The historic Treloar Mercantile Building was donated to Missouri State Parks and is now the first State Parks Visitors and Welcome Center on the 237-mile Katy Trail. The building has become the “Ted and Pat Jones Welcome Center” in honor of the founders of the Katy Trail.
A grand opening celebration was held in Treloar on April 26, 2025. The last Saturday in April is celebrated as Katy Trail Founder’s Day to commemorate the grand opening of the trail in Rocheport in 1990. Representatives from Missouri State Parks, the Department of Conservation, Warren County, and supporters of the trail since its inception attended the official ribbon-cutting. The new welcome center will be open from April through October, providing a place for trail riders and visitors to have a cold drink, sit in the shade, and learn about the history of the local area and the story of how the Katy Railroad became a trail.
Across the street from the Welcome Center is Burkhardt Grove, a planting of native Missouri trees. The pocket arboretum, originally planted in 2020, features bur oak, sycamore, serviceberry, persimmon, Kentucky coffee tree, river birch, and paw paw trees. The grove was also donated to Missouri State Parks.
