This is the inaugural article about the facts of Kansas and its history. In the coming months, I will be providing some interesting facts, figures, and historical data about the state of Kansas for our readers. This series should be of interest to students, teachers, authors, historians, and others interested in the history of the State. So without further ado, we begin with a list of Kansas Facts. This list will grow and expand throughout the coming months, so keep checking back from time to time to see what is new.
Main Facts About Kansas
- Birth Date: January 29, 1861, as the 34th state +
- Capital City: Topeka +
- Population: 2,688,418 (2000 - US census report that comes out every 10 years) +
- Largest Cities: Wichita, Kansas City, Overland Park, Topeka +
- Smallest Cities: Freeport, Oak Hill, Benedict, Frederick +
- Major Industries: Aircraft Manufacturing, Agriculture, and Education +
- Geographic Size: 82,282 square miles--ranked 15th in geographic size +
- Geographic Center of Continental US: Near Lebanon in Smith County +
- Highest Point: Mount Sunflower in western Kansas--4,039 feet +
- Lowest Point: The Verdigris River in southeast Kansas--680 feet +
- Time Zones: Mostly central time zone. Some counties in the far west portion of the State are in the mountain time zone. +
- Nickname: Sunflower State (unofficial nicknames: Wheat State, JayHawker State) +
- State motto: "Ad Astra Per Aspera" Latin for "To the stars through difficulty". +
- State Flower: Native Sunflower, adopted 1903 +
- State Tree: Cottonwood, adopted 1937 +
- State Bird: Western Meadowlark, adopted 1937 +
- State Animal: The American Buffalo or Bison, adopted in 1955 +
- State Insect: The Honeybee, adopted 1976 +
- State Reptile: The Ornate Box Turtle, adopted 1986 +
- State Amphibian: Barred Tiger Salamander, adopted 1993 +
- State Grass: Little Bluestem, adopted 2010 +
- State March: "The Kansas March," by Duff E. Middleton, adopted 1935 +
- State Song: "Home on the Range," by Dr. Brewster Higley, adopted 1947 +
- Number of Counties: 105 (there were 28 other counties in the State but they are now defunct due to name changes, reorganizations, or mergers and splits)
- First Inhabitants: Native American Indians
- First European to arrive in Kansas: Francisco Vasquez de Coronado (1540)
- The only official capital of Kansas Territory was Lecompton; however, government functions in the territory were held at Fort Leavenworth, Shawnee Methodist Mission, Pawnee, Topeka, Lawrence, and Minneola. Topeka from 1854 to 1861. (Source: Constitution Hall State Historic Site)
+Source: Office of the Governor of Kansas website's quick facts page
More Kansas Facts:
- Kansas Facts: Information about The Counties of the State
- Trading Post, the oldest settlement in Kansas is located in Linn County
- Cutler's History of the State of Kansas (Book)
- Frank W. Blackmar's Kansas Cyclopedia (1912) (Book, Download available at Internet Archives.)