Joplin is likely to have first lived in Sedalia as a teenager before moving to St. Louis , so he would have known the town which in the 1890s had a population of approximately 14,000 and was the centre of commerce and transport for the region .
Joplin is likely to have first lived in Sedalia as a teenager before moving to St. Louis , so he would have known the town . 
 In the 1890s Sedalia was a town of about 14,000 and the centre of commerce and transport for the region .