Emporia, Kansas
Encyclopedia
Emporia is a city in and the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Lyon County
Lyon County, Kansas
Lyon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county was named for General Nathaniel Lyon, who was killed at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in the Civil War. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 33,690. Emporia is the largest city and county seat...

, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,916. Emporia lies between Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...

 and Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

 at the intersection of U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean to West Sacramento, California. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near...

 with Interstates 335 and 35
Interstate 35
Interstate 35 is a north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. I-35 stretches from Laredo, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border to Duluth, Minnesota, at Minnesota Highway 61 and 26th Avenue East. Many interstates used to have splits or spurs indicated with suffixed letters , but I-35...

 on the Kansas Turnpike
Kansas Turnpike
The Kansas Turnpike is a freeway-standard toll road that lies entirely within the U.S. state of Kansas. It runs in a general southwest-northeast direction from the Oklahoma border, and passes through several major Kansas cities, including Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence and Kansas City...

. Emporia is the principal city of the Emporia Micropolitan Statistical Area
Emporia micropolitan area
The Emporia Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties in Kansas, anchored by the city of Emporia....

, which includes all of Lyon and Chase
Chase County, Kansas
Chase County is a county located in Central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 2,790. Its county seat and most populous city is Cottonwood Falls. Chase County is part of the Emporia Micropolitan Statistical Area.The county has been the subject...

 counties.

History

Located on upland prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

, Emporia was founded on February 20, 1857, drawing its name from ancient Carthaginian
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...

 Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. Emporia is particularly known for its newspaper, the Emporia Gazette
Emporia Gazette
The Emporia Gazette is a daily newspaper in Emporia, Kansas.The newspaper rose to national attention after William Allen White bought the newspaper for $3,000 in 1895. The paper rose to national prominence and influence in the Republican Party following a White editorial in 1896, "What's the...

, published in the first half of the 20th century by the legendary newspaperman William Allen White
William Allen White
William Allen White was a renowned American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement...

. The paper became the widely perceived model of excellence in small-town journalism.

In 1953, Emporia was the site of the first Veterans Day
Veterans Day
Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day, is an annual United States holiday honoring military veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark...

 observance in the United States. At the urging of local shoe cobbler Alvin J. King, U.S. Representative Edward Rees
Edward Herbert Rees
Edward Herbert Rees was a U.S. Representative from Kansas. Born on a farm near Emporia, Kansas, Rees attended the public schools and the Kansas State Teachers' College at Emporia...

 introduced legislation in The United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 to rename Armistice Day
Armistice Day
Armistice Day is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day...

 as Veterans Day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

 signed the bill into law on October 8, 1954.

On June 8, 1974, an F4
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...

 tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...

 struck Emporia, killing six people, injuring 200 people, and causing $25 million in damages.

The 1987 CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 miniseries Murder Ordained
Murder Ordained
Murder Ordained is 1987 Emmy-nominated CBS miniseries starring JoBeth Williams, Kathy Bates, and Keith Carradine. The telefilm, directed and co-written by Mike Robe, was inspired by real events that occurred in Emporia, Kansas. Much of the principal photography and filming occurred on location in...

 was filmed in Emporia.

Geography

Emporia is located at 38°24′29"N 96°11′13"W (38.408148, -96.187054) in east-central Kansas. It lies along the Kansas Turnpike at its intersection with Interstate 35 and U.S. Highway 50, 108 miles (174 km) southwest of Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...

, 58 miles (93 km) southwest of Topeka, and 87 miles (140 km) northeast of Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...

 on the eastern edge of the Flint Hills
Flint Hills
The Flint Hills, historically known as Bluestem Pastures or Blue Stem Hills, are a band of hills in eastern Kansas stretching into north-central Oklahoma, extending from Marshall County, Kansas and Washington County, Kansas in the north to Cowley County, Kansas and Osage County, Oklahoma in the south...

. According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 10 square miles (25.9 km²), of which, 9.9 square miles (25.6 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) (0.60%) is water. The Neosho River
Neosho River
The Neosho River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. Its tributaries also drain portions of Missouri and Arkansas. The river is about long. Via the Arkansas, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed.- Course :The Neosho's...

 flows along the northern side of the city. The Cottonwood River, one of its tributaries, flows along the city's southern edge and of two large city parks, Peter Pan and Soden's Grove; the two rivers meet near the eastern boundary of Emporia and flow southeast to join the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...

 in Oklahoma.

Climate

The city averages about 60 rainy days per year, 59 days with high temperatures of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher, and 124 days with low temperatures below freezing. The average temperature in January is 29 °F (-2 °C), and in July it is 79 °F (26 °C). Annual snowfall averages 10.2 inches (25.9 cm).

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there were 24,916 people, 9,812 households, and 5,571 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,491.6 inhabitants per square mile (962/km²). There were 11,352 housing units at an average density of 1,135.2 per square mile (440/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 79.2% White
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...

, 3.2% African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

, 3.1% Asian
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

, 0.8% American Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

, 10.5% from some other race, and 3.1% from two or more races. 25.4% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 9,812 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a male householder with no wife present, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.2% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39, and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city, the population was spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 19.7% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males age 18 and over.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,443, and the median income for a family was $47,500. Males had a median income of $32,873 versus $25,821 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $17,485. About 12.0% of families and 22.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.9% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

In addition to Emporia State University
Emporia State University
Emporia State University is a university in the city of Emporia in Lyon County, Kansas, just east of the Flint Hills.- History :...

 and other large public-sector employers such as the city and county governments, the public schools, and the county hospital, Emporia has several large private-sector employers. Previously, a Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is a multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork only behind Brazilian JBS S.A., and annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of...

 beef-packing plant employed more than 2,400 workers. Dolly Madison
Dolly Madison
Dolly Madison is a U.S. bakery brand owned by Hostess Brands, marketing pre-packaged baked snack foods. Bakeries are located throughout the U.S.- Marketing :...

 has a bakery in Emporia. Hopkins Manufacturing Corporation, founded in Emporia in 1953 and recognized in 2003 as the city's Large Employer of the Year, makes products for the automotive aftermarket. The Braum
Braum's
Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores is a family-owned and operated chain of fast-food restaurants and grocery stores based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with a large concentration on dairy products....

 dairy store chain, based in Oklahoma City, originated in Emporia in 1952 under the name Peter Pan. Menu Foods
Menu Foods
Menu Foods Limited, based in Streetsville in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and was the largest maker of wet cat and dog food in North America, with its products sold under 95 brand names, which the company identifies as supermarkets, big box and pet product retailers and wholesalers...

 operates a multi-acre plant in Emporia that manufactures wet dog food.

On January 25, 2008, Tyson unexpectedly announced the layoff of 1,500 workers (more than 60 percent) by March 25, 2008. The company said it needed to move its slaughter operations closer to where the cattle are raised in western Kansas. As the city's largest employer for 37 years, the Tyson plant creates almost 10 percent of the local economy.

Historic structures

Emporia has 13 structures on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. They are the Old Emporia Public Library, the Finney (Warren Wesley) House, the Granada Theater (also known as the Fox Theater), the Harris-Borman House, the Howe (Richard) House, the Keebler-Stone House, the Kress Building, the Mason (Walt) House, the Anderson Carnegie Memorial Library, the Plumb (Mrs. Preston B.) House, the Soden's Grove Bridge, the Soden (Hallie B.) House, and the William Allen White House
William Allen White House
William Allen White House, also known as Red Rocks, was the home of Progressive journalist William Allen White from 1899 until his death in 1944.The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976....

 (also known as Red Rocks).

Transportation

The city is served by the Emporia Municipal Airport
Emporia Municipal Airport
Emporia Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located four nautical miles south of the central business district of Emporia, a city in Lyon County, Kansas, United States.- Facilities and aircraft :...

 as well as the Lyon County Area Transportation (LCAT) municipal bus system. The city once had an Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

 stop and was served by the east and westbound Southwest Chief
Southwest Chief
The Southwest Chief is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 2256-mile BNSF route through the Midwestern and Southwestern United States. It runs from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, passing through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California...

s daily. The station was eliminated in the mid-90s.

Bus

Bus service within the city is provided by LCAT or Lyon County Area Transportation. The agency provides fixed-route bus service to the city of Emporia, and paratransit
Paratransit
Paratransit is an alternative mode of flexible passenger transportation that does not follow fixed routes or schedules. Typically mini-buses are used to provide paratransit service, but also share taxis and jitneys are important providers....

 service to the disabled and the rest of Lyon County
Lyon County, Kansas
Lyon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county was named for General Nathaniel Lyon, who was killed at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in the Civil War. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 33,690. Emporia is the largest city and county seat...

. The buses are a service of Lyon County, with significant support coming from the Kansas Department of Transportation
Kansas Department of Transportation
The Kansas Department of Transportation is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Kansas.-Organization:*Secretary of Transportation...

. The Greyhound Lines has a bus stop in Emporia.

Media

The Emporia Gazette
Emporia Gazette
The Emporia Gazette is a daily newspaper in Emporia, Kansas.The newspaper rose to national attention after William Allen White bought the newspaper for $3,000 in 1895. The paper rose to national prominence and influence in the Republican Party following a White editorial in 1896, "What's the...

is the city's daily newspaper with a circulation of approximately 7,400. In addition, Emporia State University publishes a weekly student newspaper, the Emporia State University Bulletin.

Emporia is a center of broadcast media for east-central Kansas. One AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...

 radio station and ten FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...

 radio stations are licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....

 to and/or broadcast from the city. Emporia is in the Topeka, Kansas
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...

 television market, and one television station, a translator of the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 affiliate in Topeka, broadcasts from the city.

Notable people

  • Clint Bowyer
    Clint Bowyer
    Clint Bowyer is a NASCAR driver. He drives the #15 5 Hour Energy Toyota Camry in the Sprint Cup Series for Michael Waltrip Racing. Early in his career, he drove for Richard Childress Racing. He won the 2008 Nationwide Series championship....

    , Nascar
    NASCAR
    The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...

     driver of the 33 Cheerios
    Cheerios
    Cheerios is a brand of breakfast cereal by General Mills introduced on May 1, 1941 as the first oat-based, ready-to-eat cold cereal. Originally named CheeriOats, the name was changed to Cheerios in 1945 because of a trade name dispute with Quaker Oats. The name fit the "O" shape of the cereal pieces...

     Chevy Impala SS
  • Don Coldsmith
    Don Coldsmith
    Don Coldsmith was an American author of primarily Western fiction. A past president of Western Writers of America, Coldsmith wrote more than 40 books, as well as hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles...

    , author of the fictional Westerns, "Spanish Bit Saga"
  • Melora Creager
    Melora Creager
    Melora Creager, formerly Melora Mather, is an American cellist and singer-songwriter best known for her role as lead singer and chief composer of the cello rock trio Rasputina....

    , frontwoman of Rasputina
    Rasputina
    Rasputina is a cello-driven band based in New York that is renowned for their unconventional and quirky music style as well as their fascination with historical allegories and fashion, especially those pertaining to the Victorian era....

  • R. Lee Ermey
    R. Lee Ermey
    Ronald Lee Ermey is a retired United States Marine Corps drill instructor and actor.Ermey has often played the roles of authority figures, such as his breakout performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in...

    , former U.S. Marine drill instructor, television host and actor
  • Mark Essex
    Mark Essex
    Mark James Robert Essex killed 9 people, including 5 police officers, and wounded 13 others in New Orleans on December 31, 1972 and January 7, 1973.-Background:Mark James Robert Essex was born in Emporia, Kansas...

    , black supremacist who killed 10 people in New Orleans
    New Orleans, Louisiana
    New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

  • Jim Everett
    Jim Everett
    James Samuel Everett III is a retired professional American football quarterback who played for twelve seasons in the National Football League ....

    , former quarterback, National Football League
    National Football League
    The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

  • Thelma Hill
    Thelma Hill
    Thelma Hill was an American silent screen comedian.Born Thelma Floy Hillerman in Emporia, Kansas, she was one of the few Sennett Bathing Beauties to make it into featured roles...

    , silent film comedienne
  • Chad S. Johnson
    Chad S. Johnson
    Chad S. Johnson , a Harvard-educated attorney, served as the Executive Director of National Stonewall Democrats from October 2, 2001 to January 1, 2003...

    , attorney
  • J.L. Lewis, professional golfer
  • Edward Herbert Rees
    Edward Herbert Rees
    Edward Herbert Rees was a U.S. Representative from Kansas. Born on a farm near Emporia, Kansas, Rees attended the public schools and the Kansas State Teachers' College at Emporia...

    , congressman
  • Carl Salser
    Carl Salser
    Carl Walter Salser, Jr. was an American author, businessperson and educator.Salser was born in Emporia, Kansas. He grew up in Corvallis, Oregon after his father left Kansas State Teacher's College to become Dean of Education at Oregon State College...

    , author, businessman and educator
  • Dean Smith
    Dean Smith
    Dean Edwards Smith is a retired American head coach of men's college basketball. Originally from Emporia, Kansas, Smith has been called a “coaching legend” by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Smith is best known for his successful 36-year coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel...

    , former North Carolina Tarheels basketball coach
  • Keith Waldrop
    Keith Waldrop
    Keith Waldrop is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, and has translated the work of Claude Royet-Journoud, Anne-Marie Albiach, and Edmond Jabès, among others. A recent translation is Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal .With his wife Rosmarie Waldrop, he co-edits Burning Deck Press...

    , author and translator
  • William Allen White
    William Allen White
    William Allen White was a renowned American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement...

    , author and newspaper editor


Fictional resident
  • Ray Krebbs
    Ray Krebbs
    Raymond "Ray" Krebbs, was a character in the popular American television series Dallas, played by Steve Kanaly . Ray Krebbs is the illegitimate son of Texas oil baron Jock Ewing and U.S. Army nurse Margaret Hunter....

    , character in Dallas
    Dallas (TV series)
    Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...


Further reading


External links

City
Media
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