Missouri prairie that started the long journey through progress for a town, which would eventually be named Vandalia.
Prosperity rewarded those who shared McPike’ s vision of a town on a prairie plagued with biting flies and rattlesnakes. Hardships were abundant, but the rewards encouraged growth. Those forward-thinking pioneers recognized opportunity and built a town that stood for more than 150 years on the backs of coal, fireclay, apparel, and countless small and highly successful businesses, yet all soundly set on a foundation of agriculture.
The results of McPike’ s vision is a community of friends that preserved the rich value of small-town living. A town with heart. A town with soul and human spirt rooted in living life with purpose and true friendships. A community that joined arms with their neighboring town to build a solid and high-spirited educational system with proven athletic programs launching our newest generations to a higher level, with confidence and optimism. A community that will continuously protect these core values, along with overarching greater value of living in the United States of America.
Uncle Aaron McPike’s vision will journey on for centuries with refreshing stops, like the 2024 Sesquicentennial, that reflected on the community’s history and demonstrates respect for those that built the community we enjoy and live in today. So, as we continue this journey through progress, listen for that train’s whistle and bell as it passes through Vandalia, as it’s the same sounds heard by all that helped build, “The Queen of the Prairie.”
Please, join the citizens of Vandalia this weekend—Sept. 27 and 28—for a high energy lineup of events to continue the celebration of Vandalia ‘s Sesquicentennial.