The financial decline of the Great Depression began during the 1920s in Pettis County. The railroad strike of 1922 left men out of work; stores and businesses closed as a result. In 1925, the Bank of Hughesville closed. Other county banks began to foreclose on farm mortgages as grain and livestock prices plummeted. In 1926, both the Farmers and Mechanics Bank and the American Exchange Bank in Sedalia closed.
By October 1929, when the stock market crashed, the city of Sedalia had already felt the financial pinch. That summer, the city had appealed to the Sedalia Clearing House for financial advice. The Clearing House recommended curtailing city expenditures and specifically proposed that the police department cut back its budget by reducing the size of the police force.
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