Topeka is the capital
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
of the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of
KansasKansas 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...
and the
county seatA 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
Shawnee CountyShawnee County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States of America. Its most populous city, Topeka, is the state capital and county seat. The county's population was 177,934 for the 2010 census...
. It is situated along the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the
CentralThe Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States and Western United States as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions of the Southern United States; the term is also sometimes used...
United StatesThe 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 127,473. The Topeka
Metropolitan Statistical AreaThe Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of five counties in northeastern Kansas, anchored by the city of Topeka...
, which includes Shawnee,
JacksonJackson County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 13,462. Its county seat and most populous city is Holton...
,
JeffersonJefferson County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 19,126. Its county seat is Oskaloosa, and its most populous city is Valley Falls...
,
OsageOsage County is a county located in east-central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 16295. Its county seat is Lyndon, and its most populous city is Osage City. The county along with Shawnee, Jackson, Jefferson, and Wabaunsee counties is...
, and
WabaunseeWabaunsee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 7,053. Its county seat is Alma. It is part of the Topeka, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area...
counties, had an estimated population of 230,824 in the year 2009. The city is well known for the landmark United States Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson and declared
segregationRacial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
in public schools on account of race to be unconstitutional. Three ships of the US Navy have been named
USS TopekaUSS Topeka, named after the state capital Topeka, Kansas, may be any one of these United States Navy ships:, a gunboat bought in England 1898, originally built as Diogenes by Howaldtswerke in Kiel and in periodic use until 1929., a light cruiser of World War II, recommissioned in 1960 as the guided...
in honor of the city.
Topeka means "to dig good potatoes" in the languages of the
KansaThe Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
and the Ioway. The potato referred to is the prairie potato (
Psoralea esculentaPsoralea esculenta is an herbaceous perennial plant native to prairies and dry woodlands of central North America, which bears a starchy tuberous root edible as a root vegetable. English names for the plant include tipsin, teepsenee, breadroot, breadroot scurf pea, pomme blanche, and prairie turnip...
), a perennial herb which is an important food for many Native Americans. As a placename,
Topeka was first recorded in 1826 as the Kansa name for what is now called the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
. Topeka's founders chose the name in 1855 because it "was novel, of Indian origin and euphonious of sound." The mixed-blood Kansa Indian,
Joseph JamesJoseph James is the name of two Kaw/Osage/French interpreters on the Kansas and Oklahoma frontier in the nineteenth century. Both were usually called “Joe Jim” or “Jojim.”-Joe Jim:...
, called Jojim, is credited with suggesting the name of Topeka. The city, laid out in 1854, was one of the Free-State towns founded by
Eastern antislavery menEli Thayer was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1857 to 1861. Thayer was born in Mendon, Massachusetts. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1840, from Brown University in 1845, and in 1848 founded Oread Institute, a school for young women in Worcester, Massachusetts...
immediately after the passage of the
Kansas-Nebraska BillThe Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...
. In 1857, Topeka was chartered as a city.
19th century
In the 1840s,
wagon trainA wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
s made their way west from
Independence, MissouriIndependence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
, on a journey of 2000 miles (3,218.7 km), following what would come to be known as the
Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
. About 60 miles (97 km) west of
Kansas City, MissouriKansas 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...
, three half
Kansas IndianThe Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
sisters married to the French-Canadian Pappan brothers established a
ferryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
service allowing travelers to cross the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
at what is now Topeka. During the 1840s and into the 1850s, travelers could reliably find a way across the river (and plenty of
moonshineMoonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
), but little else was in the area.
In the early 1850s, traffic along the Oregon Trail was supplemented by trade on a new military road stretching from
Fort LeavenworthFort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
through Topeka to the newly-established
Fort RileyFort Riley is a United States Army installation located in Northeast Kansas, on the Kansas River, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 100,656 acres in Geary and Riley counties and includes two census-designated places: Fort Riley North and Fort...
. In 1854, after completion of the first cabin, nine men established the Topeka Town Association. Included among them was
Cyrus K. HollidayColonel Cyrus Kurtz Holliday was one of the founders of the township of Topeka, Kansas, in the mid 19th century; and was Adjutant General of Kansas during the American Civil War. The title Colonel, however, was honorary...
, an "idea man" who would become mayor of Topeka and founder of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. Soon,
steamboatA steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
s were regularly docking at the Topeka landing, depositing
meatMeat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
,
lumberLumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
, and
flourFlour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
and returning eastward with
potatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es,
cornMaize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, and
wheatWheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
. By the late 1860s, Topeka had become a commercial hub providing many
Victorian eraThe Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
comforts.
After a decade of abolitionist and pro-slavery conflict that gave the territory the nickname
Bleeding KansasBleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
, Kansas was admitted to the
UnionDuring the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
in 1861 as the 34th state. Topeka was finally chosen as the capital, with
Dr. Charles RobinsonCharles Lawrence Robinson was the first Governor of Kansas. He was also the first governor of a US state to be impeached, although he was not convicted or removed from office. To date he is the only governor of Kansas to be impeached...
as the first governor. In 1862, Cyrus K. Holliday donated a tract of land to the state for the construction of a state capitol. Construction of the
Kansas State CapitolThe Kansas State Capitol, known also as the Kansas Statehouse, is the building housing the executive and legislative branches of government for the U.S. state of Kansas. It is located in the city of Topeka which has served as the capital of Kansas since it became a state in 1861...
began in 1866. It would take 37 years to build the capitol, first the east wing, and then the west wing, and finally the central building, using Kansas
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. In fall 1864 a stockade fort, later named
Fort SimpleFort Simple was built in Topeka, Kansas, as a result of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Missouri Raid in the late summer and fall of 1864 . Topeka had become the permanent capital of the State of Kansas in 1861, but no fortifications had been built to protect the city from guerrilla bands, which roamed...
, was built in the intersection of 6th and Kansas Avenues to protect Topeka, should Confederate forces then in Missouri decide to attack the city. It was abandoned by April 1865 and demolished in April 1867.
State officers first used the state capitol in 1869, moving from
Constitution HallConstitution Hall, in Topeka, Kansas, is one of the most famous buildings dating from the history of early Kansas. It was a two-story building constructed from April to October 1855 by brothers Loring and John Farnsworth. It was built of native limestone with a flat roof on the 400 block of...
, what is now 427-429 S. Kansas Avenue. Besides being used as the Kansas statehouse from 1863 to 1869, Constitution Hall is the site where anti-slavery settlers convened in 1855 to write the first of four state constitutions, making it the "Free State Capitol." The
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
recognizes Constitution Hall - Topeka as headquarters in the operation of the Lane Trail to Freedom on the
Underground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
, the chief slave escape passage and free trade road.
Although the drought of 1860 and the ensuing period of the
Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
slowed the growth of Topeka and the state, Topeka kept pace with the revival and period of growth that Kansas enjoyed from the close of the war in 1865 until 1870. In the 1870s, many former slaves known as Exodusters, settled on the east side of Lincoln Street between Munson and Twelfth Streets. The area was known as Tennessee Town because so many of them were from that state. The first African American Kindergarten west of the Mississippi was organized in Tennessee Town by Dr. Charles Sheldon, pastor of the Central Congregational Church in 1893.
Lincoln College, now
Washburn UniversityWashburn University is a co-educational, public institution of higher learning in Topeka, Kansas, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and...
, was established in 1865 in Topeka by a charter issued by the State of Kansas and the General Association of Congregational Ministers and Churches of Kansas. In 1869, the railway started moving westward from Topeka, where general offices and machine shops of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad system were established in 1878.
During the late 1880s, Topeka passed through a boom period that ended in disaster. There was vast
speculationIn finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
on town lots. The 1889 bubble burst and many investors were ruined. Topeka, however, doubled in population during the period and was able to weather the depressions of the 1890s.
Early in the 20th Century, another kind of boom, this time the
automobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
industry, took off, and numerous pioneering companies appeared and disappeared. Topeka was not left out. The
Smith Automobile CompanyThe Smith Automobile Company of Topeka, Kansas was an early United States automobile manufacturing company which produced the Veracity, Smith, and Great Smith lines of automobiles from 1902 to 1912. They were the first automobiles made west of the Mississippi River. The company's first automobile...
was founded there in 1902, lasting until 1912.
20th century
Home to the first African-American kindergarten west of the Mississippi River, Topeka became the home of Linda Brown, the named plaintiff in
Brown v. Board of EducationBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
which was the case responsible for eliminating the standard of "separate but equal", and requiring
racial integrationRacial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
in American public schools.
At the time the suit was filed, only the elementary schools were segregated in Topeka, and that
Topeka High SchoolTopeka High School is a fully accredited high school, serving students in grades 9-12, located in Topeka, Kansas. It is one of four high schools within Topeka Public Schools. The school colors are black and gold...
had been fully integrated since its inception in 1871. Furthermore, Topeka High School was the only public high school in inner-city Topeka. Other rural high schools existed at that time, such as Washburn Rural High School—created in 1918—and Seaman High School—created in 1920. Highland Park High School became part of the Topeka school system in 1959 along with the opening of Topeka West High School in 1961. A Catholic high school —Assumption High School, later renamed Capitol Catholic High School, then in 1939 again renamed, to
Hayden High SchoolHayden High School is a private, Catholic high school in Topeka, Kansas. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.-Athletics:...
after its founder, Father Francis Hayden — also served the city beginning in 1911.
Monroe Elementary, a segregated school that figured in the historic
Brown v. Board of EducationBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
decision, is now Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site with interpretive exhibits. The
National Historic SiteNational Historic Sites are protected areas of national historic significance in the United States. A National Historic Site usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject...
was opened by President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
on May 17, 2004.
Topeka has struggled with the burden of racial discrimination even after Brown. New lawsuits attempted unsuccessfully to force suburban school districts that ring the city to participate in racial integration with the inner city district. In the late 1980s a group of citizens calling themselves the Task Force to Overcome Racism in Topeka formed to address the problem in a more organized way.
On June 8, 1966, Topeka was struck by an F5 rated tornado, according to the
Fujita scaleThe 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...
. It started on the southwest side of town, moving northeast, passing over a local landmark named Burnett's Mound. According to a local Indian legend, this mound was thought to protect the city from tornadoes. It went on to rip through the city, hitting the downtown area and Washburn University. Total dollar cost was put at $100 million making it, at the time, one of the most costly tornadoes in American history. Even to this day, with inflation factored in, the Topeka tornado stands as one of the most costly on record. It also helped bring to prominence future CBS and A&E broadcaster
Bill KurtisBill Kurtis is an American television journalist, producer, narrator, and news anchor. He is also the current host of A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files...
, who became well known for his televised admonition to "take cover, for God's sake, take cover" on
WIBW-TVWIBW-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Topeka, Kansas. It broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 13 and its digital translator on UHF channel 44. Both operating frequencies are transmitted in Maple Hill. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios at Southwest Commerce Place...
during the tornado. (The city is home of a
National Weather ServiceThe National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
Forecast Office that serves 23 counties in north-central, northeast, and east-central Kansas).
Topeka recovered from the 1966 tornado and has sustained steady economic growth. Washburn University, which lost several historic buildings from the tornado, received financial support from the community and alumni to rebuild many school facilities. Today, university facilities offer more than one million square feet of modern academic and support space.
In 1974, Forbes Air Force Base closed and more than 10,000 people left Topeka, influencing the city’s growth patterns for years to come. During the 1980s, Topeka citizens voted to build a new airport and convention center and to change the form of city government. West Ridge Mall opened in 1988 and in 1989 Topeka became a motorsports mecca with the opening of
Heartland Park TopekaHeartland Park Topeka is a multi-purpose motorsports facility located south of Topeka, Kansas.When it opened in 1989, it was the first brand-new auto racing facility to be built in the United States for 20 years. Its facilities include a road-race course with 4 possible configurations , a ⅜ mile...
. The Topeka Performing Arts Center opened in 1991. In the early 1990s the city experienced business growth with Reser’s Fine Foods locating in Topeka and expansions for Santa Fe and Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
During the 1990s voters approved bond issues for public school improvements including magnet schools, technology, air conditioning, classrooms, and a sports complex. Voters also approved a quarter-cent sales tax for a new Law Enforcement Center, and in 1996 approved an extension of the sales tax for the East Topeka Interchange connecting the Oakland Expressway, K-4, I-70, and the Kansas Turnpike. During the 1990s Shawnee county voters approved tax measures to expand the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. The Kansas Legislature and Governor also approved legislation to replace the majority of the property tax supporting Washburn University with a countywide sales tax.
21st century
In 2000 the citizens again voted to extend the quarter-cent sales tax, this time for the economic development of Topeka and Shawnee County. In August, 2004, Shawnee County citizens voted to repeal the 2000 quarter-cent sales tax and replace it with a 12- year half-cent sales tax designated for economic development, roads, and bridges. Each year the sales tax funds provide $5 million designated for business development job creation incentives, and $9 million for roads and bridges. Planning is under way to continue to redevelop areas along the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
, which runs west to east through Topeka. In the Kansas River Corridor through the center of town, Downtown Topeka has experienced apartment and condominium loft development, and façade and streetscape improvements. On the other side of the river, Historic North Topeka has benefited from a major streetscape project and the renovated Great Overland Station, regarded as the finest representation of classic railroad architecture in Kansas. The Great Overland Station is directly across the river from the State Capitol, which is undergoing an eight-year, $283 million renovation.
On March 1, 2010, Topeka Mayor
Bill BuntenWilliam W. "Bill" Bunten is a Kansas politician and the current mayor of Topeka, Kansas, having been elected to a four-year term in 2005. Prior to becoming mayor, he served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1962 to 1990 and in the Kansas Senate from 2002 to 2004. He previously ran for...
issued a proclamation calling for Topeka to be known for the month of March as "Google, Kansas, the capital city of fiber optics." The name change came from Ryan Gigous, who wanted to "re-brand" the city with a simple gesture
http://cjonline.com/news/legislature/2010-04-01/blog_all_things_google_topeka This was to help "support continuing efforts to bring
GoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
's fiber experiment" to Topeka, though it was not a legal name change. Lawyers advised the city council and mayor against an official name change.
GoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
jokingly announced that it would change its name to Topeka to "honor that moving gesture" on April 1, 2010 (April Fools Day) and changed its home page to say Topeka. In its official blog, Google announced that this change thus affected all of its services as well as its culture, e.g. "Googlers" to "Topekans," "Project Virgil" to "Project Virpeka," and proper usage of "Topeka" as an adjective and not a verb, to avoid the trademark becoming
genericizedA genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation as intended by the trademark's holder...
.
Geography
Topeka is located at 39°03′N 95°41′W. Topeka is in north east Kansas at the intersection of I-70 and U.S. Highway 75. It is the origin of I-335 which is a portion of the
Kansas TurnpikeThe 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...
running from Topeka to
Emporia, KansasEmporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,916. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 and 35 on the Kansas Turnpike...
. Topeka is also located on U.S. Highway 24 and U.S. Highway 40. 40 is coincident with I-70 west from Topeka. According to the
United States Census BureauThe 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 57 square miles (147.6 km²), of which 56 square miles (145 km²) is land and 1 square miles (2.6 km²), or 1.70%, is water.
Climate
In 2007, Forbes Magazine named Topeka as one of the leading U.S. cities in terms of having the biggest variations in temperature, precipitation, and wind.
Topeka has a
humid continental climateA humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
(
Koppen climate classificationThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Dfa), with hot, somewhat humid summers and cool to cold, fairly dry winters. Over the course of a year, temperatures range from an average low of about 17
{{redirect|Topeka}}
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Topeka (tɵˈpiːkə;
KansaThe Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
:
Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
of the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of
KansasKansas 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...
and the
county seatA 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
Shawnee CountyShawnee County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States of America. Its most populous city, Topeka, is the state capital and county seat. The county's population was 177,934 for the 2010 census...
. It is situated along the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the
CentralThe Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States and Western United States as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions of the Southern United States; the term is also sometimes used...
United StatesThe 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 127,473. The Topeka
Metropolitan Statistical AreaThe Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of five counties in northeastern Kansas, anchored by the city of Topeka...
, which includes Shawnee,
JacksonJackson County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 13,462. Its county seat and most populous city is Holton...
,
JeffersonJefferson County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 19,126. Its county seat is Oskaloosa, and its most populous city is Valley Falls...
,
OsageOsage County is a county located in east-central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 16295. Its county seat is Lyndon, and its most populous city is Osage City. The county along with Shawnee, Jackson, Jefferson, and Wabaunsee counties is...
, and
WabaunseeWabaunsee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 7,053. Its county seat is Alma. It is part of the Topeka, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area...
counties, had an estimated population of 230,824 in the year 2009. The city is well known for the landmark United States Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson and declared
segregationRacial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
in public schools on account of race to be unconstitutional. Three ships of the US Navy have been named
USS TopekaUSS Topeka, named after the state capital Topeka, Kansas, may be any one of these United States Navy ships:, a gunboat bought in England 1898, originally built as Diogenes by Howaldtswerke in Kiel and in periodic use until 1929., a light cruiser of World War II, recommissioned in 1960 as the guided...
in honor of the city.
Topeka means "to dig good potatoes" in the languages of the
KansaThe Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
and the Ioway. The potato referred to is the prairie potato (
Psoralea esculentaPsoralea esculenta is an herbaceous perennial plant native to prairies and dry woodlands of central North America, which bears a starchy tuberous root edible as a root vegetable. English names for the plant include tipsin, teepsenee, breadroot, breadroot scurf pea, pomme blanche, and prairie turnip...
), a perennial herb which is an important food for many Native Americans. As a placename,
Topeka was first recorded in 1826 as the Kansa name for what is now called the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
. Topeka's founders chose the name in 1855 because it "was novel, of Indian origin and euphonious of sound." The mixed-blood Kansa Indian,
Joseph JamesJoseph James is the name of two Kaw/Osage/French interpreters on the Kansas and Oklahoma frontier in the nineteenth century. Both were usually called “Joe Jim” or “Jojim.”-Joe Jim:...
, called Jojim, is credited with suggesting the name of Topeka. The city, laid out in 1854, was one of the Free-State towns founded by
Eastern antislavery menEli Thayer was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1857 to 1861. Thayer was born in Mendon, Massachusetts. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1840, from Brown University in 1845, and in 1848 founded Oread Institute, a school for young women in Worcester, Massachusetts...
immediately after the passage of the
Kansas-Nebraska BillThe Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...
. In 1857, Topeka was chartered as a city.
19th century
In the 1840s,
wagon trainA wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
s made their way west from
Independence, MissouriIndependence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
, on a journey of 2000 miles (3,218.7 km), following what would come to be known as the
Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
. About 60 miles (97 km) west of
Kansas City, MissouriKansas 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...
, three half
Kansas IndianThe Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
sisters married to the French-Canadian Pappan brothers established a
ferryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
service allowing travelers to cross the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
at what is now Topeka. During the 1840s and into the 1850s, travelers could reliably find a way across the river (and plenty of
moonshineMoonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
), but little else was in the area.
In the early 1850s, traffic along the Oregon Trail was supplemented by trade on a new military road stretching from
Fort LeavenworthFort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
through Topeka to the newly-established
Fort RileyFort Riley is a United States Army installation located in Northeast Kansas, on the Kansas River, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 100,656 acres in Geary and Riley counties and includes two census-designated places: Fort Riley North and Fort...
. In 1854, after completion of the first cabin, nine men established the Topeka Town Association. Included among them was
Cyrus K. HollidayColonel Cyrus Kurtz Holliday was one of the founders of the township of Topeka, Kansas, in the mid 19th century; and was Adjutant General of Kansas during the American Civil War. The title Colonel, however, was honorary...
, an "idea man" who would become mayor of Topeka and founder of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. Soon,
steamboatA steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
s were regularly docking at the Topeka landing, depositing
meatMeat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
,
lumberLumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
, and
flourFlour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
and returning eastward with
potatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es,
cornMaize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, and
wheatWheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
. By the late 1860s, Topeka had become a commercial hub providing many
Victorian eraThe Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
comforts.
After a decade of abolitionist and pro-slavery conflict that gave the territory the nickname
Bleeding KansasBleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
, Kansas was admitted to the
UnionDuring the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
in 1861 as the 34th state. Topeka was finally chosen as the capital, with
Dr. Charles RobinsonCharles Lawrence Robinson was the first Governor of Kansas. He was also the first governor of a US state to be impeached, although he was not convicted or removed from office. To date he is the only governor of Kansas to be impeached...
as the first governor. In 1862, Cyrus K. Holliday donated a tract of land to the state for the construction of a state capitol. Construction of the
Kansas State CapitolThe Kansas State Capitol, known also as the Kansas Statehouse, is the building housing the executive and legislative branches of government for the U.S. state of Kansas. It is located in the city of Topeka which has served as the capital of Kansas since it became a state in 1861...
began in 1866. It would take 37 years to build the capitol, first the east wing, and then the west wing, and finally the central building, using Kansas
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. In fall 1864 a stockade fort, later named
Fort SimpleFort Simple was built in Topeka, Kansas, as a result of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Missouri Raid in the late summer and fall of 1864 . Topeka had become the permanent capital of the State of Kansas in 1861, but no fortifications had been built to protect the city from guerrilla bands, which roamed...
, was built in the intersection of 6th and Kansas Avenues to protect Topeka, should Confederate forces then in Missouri decide to attack the city. It was abandoned by April 1865 and demolished in April 1867.
State officers first used the state capitol in 1869, moving from
Constitution HallConstitution Hall, in Topeka, Kansas, is one of the most famous buildings dating from the history of early Kansas. It was a two-story building constructed from April to October 1855 by brothers Loring and John Farnsworth. It was built of native limestone with a flat roof on the 400 block of...
, what is now 427-429 S. Kansas Avenue. Besides being used as the Kansas statehouse from 1863 to 1869, Constitution Hall is the site where anti-slavery settlers convened in 1855 to write the first of four state constitutions, making it the "Free State Capitol." The
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
recognizes Constitution Hall - Topeka as headquarters in the operation of the Lane Trail to Freedom on the
Underground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
, the chief slave escape passage and free trade road.
Although the drought of 1860 and the ensuing period of the
Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
slowed the growth of Topeka and the state, Topeka kept pace with the revival and period of growth that Kansas enjoyed from the close of the war in 1865 until 1870. In the 1870s, many former slaves known as Exodusters, settled on the east side of Lincoln Street between Munson and Twelfth Streets. The area was known as Tennessee Town because so many of them were from that state. The first African American Kindergarten west of the Mississippi was organized in Tennessee Town by Dr. Charles Sheldon, pastor of the Central Congregational Church in 1893.
Lincoln College, now
Washburn UniversityWashburn University is a co-educational, public institution of higher learning in Topeka, Kansas, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and...
, was established in 1865 in Topeka by a charter issued by the State of Kansas and the General Association of Congregational Ministers and Churches of Kansas. In 1869, the railway started moving westward from Topeka, where general offices and machine shops of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad system were established in 1878.
During the late 1880s, Topeka passed through a boom period that ended in disaster. There was vast
speculationIn finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
on town lots. The 1889 bubble burst and many investors were ruined. Topeka, however, doubled in population during the period and was able to weather the depressions of the 1890s.
Early in the 20th Century, another kind of boom, this time the
automobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
industry, took off, and numerous pioneering companies appeared and disappeared. Topeka was not left out. The
Smith Automobile CompanyThe Smith Automobile Company of Topeka, Kansas was an early United States automobile manufacturing company which produced the Veracity, Smith, and Great Smith lines of automobiles from 1902 to 1912. They were the first automobiles made west of the Mississippi River. The company's first automobile...
was founded there in 1902, lasting until 1912.
20th century
Home to the first African-American kindergarten west of the Mississippi River, Topeka became the home of Linda Brown, the named plaintiff in
Brown v. Board of EducationBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
which was the case responsible for eliminating the standard of "separate but equal", and requiring
racial integrationRacial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
in American public schools.
At the time the suit was filed, only the elementary schools were segregated in Topeka, and that
Topeka High SchoolTopeka High School is a fully accredited high school, serving students in grades 9-12, located in Topeka, Kansas. It is one of four high schools within Topeka Public Schools. The school colors are black and gold...
had been fully integrated since its inception in 1871. Furthermore, Topeka High School was the only public high school in inner-city Topeka. Other rural high schools existed at that time, such as Washburn Rural High School—created in 1918—and Seaman High School—created in 1920. Highland Park High School became part of the Topeka school system in 1959 along with the opening of Topeka West High School in 1961. A Catholic high school —Assumption High School, later renamed Capitol Catholic High School, then in 1939 again renamed, to
Hayden High SchoolHayden High School is a private, Catholic high school in Topeka, Kansas. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.-Athletics:...
after its founder, Father Francis Hayden — also served the city beginning in 1911.
Monroe Elementary, a segregated school that figured in the historic
Brown v. Board of EducationBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
decision, is now Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site with interpretive exhibits. The
National Historic SiteNational Historic Sites are protected areas of national historic significance in the United States. A National Historic Site usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject...
was opened by President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
on May 17, 2004.
Topeka has struggled with the burden of racial discrimination even after Brown. New lawsuits attempted unsuccessfully to force suburban school districts that ring the city to participate in racial integration with the inner city district. In the late 1980s a group of citizens calling themselves the Task Force to Overcome Racism in Topeka formed to address the problem in a more organized way.
On June 8, 1966, Topeka was struck by an F5 rated tornado, according to the
Fujita scaleThe 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...
. It started on the southwest side of town, moving northeast, passing over a local landmark named Burnett's Mound. According to a local Indian legend, this mound was thought to protect the city from tornadoes. It went on to rip through the city, hitting the downtown area and Washburn University. Total dollar cost was put at $100 million making it, at the time, one of the most costly tornadoes in American history. Even to this day, with inflation factored in, the Topeka tornado stands as one of the most costly on record. It also helped bring to prominence future CBS and A&E broadcaster
Bill KurtisBill Kurtis is an American television journalist, producer, narrator, and news anchor. He is also the current host of A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files...
, who became well known for his televised admonition to "take cover, for God's sake, take cover" on
WIBW-TVWIBW-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Topeka, Kansas. It broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 13 and its digital translator on UHF channel 44. Both operating frequencies are transmitted in Maple Hill. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios at Southwest Commerce Place...
during the tornado. (The city is home of a
National Weather ServiceThe National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
Forecast Office that serves 23 counties in north-central, northeast, and east-central Kansas).
Topeka recovered from the 1966 tornado and has sustained steady economic growth. Washburn University, which lost several historic buildings from the tornado, received financial support from the community and alumni to rebuild many school facilities. Today, university facilities offer more than one million square feet of modern academic and support space.
In 1974, Forbes Air Force Base closed and more than 10,000 people left Topeka, influencing the city’s growth patterns for years to come. During the 1980s, Topeka citizens voted to build a new airport and convention center and to change the form of city government. West Ridge Mall opened in 1988 and in 1989 Topeka became a motorsports mecca with the opening of
Heartland Park TopekaHeartland Park Topeka is a multi-purpose motorsports facility located south of Topeka, Kansas.When it opened in 1989, it was the first brand-new auto racing facility to be built in the United States for 20 years. Its facilities include a road-race course with 4 possible configurations , a ⅜ mile...
. The Topeka Performing Arts Center opened in 1991. In the early 1990s the city experienced business growth with Reser’s Fine Foods locating in Topeka and expansions for Santa Fe and Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
During the 1990s voters approved bond issues for public school improvements including magnet schools, technology, air conditioning, classrooms, and a sports complex. Voters also approved a quarter-cent sales tax for a new Law Enforcement Center, and in 1996 approved an extension of the sales tax for the East Topeka Interchange connecting the Oakland Expressway, K-4, I-70, and the Kansas Turnpike. During the 1990s Shawnee county voters approved tax measures to expand the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. The Kansas Legislature and Governor also approved legislation to replace the majority of the property tax supporting Washburn University with a countywide sales tax.
21st century
In 2000 the citizens again voted to extend the quarter-cent sales tax, this time for the economic development of Topeka and Shawnee County. In August, 2004, Shawnee County citizens voted to repeal the 2000 quarter-cent sales tax and replace it with a 12- year half-cent sales tax designated for economic development, roads, and bridges. Each year the sales tax funds provide $5 million designated for business development job creation incentives, and $9 million for roads and bridges. Planning is under way to continue to redevelop areas along the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
, which runs west to east through Topeka. In the Kansas River Corridor through the center of town, Downtown Topeka has experienced apartment and condominium loft development, and façade and streetscape improvements. On the other side of the river, Historic North Topeka has benefited from a major streetscape project and the renovated Great Overland Station, regarded as the finest representation of classic railroad architecture in Kansas. The Great Overland Station is directly across the river from the State Capitol, which is undergoing an eight-year, $283 million renovation.
On March 1, 2010, Topeka Mayor
Bill BuntenWilliam W. "Bill" Bunten is a Kansas politician and the current mayor of Topeka, Kansas, having been elected to a four-year term in 2005. Prior to becoming mayor, he served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1962 to 1990 and in the Kansas Senate from 2002 to 2004. He previously ran for...
issued a proclamation calling for Topeka to be known for the month of March as "Google, Kansas, the capital city of fiber optics." The name change came from Ryan Gigous, who wanted to "re-brand" the city with a simple gesture
http://cjonline.com/news/legislature/2010-04-01/blog_all_things_google_topeka This was to help "support continuing efforts to bring
GoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
's fiber experiment" to Topeka, though it was not a legal name change. Lawyers advised the city council and mayor against an official name change.
GoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
jokingly announced that it would change its name to Topeka to "honor that moving gesture" on April 1, 2010 (April Fools Day) and changed its home page to say Topeka. In its official blog, Google announced that this change thus affected all of its services as well as its culture, e.g. "Googlers" to "Topekans," "Project Virgil" to "Project Virpeka," and proper usage of "Topeka" as an adjective and not a verb, to avoid the trademark becoming
genericizedA genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation as intended by the trademark's holder...
.
Geography
Topeka is located at 39°03′N 95°41′W.{{GR|1}} Topeka is in north east Kansas at the intersection of I-70 and U.S. Highway 75. It is the origin of I-335 which is a portion of the
Kansas TurnpikeThe 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...
running from Topeka to
Emporia, KansasEmporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,916. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 and 35 on the Kansas Turnpike...
. Topeka is also located on U.S. Highway 24 and U.S. Highway 40. 40 is coincident with I-70 west from Topeka. According to the
United States Census BureauThe 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 57 square miles (147.6 km²), of which 56 square miles (145 km²) is land and 1 square miles (2.6 km²), or 1.70%, is water.{{GR|2}}
Climate
In 2007, Forbes Magazine named Topeka as one of the leading U.S. cities in terms of having the biggest variations in temperature, precipitation, and wind.
Topeka has a
humid continental climateA humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
(
Koppen climate classificationThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Dfa), with hot, somewhat humid summers and cool to cold, fairly dry winters. Over the course of a year, temperatures range from an average low of about 17
{{redirect|Topeka}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
Topeka (tɵˈpiːkə;
KansaThe Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
:
Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
of the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of
KansasKansas 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...
and the
county seatA 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
Shawnee CountyShawnee County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States of America. Its most populous city, Topeka, is the state capital and county seat. The county's population was 177,934 for the 2010 census...
. It is situated along the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the
CentralThe Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States and Western United States as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions of the Southern United States; the term is also sometimes used...
United StatesThe 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 127,473. The Topeka
Metropolitan Statistical AreaThe Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of five counties in northeastern Kansas, anchored by the city of Topeka...
, which includes Shawnee,
JacksonJackson County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 13,462. Its county seat and most populous city is Holton...
,
JeffersonJefferson County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 19,126. Its county seat is Oskaloosa, and its most populous city is Valley Falls...
,
OsageOsage County is a county located in east-central Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 16295. Its county seat is Lyndon, and its most populous city is Osage City. The county along with Shawnee, Jackson, Jefferson, and Wabaunsee counties is...
, and
WabaunseeWabaunsee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 7,053. Its county seat is Alma. It is part of the Topeka, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area...
counties, had an estimated population of 230,824 in the year 2009. The city is well known for the landmark United States Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson and declared
segregationRacial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
in public schools on account of race to be unconstitutional. Three ships of the US Navy have been named
USS TopekaUSS Topeka, named after the state capital Topeka, Kansas, may be any one of these United States Navy ships:, a gunboat bought in England 1898, originally built as Diogenes by Howaldtswerke in Kiel and in periodic use until 1929., a light cruiser of World War II, recommissioned in 1960 as the guided...
in honor of the city.
Topeka means "to dig good potatoes" in the languages of the
KansaThe Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
and the Ioway. The potato referred to is the prairie potato (
Psoralea esculentaPsoralea esculenta is an herbaceous perennial plant native to prairies and dry woodlands of central North America, which bears a starchy tuberous root edible as a root vegetable. English names for the plant include tipsin, teepsenee, breadroot, breadroot scurf pea, pomme blanche, and prairie turnip...
), a perennial herb which is an important food for many Native Americans. As a placename,
Topeka was first recorded in 1826 as the Kansa name for what is now called the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
. Topeka's founders chose the name in 1855 because it "was novel, of Indian origin and euphonious of sound." The mixed-blood Kansa Indian,
Joseph JamesJoseph James is the name of two Kaw/Osage/French interpreters on the Kansas and Oklahoma frontier in the nineteenth century. Both were usually called “Joe Jim” or “Jojim.”-Joe Jim:...
, called Jojim, is credited with suggesting the name of Topeka. The city, laid out in 1854, was one of the Free-State towns founded by
Eastern antislavery menEli Thayer was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1857 to 1861. Thayer was born in Mendon, Massachusetts. He graduated from Worcester Academy in 1840, from Brown University in 1845, and in 1848 founded Oread Institute, a school for young women in Worcester, Massachusetts...
immediately after the passage of the
Kansas-Nebraska BillThe Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opening new lands for settlement, and had the effect of repealing the Missouri Compromise of 1820 by allowing settlers in those territories to determine through Popular Sovereignty if they would allow slavery within...
. In 1857, Topeka was chartered as a city.
19th century
In the 1840s,
wagon trainA wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
s made their way west from
Independence, MissouriIndependence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
, on a journey of 2000 miles (3,218.7 km), following what would come to be known as the
Oregon TrailThe Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
. About 60 miles (97 km) west of
Kansas City, MissouriKansas 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...
, three half
Kansas IndianThe Kaw Nation are an American Indian people of the central Midwestern United States. The tribe known as Kaw have also been known as the "People of the South wind", "People of water", Kansa, Kaza, Kosa, and Kasa. Their tribal language is Kansa, classified as a Siouan language.The toponym "Kansas"...
sisters married to the French-Canadian Pappan brothers established a
ferryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
service allowing travelers to cross the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
at what is now Topeka. During the 1840s and into the 1850s, travelers could reliably find a way across the river (and plenty of
moonshineMoonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
), but little else was in the area.
In the early 1850s, traffic along the Oregon Trail was supplemented by trade on a new military road stretching from
Fort LeavenworthFort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
through Topeka to the newly-established
Fort RileyFort Riley is a United States Army installation located in Northeast Kansas, on the Kansas River, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 100,656 acres in Geary and Riley counties and includes two census-designated places: Fort Riley North and Fort...
. In 1854, after completion of the first cabin, nine men established the Topeka Town Association. Included among them was
Cyrus K. HollidayColonel Cyrus Kurtz Holliday was one of the founders of the township of Topeka, Kansas, in the mid 19th century; and was Adjutant General of Kansas during the American Civil War. The title Colonel, however, was honorary...
, an "idea man" who would become mayor of Topeka and founder of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. Soon,
steamboatA steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
s were regularly docking at the Topeka landing, depositing
meatMeat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
,
lumberLumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
, and
flourFlour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
and returning eastward with
potatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es,
cornMaize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, and
wheatWheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
. By the late 1860s, Topeka had become a commercial hub providing many
Victorian eraThe Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
comforts.
After a decade of abolitionist and pro-slavery conflict that gave the territory the nickname
Bleeding KansasBleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events, involving anti-slavery Free-Staters and pro-slavery "Border Ruffian" elements, that took place in the Kansas Territory and the western frontier towns of the U.S. state of Missouri roughly between 1854 and 1858...
, Kansas was admitted to the
UnionDuring the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
in 1861 as the 34th state. Topeka was finally chosen as the capital, with
Dr. Charles RobinsonCharles Lawrence Robinson was the first Governor of Kansas. He was also the first governor of a US state to be impeached, although he was not convicted or removed from office. To date he is the only governor of Kansas to be impeached...
as the first governor. In 1862, Cyrus K. Holliday donated a tract of land to the state for the construction of a state capitol. Construction of the
Kansas State CapitolThe Kansas State Capitol, known also as the Kansas Statehouse, is the building housing the executive and legislative branches of government for the U.S. state of Kansas. It is located in the city of Topeka which has served as the capital of Kansas since it became a state in 1861...
began in 1866. It would take 37 years to build the capitol, first the east wing, and then the west wing, and finally the central building, using Kansas
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. In fall 1864 a stockade fort, later named
Fort SimpleFort Simple was built in Topeka, Kansas, as a result of Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Missouri Raid in the late summer and fall of 1864 . Topeka had become the permanent capital of the State of Kansas in 1861, but no fortifications had been built to protect the city from guerrilla bands, which roamed...
, was built in the intersection of 6th and Kansas Avenues to protect Topeka, should Confederate forces then in Missouri decide to attack the city. It was abandoned by April 1865 and demolished in April 1867.
State officers first used the state capitol in 1869, moving from
Constitution HallConstitution Hall, in Topeka, Kansas, is one of the most famous buildings dating from the history of early Kansas. It was a two-story building constructed from April to October 1855 by brothers Loring and John Farnsworth. It was built of native limestone with a flat roof on the 400 block of...
, what is now 427-429 S. Kansas Avenue. Besides being used as the Kansas statehouse from 1863 to 1869, Constitution Hall is the site where anti-slavery settlers convened in 1855 to write the first of four state constitutions, making it the "Free State Capitol." The
National Park ServiceThe National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
recognizes Constitution Hall - Topeka as headquarters in the operation of the Lane Trail to Freedom on the
Underground RailroadThe Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
, the chief slave escape passage and free trade road.
Although the drought of 1860 and the ensuing period of the
Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
slowed the growth of Topeka and the state, Topeka kept pace with the revival and period of growth that Kansas enjoyed from the close of the war in 1865 until 1870. In the 1870s, many former slaves known as Exodusters, settled on the east side of Lincoln Street between Munson and Twelfth Streets. The area was known as Tennessee Town because so many of them were from that state. The first African American Kindergarten west of the Mississippi was organized in Tennessee Town by Dr. Charles Sheldon, pastor of the Central Congregational Church in 1893.
Lincoln College, now
Washburn UniversityWashburn University is a co-educational, public institution of higher learning in Topeka, Kansas, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and...
, was established in 1865 in Topeka by a charter issued by the State of Kansas and the General Association of Congregational Ministers and Churches of Kansas. In 1869, the railway started moving westward from Topeka, where general offices and machine shops of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad system were established in 1878.
During the late 1880s, Topeka passed through a boom period that ended in disaster. There was vast
speculationIn finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
on town lots. The 1889 bubble burst and many investors were ruined. Topeka, however, doubled in population during the period and was able to weather the depressions of the 1890s.
Early in the 20th Century, another kind of boom, this time the
automobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
industry, took off, and numerous pioneering companies appeared and disappeared. Topeka was not left out. The
Smith Automobile CompanyThe Smith Automobile Company of Topeka, Kansas was an early United States automobile manufacturing company which produced the Veracity, Smith, and Great Smith lines of automobiles from 1902 to 1912. They were the first automobiles made west of the Mississippi River. The company's first automobile...
was founded there in 1902, lasting until 1912.
20th century
Home to the first African-American kindergarten west of the Mississippi River, Topeka became the home of Linda Brown, the named plaintiff in
Brown v. Board of EducationBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
which was the case responsible for eliminating the standard of "separate but equal", and requiring
racial integrationRacial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
in American public schools.
At the time the suit was filed, only the elementary schools were segregated in Topeka, and that
Topeka High SchoolTopeka High School is a fully accredited high school, serving students in grades 9-12, located in Topeka, Kansas. It is one of four high schools within Topeka Public Schools. The school colors are black and gold...
had been fully integrated since its inception in 1871. Furthermore, Topeka High School was the only public high school in inner-city Topeka. Other rural high schools existed at that time, such as Washburn Rural High School—created in 1918—and Seaman High School—created in 1920. Highland Park High School became part of the Topeka school system in 1959 along with the opening of Topeka West High School in 1961. A Catholic high school —Assumption High School, later renamed Capitol Catholic High School, then in 1939 again renamed, to
Hayden High SchoolHayden High School is a private, Catholic high school in Topeka, Kansas. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.-Athletics:...
after its founder, Father Francis Hayden — also served the city beginning in 1911.
Monroe Elementary, a segregated school that figured in the historic
Brown v. Board of EducationBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
decision, is now Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site with interpretive exhibits. The
National Historic SiteNational Historic Sites are protected areas of national historic significance in the United States. A National Historic Site usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject...
was opened by President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
on May 17, 2004.
Topeka has struggled with the burden of racial discrimination even after Brown. New lawsuits attempted unsuccessfully to force suburban school districts that ring the city to participate in racial integration with the inner city district. In the late 1980s a group of citizens calling themselves the Task Force to Overcome Racism in Topeka formed to address the problem in a more organized way.
On June 8, 1966, Topeka was struck by an F5 rated tornado, according to the
Fujita scaleThe 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...
. It started on the southwest side of town, moving northeast, passing over a local landmark named Burnett's Mound. According to a local Indian legend, this mound was thought to protect the city from tornadoes. It went on to rip through the city, hitting the downtown area and Washburn University. Total dollar cost was put at $100 million making it, at the time, one of the most costly tornadoes in American history. Even to this day, with inflation factored in, the Topeka tornado stands as one of the most costly on record. It also helped bring to prominence future CBS and A&E broadcaster
Bill KurtisBill Kurtis is an American television journalist, producer, narrator, and news anchor. He is also the current host of A&E crime and news documentary shows, including Investigative Reports, American Justice, and Cold Case Files...
, who became well known for his televised admonition to "take cover, for God's sake, take cover" on
WIBW-TVWIBW-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Topeka, Kansas. It broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 13 and its digital translator on UHF channel 44. Both operating frequencies are transmitted in Maple Hill. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios at Southwest Commerce Place...
during the tornado. (The city is home of a
National Weather ServiceThe National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
Forecast Office that serves 23 counties in north-central, northeast, and east-central Kansas).
Topeka recovered from the 1966 tornado and has sustained steady economic growth. Washburn University, which lost several historic buildings from the tornado, received financial support from the community and alumni to rebuild many school facilities. Today, university facilities offer more than one million square feet of modern academic and support space.
In 1974, Forbes Air Force Base closed and more than 10,000 people left Topeka, influencing the city’s growth patterns for years to come. During the 1980s, Topeka citizens voted to build a new airport and convention center and to change the form of city government. West Ridge Mall opened in 1988 and in 1989 Topeka became a motorsports mecca with the opening of
Heartland Park TopekaHeartland Park Topeka is a multi-purpose motorsports facility located south of Topeka, Kansas.When it opened in 1989, it was the first brand-new auto racing facility to be built in the United States for 20 years. Its facilities include a road-race course with 4 possible configurations , a ⅜ mile...
. The Topeka Performing Arts Center opened in 1991. In the early 1990s the city experienced business growth with Reser’s Fine Foods locating in Topeka and expansions for Santa Fe and Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
During the 1990s voters approved bond issues for public school improvements including magnet schools, technology, air conditioning, classrooms, and a sports complex. Voters also approved a quarter-cent sales tax for a new Law Enforcement Center, and in 1996 approved an extension of the sales tax for the East Topeka Interchange connecting the Oakland Expressway, K-4, I-70, and the Kansas Turnpike. During the 1990s Shawnee county voters approved tax measures to expand the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. The Kansas Legislature and Governor also approved legislation to replace the majority of the property tax supporting Washburn University with a countywide sales tax.
21st century
In 2000 the citizens again voted to extend the quarter-cent sales tax, this time for the economic development of Topeka and Shawnee County. In August, 2004, Shawnee County citizens voted to repeal the 2000 quarter-cent sales tax and replace it with a 12- year half-cent sales tax designated for economic development, roads, and bridges. Each year the sales tax funds provide $5 million designated for business development job creation incentives, and $9 million for roads and bridges. Planning is under way to continue to redevelop areas along the
Kansas RiverThe Kansas River is a river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is the southwestern-most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is in turn the northwestern-most portion of the extensive Mississippi River drainage. Its name come from the Kanza people who once inhabited the area...
, which runs west to east through Topeka. In the Kansas River Corridor through the center of town, Downtown Topeka has experienced apartment and condominium loft development, and façade and streetscape improvements. On the other side of the river, Historic North Topeka has benefited from a major streetscape project and the renovated Great Overland Station, regarded as the finest representation of classic railroad architecture in Kansas. The Great Overland Station is directly across the river from the State Capitol, which is undergoing an eight-year, $283 million renovation.
On March 1, 2010, Topeka Mayor
Bill BuntenWilliam W. "Bill" Bunten is a Kansas politician and the current mayor of Topeka, Kansas, having been elected to a four-year term in 2005. Prior to becoming mayor, he served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1962 to 1990 and in the Kansas Senate from 2002 to 2004. He previously ran for...
issued a proclamation calling for Topeka to be known for the month of March as "Google, Kansas, the capital city of fiber optics." The name change came from Ryan Gigous, who wanted to "re-brand" the city with a simple gesture
http://cjonline.com/news/legislature/2010-04-01/blog_all_things_google_topeka This was to help "support continuing efforts to bring
GoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
's fiber experiment" to Topeka, though it was not a legal name change. Lawyers advised the city council and mayor against an official name change.
GoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
jokingly announced that it would change its name to Topeka to "honor that moving gesture" on April 1, 2010 (April Fools Day) and changed its home page to say Topeka. In its official blog, Google announced that this change thus affected all of its services as well as its culture, e.g. "Googlers" to "Topekans," "Project Virgil" to "Project Virpeka," and proper usage of "Topeka" as an adjective and not a verb, to avoid the trademark becoming
genericizedA genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation as intended by the trademark's holder...
.
Geography
Topeka is located at 39°03′N 95°41′W.{{GR|1}} Topeka is in north east Kansas at the intersection of I-70 and U.S. Highway 75. It is the origin of I-335 which is a portion of the
Kansas TurnpikeThe 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...
running from Topeka to
Emporia, KansasEmporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,916. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 335 and 35 on the Kansas Turnpike...
. Topeka is also located on U.S. Highway 24 and U.S. Highway 40. 40 is coincident with I-70 west from Topeka. According to the
United States Census BureauThe 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 57 square miles (147.6 km²), of which 56 square miles (145 km²) is land and 1 square miles (2.6 km²), or 1.70%, is water.{{GR|2}}
Climate
In 2007, Forbes Magazine named Topeka as one of the leading U.S. cities in terms of having the biggest variations in temperature, precipitation, and wind.
Topeka has a
humid continental climateA humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
(
Koppen climate classificationThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Dfa), with hot, somewhat humid summers and cool to cold, fairly dry winters. Over the course of a year, temperatures range from an average low of about 17 {{#ifeq:{{#expr:°C*0}} in January to an average high of nearly 90 {{#ifeq:{{#expr:°C*0}} in July. The maximum temperature reaches 90 °F (32.2 °C) an average of 45 days per year and reaches 100 °F (37.8 °C) an average of 4 days per year. The minimum temperature falls below 0 °F (-18 °C) an average of 4 nights per year, and there are 27 days per year that stay below freezing. Typically the first fall freeze occurs between the last week of September and the end of October, and the last spring freeze occurs between the first week of April and early May.
The area receives nearly 36 {{#ifeq:{{#expr:cm*0}} of precipitation during an average year with the largest share being received in May and June—the April through June period averages 32 days of measurable precipitation. Generally, the spring and summer months have the most rainfall, with autumn and winter being fairly dry. During a typical year the total amount of precipitation may be anywhere from 25 to 47 in (63.5 to 119.4 cm). Much of the rainfall is delivered by thunderstorms. These can be severe, producing frequent
lightningLightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
, large
hailHail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
, and sometimes tornadoes. There are on average 100 days of measurable precipitation per year. Winter snowfall is light, as is the case in most of the state, not due to lack of sufficient cold temperatures, but due to the dry, sunny weather patterns that dominate Kansas winters, that do not allow for sufficient moisture for significant snowfall. Winter snowfall averages almost 20 {{#ifeq:{{#expr:cm*0}}, but the median is less than 11 {{#ifeq:{{#expr:cm*0}}. Measurable snowfall occurs an average of 15 days per year with at least an inch of snow being received on seven of those days. Snow depth of at least an inch occurs an average of 26 days per year.
{{Weather box
|location = Topeka, Kansas
|single line = Y
|Jan high F = 37.2
|Feb high F = 43.8
|Mar high F = 55.5
|Apr high F = 66.1
|May high F = 75.3
|Jun high F = 84.5
|Jul high F = 89.1
|Aug high F = 87.9
|Sep high F = 80.3
|Oct high F = 68.9
|Nov high F = 53.1
|Dec high F = 40.9
|year high F = 65.2
|Jan low F = 17.2
|Feb low F = 23.0
|Mar low F = 32.9
|Apr low F = 42.9
|May low F = 53.4
|Jun low F = 63.2
|Jul low F = 67.7
|Aug low F = 65.4
|Sep low F = 55.9
|Oct low F = 44.3
|Nov low F = 32.1
|Dec low F = 21.8
|year low F = 43.3
|Jan record high F = 74
|Feb record high F = 84
|Mar record high F = 93
|Apr record high F = 97
|May record high F = 103
|Jun record high F = 109
|Jul record high F = 114
|Aug record high F = 113
|Sep record high F = 110
|Oct record high F = 97
|Nov record high F = 85
|Dec record high F = 77
|year record high F = 114
|Jan record low F = −23
|Feb record low F = −25
|Mar record low F = −7
|Apr record low F = 10
|May record low F = 26
|Jun record low F = 36
|Jul record low F = 43
|Aug record low F = 40
|Sep record low F = 29
|Oct record low F = 16
|Nov record low F = −5
|Dec record low F = −26
|year record low F = −26
|Jan low C = −8.2
|Feb low C = −5.0
|Dec low C = −5.7
|Jan precipitation inch = .95
|Feb precipitation inch = 1.18
|Mar precipitation inch = 2.56
|Apr precipitation inch = 3.14
|May precipitation inch = 4.86
|Jun precipitation inch = 4.88
|Jul precipitation inch = 3.83
|Aug precipitation inch = 3.81
|Sep precipitation inch = 3.71
|Oct precipitation inch = 2.99
|Nov precipitation inch = 2.31
|Dec precipitation inch = 1.42
|year precipitation inch = 35.64
|Jan snow inch = 5.3
|Feb snow inch = 4.9
|Mar snow inch = 2.3
|Apr snow inch = .5
|May snow inch = 0
|Jun snow inch = 0
|Jul snow inch = 0
|Aug snow inch = 0
|Sep snow inch = 0
|Oct snow inch = .3
|Nov snow inch = 1.5
|Dec snow inch = 5.0
|year snow inch = 19.8
|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
|Jan precipitation days = 6.2
|Feb precipitation days = 6.1
|Mar precipitation days = 9.2
|Apr precipitation days = 10.1
|May precipitation days = 11.8
|Jun precipitation days = 10.5
|Jul precipitation days = 8.6
|Aug precipitation days = 8.7
|Sep precipitation days = 7.9
|Oct precipitation days = 7.2
|Nov precipitation days = 7.3
|Dec precipitation days = 6.4
|year precipitation days = 100.0
|unit snow days = 0.1 in
|Jan snow days = 4.5
|Feb snow days = 3.2
|Mar snow days = 1.7
|Apr snow days = .6
|May snow days = 0
|Jun snow days = 0
|Jul snow days = 0
|Aug snow days = 0
|Sep snow days = 0
|Oct snow days = 0
|Nov snow days = 1.5
|Dec snow days = 3.5
|year snow days = 15.0
|Jan sun = 176.7
|Feb sun = 169.5
|Mar sun = 213.9
|Apr sun = 231.0
|May sun = 269.7
|Jun sun = 294.0
|Jul sun = 325.5
|Aug sun = 291.4
|Sep sun = 234.0
|Oct sun = 213.9
|Nov sun = 159.0
|Dec sun = 151.9
|year sun = 2730.5
|source 1 = NOAA (normals, 1971−2000), HKO (sun, 1961−1990)
|source 2 = Weather.com (extremes)
|date=February 2011}}
Demographics
{{USCensusPop|1860=759|1870=5790|1880=15452|1890=31007|1900=33608|1910=43684|1920=50022|1930=64120|1940=67833|1950=78791|1960=119484
|1970=125011|1980=115266|1990=119883|2000=122377|2010=127473|estyear=|estimate=|footnote=
U.S. Decennial Census}}
Topeka's population was estimated to be {{Formatnum:{{LookupUSEstPop|2071000|EST}}}} in the year {{LookupUSEstPop|2071000|EYR}}, {{LookupUSEstPop|2071000|TXT}}.
As of the U.S. Census in 2000,{{GR|2}} there were 122,377 people, 52,190 households, and 30,687 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 2,185.0 people per square mile (843.6/km²). There were 56,435 housing units at an average density of 1,007.6 per square mile (389.0/km²). The
racial makeupRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of the city was 78.5%
WhiteWhite 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...
, 11.7% Black or
African AmericanAfrican 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...
, 1.31%
Native AmericanNative 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...
, 1.09%
AsianAsian 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,...
, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.06% from other races, and 3.26% from
two or more racesThe terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
.
HispanicHispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
or
LatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
of any race were 8.9% of the population.
There were 52,190
householdThe household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
s out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.8% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.2% were non-families. 35.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city the population is spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males.
The
median income for a householdThe median household income is commonly used to generate data about geographic areas and divides households into two equal segments with the first half of households earning less than the median household income and the other half earning more...
in the city was $35,928, and the median income for a family was $45,803. Males had a median income of $32,373 versus $25,633 for females. The
per capita incomePer 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 $19,555. About 8.5% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.7% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Being the state's capital city, Topeka's largest employer is the State of Kansas—employing about 8,400 people, or 69% of the city's government workers. Altogether, government workers make up one out of every five employed persons in the city.{{GR|2}}
The educational, health and social services industry makes up the largest proportion of the working population (22.4%{{GR|2}}). The four school districts employ nearly 4,700 people, and
Washburn UniversityWashburn University is a co-educational, public institution of higher learning in Topeka, Kansas, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and...
employs about 1,650. Three of the largest employers are Stormont-Vail HealthCare (with about 3,100 employees), St. Francis Health Center (1,800), and Colmery-O'Neil VA Hospital (900).
The retail trade employs more than a tenth of the working population (11.5%{{GR|2}}) with
Wal-MartWal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
and
DillonsDillons is a grocery supermarket chain based in Hutchinson, Kansas, and is a division of The Kroger Company. Other banners under Dillon Stores Division include Gerbes in Missouri, Baker's in Omaha, Nebraska and a Food 4 Less store in Fremont, Nebraska...
having the greater share. Nearly another tenth is employed in manufacturing (9.0%{{GR|2}}). Top manufacturers include
Goodyear Tire and Rubber CompanyThe Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery....
,
Payless ShoeSourcePayless ShoeSource is a discount footwear retailer founded in Topeka, Kansas in 1956 that is owned by Collective Brands, Inc. In 1961, it became a public company as the Volume Shoe Corporation which merged with the May Department Stores Company in 1979. In the 1980s, Payless was widely known in the...
,
JostensJostens is an American company providing yearbooks and class rings for various high schools and colleges as well as championship rings for sports, including the Super Bowl rings....
Printing and Publishing,
Hill's Pet NutritionHill's Pet Nutrition, Inc is a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive Company. They are a large scale provider of dog and cat foods.- History :In 1928, Dr. Mark L. Morris Sr. established Raritan Hospital for Animals in Edison, New Jersey. At the time, this was one of only two small animal hospitals in the...
, and
Frito-LayFrito-Lay North America is the division of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets and sells corn chips, potato chips and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, Doritos and Tostitos tortilla chips,...
. Southwest Publishing & Mailing Corporation, a smaller employer, has its headquarters in Topeka.
Other industries are finance, insurance, real estate, and rental and leasing (7.8%); professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste management services (7.6%); arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services (7.2%); construction (6.0%); transportation and warehousing, and utilities (5.8%); and wholesale trade (3.2%).{{GR|2}}
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of KansasThe Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a federation of 39 separate health insurance organizations and companies in the United States. Combined, they directly or indirectly provide health insurance to over 100 million Americans. The history of Blue Cross dates back to 1929, while the history of...
is the largest insurance employer, with about 1,800 employees.
BNSF RailwayThe BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
is the largest transportation employer, with about 1,100.
Westar EnergyWestar Energy is an investor owned electric utility headquartered in Topeka, Kansas. Westar is the largest electric company in Kansas, serving 687,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in the eastern third of the state. Westar Energy generates more than 27,000,000 megawatt-hours of...
employs nearly 800. About a tenth of the working population is employed in public administration (9.9%{{GR|2}}).
Major companies based in Topeka:
- Westar Energy
Westar Energy is an investor owned electric utility headquartered in Topeka, Kansas. Westar is the largest electric company in Kansas, serving 687,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in the eastern third of the state. Westar Energy generates more than 27,000,000 megawatt-hours of...
- Collective Brands
Payless ShoeSource is a discount footwear retailer founded in Topeka, Kansas in 1956 that is owned by Collective Brands, Inc. In 1961, it became a public company as the Volume Shoe Corporation which merged with the May Department Stores Company in 1979. In the 1980s, Payless was widely known in the...
- CoreFirst Bank & Trust
CoreFirst Bank & Trust is a community bank headquartered in Topeka, Kansas. Commerce Bank & Trust changed its name to CoreFirst Bank & Trust in order to differentiate itself from other Commerce Banks, both in Kansas and nationwide. Since the name change, CoreFirst has operated under three...
- Capitol Federal Savings Bank
Capitol Federal Savings Bank , or Cap Fed, is a retail bank headquartered in Topeka, Kansas. It was created in 1893. It is holds more than $8 billion in assets and trades on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol CFFN as a part of Capitol Federal Financial. It was listed as one of the banks that "Didn't...
- Hill's Pet Nutrition
Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc is a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive Company. They are a large scale provider of dog and cat foods.- History :In 1928, Dr. Mark L. Morris Sr. established Raritan Hospital for Animals in Edison, New Jersey. At the time, this was one of only two small animal hospitals in the...
- Sports Car Club of America
The Sports Car Club of America is a club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional racers.-History:...
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
Religion
Topeka is sometimes cited as the home of
PentecostalismPentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
as it was the site of
Charles Fox ParhamCharles Fox Parham was an American preacher and evangelist. Together with William J. Seymour, Parham was one of the two central figures in the development and early spread of Pentecostalism...
's
Bethel Bible CollegeBethel Bible College or Bethel Gospel School was a Bible college founded in 1900 by Charles Parham at Topeka, Kansas. The school is credited with starting the Pentecostal movement due to a series of fasting days that ended in what was interpreted as speaking in tongues on January 1, 1901...
, where
glossolaliaGlossolalia or speaking in tongues is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables, often as part of religious practice. The significance of glossolalia has varied with time and place, with some considering it a part of a sacred language...
was first claimed as the evidence of a spiritual experience referred to as the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1901. It is also the home of Reverend
Charles SheldonCharles Monroe Sheldon was an American minister in the Congregational churches and leader of the Social Gospel movement...
, author of
In His StepsIn His Steps is a best-selling book written by Charles Monroe Sheldon. First published in 1897, the book has sold more than 30,000,000 copies, and ranks as the 9th best-selling book of all time, along with Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls...
, and was the site where the famous question "
What would Jesus do?The phrase "What would Jesus do?" became popular in the United States in the 1990s and as a personal motto for adherents of Evangelical Christianity who used the phrase as a reminder of their belief in a moral imperative to act in a manner that would demonstrate the love of Jesus through the...
" originated in a sermon of Sheldon's at Central Congregational Church. The First Presbyterian Church in Topeka is one of the very few churches in the U.S. to have its sanctuary completely decorated with
TiffanyLouis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements...
stained glass (another is St. Luke's United Methodist in
Dubuque, IowaDubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....
). The highly controversial
Westboro Baptist ChurchThe Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the...
, known for its
extreme hostility towards homosexualityHomophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
, is located in Topeka. There is a large Roman Catholic population, and the city is home to eight Roman Catholic parishes. Topeka also has a claim in the history of the
Baha'i FaithThe Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
in Kansas. Not only does the city have the oldest, continuous Baha'i community in Kansas (beginning in 1906), but that community has roots to the first Baha'i community in Kansas, in Enterprise, Kansas in 1897. This was the second Baha'i community in the western hemisphere.
Points of interest
- Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site was established in Topeka, Kansas, on October 26, 1992, by the United States Congress to commemorate the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision aimed at ending racial segregation in public schools...
- Kansas State Capitol
The Kansas State Capitol, known also as the Kansas Statehouse, is the building housing the executive and legislative branches of government for the U.S. state of Kansas. It is located in the city of Topeka which has served as the capital of Kansas since it became a state in 1861...
, with murals by John Steuart CurryJohn Steuart Curry was an American painter whose career spanned from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting life in his home state, Kansas...
, including the portrait of John Brown towering over "Bleeding Kansas" and the Kansas prairie, and topped with the sculpture of an American Indian named Ad Astra (from the state motto Ad Astra per Aspera, meaning "To the Stars Through Difficulty".)
- Kansas Expocentre and Landon Arena
Landon Arena, better known as the Kansas Expocentre, is a 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena built in 1987 in Topeka, Kansas. It is currently home to the Kansas Koyotes indoor football team and the Topeka Roadrunners ice hockey team. Previously, Topeka Sizzlers of the Continental Basketball...
- Combat Air Museum
The Combat Air Museum is located in Williamsport Township, Shawnee County, near Topeka, Kansas at Forbes Field airport. The Museum rents two hangars from the MTAA. It is one of a handful of major aviation museums in the United States located on an active air field...
at Forbes FieldForbes Field is a joint civil-military public airport located six miles south of the central business district of Topeka, a city in Shawnee County, Kansas, United States...
- Heartland Park Topeka
Heartland Park Topeka is a multi-purpose motorsports facility located south of Topeka, Kansas.When it opened in 1989, it was the first brand-new auto racing facility to be built in the United States for 20 years. Its facilities include a road-race course with 4 possible configurations , a ⅜ mile...
, a major drag racing and road racing course just south of the city.
- Kansas Museum of History
The Kansas Museum of History in Topeka, Kansas, USA, is the state history museum. It presents Kansas history from the prehistoric to modern eras in of exhibits. The galleries feature a train , full-sized tipi in the Southern Cheyenne style, a 1950s diner, and many other large features...
- Reinisch Rose Garden and Doran Rock Garden
Reinisch Rose Garden and Doran Rock Garden is a garden located in Gage Park, at 4320 SW 10th Avenue, Topeka, Kansas.The Reinisch garden features 400 varieties of roses with over 6,500 plants. It is one of 23 test gardens in the United States for hybridizers, and officially designated for its...
, both parts of Gage Park.
- Topeka High School
Topeka High School is a fully accredited high school, serving students in grades 9-12, located in Topeka, Kansas. It is one of four high schools within Topeka Public Schools. The school colors are black and gold...
- Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library is a public library located in Topeka, Kansas. It serves all of Shawnee County, Kansas with the exception of the Rossville, Kansas and Silver Lake, Kansas townships. The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library is a municipal taxing district authorized by...
- Topeka Zoo
The Topeka Zoo is a medium-sized zoo in Topeka, Kansas in the United States. It is located within Gage Park, just off I-70 in the north central portion of the city. Despite its size, it has a number of exhibits, including one of the first indoor tropical rain forests in the United States...
, famous as the birthplace of the first Golden EagleThe Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
chick hatched in captivity
- Old Prairie Town at Ward-Meade Historic Site
- Washburn University
Washburn University is a co-educational, public institution of higher learning in Topeka, Kansas, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and...
, the last city-chartered university in the United States.
- Westboro Neighborhood
Westboro is a neighborhood in Topeka, Kansas, generally bounded by Southwest Huntoon Boulevard on the north, Southwest Oakley Avenue on the east, Southwest 17th Street on the south and Southwest Gage Boulevard on the west...
- Potwin Neighborhood, originally its own town, Potwin has now been surrounded by the City of Topeka, though it still maintains its own mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
and traditions, including the EasterEaster is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
brunch and 4 JulyIndependence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
Parade.
- Kansas Judicial Center, where both the Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
and Court of AppealsA court of appeals is an appellate court generally.Court of Appeals may refer to:*Military Court of Appeals *Corte d'Assise d'Appello *Philippine Court of Appeals*High Court of Appeals of Turkey*United States courts of appeals...
for the state sit.
- Cedar Crest
The Kansas Governor's Residence, also known as Cedar Crest, is the official residence of the governor of Kansas. Built in 1928 and bequeathed to the state in 1955, it became the governor's residence in 1962....
, the Kansas Governor's Mansion located on a hilltop overlooking the massive MacLennan Park.
Sports
| Club |
Sport |
League |
Kansas KoyotesThe Kansas Koyotes are a professional indoor football team based out of Topeka, Kansas. The Koyotes compete in the American Professional Football League . They began play in 2003....
|
Indoor Football |
American Professional Football League The American Professional Football League is a Midwestern United States-based indoor football league founded in 2003. The league consists of professional and semi-professional teams, with a few core teams that play a full 10 game schedule and other teams that play partial schedules. At the end of...
|
| Topeka Golden Giants The Topeka Golden Giants are a summer collegiate wood bat baseball team based in Topeka, Kansas, in the United States. The Golden Giants are a former member of the M.I.N.K. League, which is affiliated with the National Baseball Congress.-Year-by-year record:...
|
BaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
|
Independent Collegiate Summer Wood Bat The National Baseball Congress of Wichita, Kansas is an organization of 15 amateur and semi-professional baseball leagues operating in the United States and Canada...
|
| Topeka Mudcats The Topeka Mudcats are a women's professional American football team based in Topeka, Kansas, and a charter member of the Women's Spring Football League.-History:...
|
FootballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
|
Women's Spring Football League The Women's Spring Football League is a full contact Women's American football league which began play in 2010. Five teams played the WSFL's 2010 exhibition schedule, with twelve more joining for their first full season in 2011, and five more for 2012. Three of the league's original 5 have since...
|
| Topeka Roadrunners The Topeka RoadRunners is a Tier II Junior A ice hockey team in the North American Hockey League's Southern Division. The team's home arena is the 7,777-seat Landon Arena in Topeka, Kansas.-Lone Star Cavalry:...
|
Ice hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
|
North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is enterting its 36th season in 2011-12. It is currently the only Junior A Tier II league, sanctioned by USA Hockey. The NAHL currently acts as an alternative to the United States Hockey League...
|
Print
Topeka is the home of a daily newspaper, the
Topeka Capital-Journal, and a bi-weekly newspaper,
The Topeka Metro News.
Radio
The following
radio stationRadio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s are
licensedA 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 Topeka:
AM
align=bottom |
| Frequency |
Callsign |
Format |
Notes |
| 580 |
WIBW WIBW is a Topeka, Kansas, area news, talk, and sports radio station that airs such local programming such as On the Other Hand , Sports Sanity with Bruce Steinbrock, and SportsTalk with Mark Elliott. WIBW also carries national programs such as Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, and Kim Komando...
|
News News Radio can refer to:* NewsRadio, the NBC sitcom which aired from 1995–1999.* News radio, the all-news or news/talk radio format....
/TalkTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
|
|
| 1440 |
KMAJ KMAJ is an AM radio station in Topeka, Kansas broadcasting on the frequency of 1440 kHz. KMAJ is an ABC News & Talk network affiliate that is owned by Cumulus Media....
|
News News Radio can refer to:* NewsRadio, the NBC sitcom which aired from 1995–1999.* News radio, the all-news or news/talk radio format....
/TalkTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
|
|
| 1490 |
KTOP |
Sports Sports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
|
|
FM
align=bottom |
| Frequency |
Callsign |
Format |
Notes |
| 88.1 |
KJTYKJTY is a non-commercial Christian FM radio station in Topeka, Kansas, operating on 88.1 MHz. The station broadcasts with 35,000 watts from a 584 foot tower giving it a strong signal throughout eastern Kansas.-History:...
|
Contemporary Christian |
|
| 89.5 |
K208FE CSN International, broadcasting under the callsign KAWZ, is an FM radio station in Twin Falls, Idaho, operating on a frequency of 89.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 100 kW at 302 meters above average terrain....
|
Christian Christian radio is a category of radio formats that focus on transmitting programming with a Christian message. In the United States, where it is more established, many such broadcasters play popular music of Christian influence, though many programs have talk or news programming covering...
|
Translator of KAWZ, Twin Falls, IdahoTwin Falls is the county seat and largest city of Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The population was 44,125 at the 2010 censusTwin Falls is the largest city of Idaho's Magic Valley region...
|
| 90.3 |
KBUZ KBUZ is an FM radio station licensed to Topeka, Kansas, and broadcasting at 90.3 MHz....
|
Christian Christian radio is a category of radio formats that focus on transmitting programming with a Christian message. In the United States, where it is more established, many such broadcasters play popular music of Christian influence, though many programs have talk or news programming covering...
|
AFRAmerican Family Radio is a network of more than 180 radio stations broadcasting Christian-oriented programming to over 40 states.-Overview:AFR was launched by Rev...
|
| 94.5 |
WIBW-FMWIBW-FM is a country music radio station in Topeka, Kansas. Until 2000, the station was located at 97.3 FM. The station was moved to make way for a new move-in station in Kansas City....
|
CountryCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
|
|
| 99.3 |
KWIC KWIC is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Topeka, Kansas, USA, the station is currently owned by Cumulus Media.-History:...
|
Classic Hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from 1964 to 1989. The term is sometimes erroneously used as a synonym for the adult hits format, but is more accurately characterized as a contemporary style of the oldies format...
|
|
| 100.3 |
KDVVKDVV is a radio station broadcasting an album-oriented rock format. Licensed to Topeka, Kansas, USA, the station serves the Topeka area. The station is currently owned by Cumulus Media and features programing from Westwood One....
|
AOR Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...
|
|
| 106.9 |
KTPK KTPK is a radio station broadcasting a classic country format, now operating as "Country Legends 106.9". The station is licensed to Topeka, Kansas, USA, the station is currently owned by JMJ Broadcasting Company, Inc.-History:...
|
Classic Country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country hits from past decades.This genre generally follows one of two formats: those specializing in hits from the 1920s through the early 1970s, and focus primarily on innovators and artists from country music's Golden...
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|
Additionally, most of the Kansas City stations provide at least grade B coverage of Topeka.
KANU-FMKANU is the flagship station of Kansas Public Radio , a seven-station network based in Lawrence at the University of Kansas. In addition to KANU , KPR also operates KANH in Emporia , KANV in Olsburg , K210CR in Atchison , K258BT and K250AY in Manhattan, and KANQ in Chanute KANU is the flagship...
in Lawrence (in the Kansas City market) serves as Topeka's NPR member station as well.
Television
The following
television stationA television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
s are
licensedA 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 Topeka:
align=bottom |
| Digital Channel |
Analog Channel |
Callsign |
Network |
Notes |
| |
10 |
KGKC-LP |
|
|
| 11 |
|
KTWUKTWU, on digital channel 11, is a Public Broadcasting Service Public television station in Topeka, Kansas. The station is operated by Washburn University and provides public television service to eastern Kansas...
|
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
|
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| 13 |
|
WIBW-TV WIBW-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Topeka, Kansas. It broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 13 and its digital translator on UHF channel 44. Both operating frequencies are transmitted in Maple Hill. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios at Southwest Commerce Place...
|
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...
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| 27 |
|
KSNTKSNT is the NBC-affiliated television station for Topeka, Kansas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter at its studios on Northwest 27th Street near the Kiro section of Topeka...
|
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
|
|
| |
33 |
K33IC |
TBN The Trinity Broadcasting Network is a major American Christian television network. TBN is based in Costa Mesa, California, with auxiliary studio facilities in Irving, Texas; Hendersonville, Tennessee; Gadsden, Alabama; Decatur, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Orlando, Florida; and New...
|
|
| 27.2 |
43 |
KTMJ-CAKTMJ-CA is the Class A Fox-affiliated television station for Topeka, Kansas. It broadcasts an analog signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter in the city between the Kansas River and I-70/U.S. 40/U.S. 75/KS 4...
|
FoxFox 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...
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KTKA-TVKTKA-TV, channel 49, is the ABC-affiliated television station in Topeka, Kansas. Owned by PBC Broadcasting, the station is operated by New Vision Television though a shared services agreement with NBC affiliate KSNT and low-powered Fox affiliate KTMJ-CA. Its studios are located on Northwest 27th...
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ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
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Most Kansas City stations are available on cable, which has been the case for many years.
Government
{{Expand section|date=May 2008}}
{{See also|List of mayors of Topeka}}
The chief executives of Topeka are
MayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Bill BuntenWilliam W. "Bill" Bunten is a Kansas politician and the current mayor of Topeka, Kansas, having been elected to a four-year term in 2005. Prior to becoming mayor, he served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1962 to 1990 and in the Kansas Senate from 2002 to 2004. He previously ran for...
(
RThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
) and
City ManagerA city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a council-manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief executive officer or chief administrative officer in some municipalities...
Norton Bonaparte Jr.
Crime
Although Topeka experienced problems with crime in the 1990s, the city's crime rates have improved in the past decade. The city is now breaking trends when it comes to violent crime, so much so that it has gained the interest of researchers from Michigan State University. Since 2000, most cities with a population greater than 100,000 have seen an increase in violent crimes. Topeka's crime rates are decreasing. Researchers credit good communication between law enforcement agencies, informed media outlets, and strong community involvement for Topeka's success. Topeka was one of four cities, along with
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
,
TampaTâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
, and
El Monte, CaliforniaEl Monte is a residential, industrial, and commercial city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte," and historically is known as "The End of the Santa Fe Trail." As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 113,475,...
, to be studied.
Overall, crime in Topeka was down nearly 18 percent in the first half of 2008, compared with the same period of 2007. Topeka police reported a 6.4 percent drop in crime from 2007 to 2008, including significant reductions in business robberies and aggravated assaults and batteries, as well as thefts.
On October 11, 2011, the Topeka city council agreed to repeal the ordinance banning
domestic violenceDomestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
in an effort to force the Shawnee County District Attorney to prosecute the cases. Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor said that the DA "would no longer prosecute misdemeanors committed in Topeka, including domestic battery, because his office could no longer do so after county commissioners cut his budget by 10 percent." The next day, Taylor said that his office would “commence the review and filing of misdemeanors decriminalized by the City of Topeka.” The same day it was announced that 17% of the employees in the District Attorney's office would be laid off.
Elementary and secondary education
Topeka is served by four public school districts including:
- USD 345 Seaman (Serving North Topeka)
- USD 437 Auburn-Washburn (Serving west and southwest Topeka)
- USD 450 Shawnee Heights (Serving extreme east and southeast Topeka)
- USD 501 Topeka.
Topeka Public Schools is an Inner city School District serving the City of Topeka. It is one of four school districts that serve the city of Topeka, the capital city of Kansas...
(Serving inner-city Topeka)
Topeka is also home to several private and parochial schools such as
Cair Paravel-Latin SchoolCair Paravel Latin School is a coeducational, non-profit, interdenominational Christian private school located in Topeka, Kansas. The school was founded in 1980...
. There are also elementary and junior high schools supported by other Christian denominations.
Hayden High SchoolHayden High School is a private, Catholic high school in Topeka, Kansas. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.-Athletics:...
, a Catholic High School is also located in Topeka.
Postsecondary colleges/universities
Topeka has several colleges, universities and technical schools including
Washburn UniversityWashburn University is a co-educational, public institution of higher learning in Topeka, Kansas, USA. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business. Washburn has 550 faculty members, who teach more than 6,400 undergraduate students and...
,
Friends UniversityFriends University is a private non-denominational Christian university in Wichita, Kansas.Friends University was founded in 1898. The main building was originally built in 1886 for Garfield University, but was donated in 1898 to the Religious Society of Friends by James Davis, a St. Louis...
,
Washburn Institute of TechnologyWashburn Institute of Technology is an Institute of technology located in Topeka, Kansas. It houses a variety of programs for nursing, auto tech, culinary arts and much more. It is administered under Washburn University....
(Formerly Kaw Area Technical School), and the
Baker UniversityBaker University is a private, residential university located in Baldwin City, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools...
School of Nursing. The now defunct
College of the Sisters of BethanyThe College of the Sisters of Bethany is a defunct school located in Topeka, Kansas. The school was chartered by the Kansas Territory on February 2, 1861 and was originally named Episcopal Female Seminary of Topeka but changed its name on July 9, 1872...
and
Bethel Bible CollegeBethel Bible College or Bethel Gospel School was a Bible college founded in 1900 by Charles Parham at Topeka, Kansas. The school is credited with starting the Pentecostal movement due to a series of fasting days that ended in what was interpreted as speaking in tongues on January 1, 1901...
both once called Topeka their home.
Health care
Topeka has two major hospitals, Stormont-Vail and St. Francis Hospital both located in central Topeka. Topeka is also home to the Colmery-O'Neil
VAThe United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
Medical Clinic.
Transportation
I-70,
I-470Interstate 470 is a loop highway that bypasses the downtown area of Topeka, Kansas . I-470 begins at I-70 in western Topeka and heads southeast, running concurrent with U.S. Route 75 . At the I-470 junction with I-335, the freeway becomes part of the Kansas Turnpike until I-470 reaches its...
, and I-335 all go through the City of Topeka. I-335 is part of the
Kansas TurnpikeThe 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...
where it passes through Topeka. Other major highways include: US-24, US-40, US-75, and
K-4K-4 is the longest designated state highway in Kansas traversing from north of Scott City at US-83 to US-59 near Nortonville in northeast Kansas. A segment of the highway in McPherson County overlaps Interstate 135, and a section in Topeka runs concurrent with Interstate 70.-Western Kansas:K-4...
. Major roads within the city include NW/SW Topeka Blvd. SW Wanamaker Road. N/S Kansas Ave. SW/SE 29th St. SE/SW 21st St. SE California Ave. SW Gage Blvd. and SW Fairlawn Rd.
Philip Billard Municipal AirportPhilip Billard Municipal Airport is a public airport located three miles northeast of the central business district of Topeka, the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County...
(TOP) is located in the Oakland area of Topeka and
Forbes FieldForbes Field is a joint civil-military public airport located six miles south of the central business district of Topeka, a city in Shawnee County, Kansas, United States...
(FOE) is located in south Topeka in
Pauline, KansasPauline is an unincorporated town in Shawnee County, Kansas, United States. Located south of Topeka, it lies next to Forbes Field. Although it began as a small town in its own right, Pauline now is occasionally seen as part of the South City Industry Park for Topeka, Kansas with its many large...
. Passenger air service is not currently available. Service may be added in the near future. Forbes Field also serves as an
Air National GuardThe Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...
base, home of the highly decorated 190th Air Refueling Wing. MHK located in Manhattan, KS is the closest commercial airport, MCI in Kansas City is the closest major airport.
Passenger rail service provided by
AmtrakThe 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...
stops at the
Topeka StationThe Topeka Amtrak station is a train station in Topeka, Kansas, United States served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system. The Topeka Amtrak Station was built in 1950 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as a replacement for the former Topeka Harvey House, which itself was...
. Current service is via the Chicago-to-Los Angeles
Southwest ChiefThe 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...
during the early morning hours. However, the
Kansas Department of TransportationThe 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...
recently asked Amtrak to study additional service options, including daytime service to
Oklahoma CityOklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
. Freight service is provided by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad and Union Pacific Railroad.
Bus service is provided by
Greyhound LinesGreyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
.
Local transit service is provided by the Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority. The agency offers bus service from 6 am to 6:30 pm Monday through Friday, and 7 am to 5 pm on Saturday. The agency also provides demand response general public taxi service which operates evenings from 8 pm until 11:30 pm and on Sundays.
Utilities
- Electricity: Westar Energy
Westar Energy is an investor owned electric utility headquartered in Topeka, Kansas. Westar is the largest electric company in Kansas, serving 687,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in the eastern third of the state. Westar Energy generates more than 27,000,000 megawatt-hours of...
- Home Telephone: AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
and Cox CommunicationsCox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
- Cable:Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
and AT&TAT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
- Gas: Kansas Gas Service
Kansas Gas Service is the largest natural gas distribution company in Kansas, operating in 82 counties. It is a regulated public utility which serves 642,000 customers in 341 communities, employing more than 1,100 employees. In addition to owning seven interstate pipeline connections and three...
- Water & Sewer: City of Topeka
- Sanitation: Shawnee County
- Internet: Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
and AT&TAT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
In popular culture
- In 1998, Topeka became the site for the American release of Nintendo's
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Pokémonis a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
game.
- It is also mentioned in the Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
series, Foster's Home for Imaginary FriendsFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends is an American animated television series created and produced at Cartoon Network Studios by animator Craig McCracken, creator of The Powerpuff Girls. It first premiered on Cartoon Network on August 13, 2004, as a 90-minute television movie, which led to a series...
where the character Bloo says "It's hot in Topeka!" and then, in a play on words, says "I'm a hot toe picker!"
- Prudence Rutherford
Prudence Rutherford is a character from the Her Interactive Nancy Drew computer-game series who has appeared in three games: Secret of the Scarlet Hand, Danger By Design and The Phantom of Venice and has been mentioned in the game Trail of the Twister. She is only a phone character in the game, but...
in the Nancy Drew Computer Games said that she lives in Topeka.
- In the movie Almost Famous
Almost Famous is a 2000 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and telling the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the fictitious rock band Stillwater , and his efforts to get his first cover story published...
, fictional character Russell Hammond, goes to a party in Topeka, claiming to look for "real people." The quote "We're just real Topeka people man" is said in response.
- Topeka is an important location in many of Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's works including The StandThe Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy novel by American author Stephen King. It demonstrates the scenario in his earlier short story, Night Surf...
and The Dark TowerDark Tower may refer to:* The Dark Tower , an unfinished novel by C. S. Lewis* Barad-dûr the fortress of Sauron in the fantasy world of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings* The Dark Tower , a 1933 comedy by George S...
series.
- In the South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
episode "The Red Badge of Gayness"The Red Badge of Gayness" is episode 45 of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on November 24, 1999.-Plot synopsis:...
", the re-enacted ConfederatesThe Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
, led by Eric CartmanEric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
, attack Topeka.
- In the RPG Z-Corps, the city of Topeka is the starting point of a zombie invasion.
Further reading
- History of the State of Kansas; William G. Cutler; A.T. Andreas Publisher; 1883. (Online HTML eBook)
- Kansas : A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc; 3 Volumes; Frank W. Blackmar; Standard Publishing Co; 944 / 955 / 824 pages; 1912. (Volume1 - Download 54MB PDF eBook),(Volume2 - Download 53MB PDF eBook), (Volume3 - Download 33MB PDF eBook)
External links
{{Commons category|Topeka, Kansas}}
{{Portal box|Kansas}}
{{Shawnee County, Kansas}}
{{Kansas}}
{{United States state capitals}}