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MusicLacuna Coil - Ignite the Fire Tour W/ New Year's DayTempleLive Wichita7:30 PMMAY15MusicHavokTempleLive Wichita7:00 PM - MAY16MusicCakeWave8:00 PMMAY17MiscellaneousChicago Saturday in the Park UpgradeHartman Arena7:00 PM
- MAY17Arts & TheatreJosh Gates Live!Orpheum Theater (Wichita)8:00 PMMAY17Arts & TheatreJosh Gates Live!Orpheum Theater - Wichita KS8:00 PM
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Wichita, city, seat (1870) of Sedgwick county, south-central Kansas, U.S. It lies on the Arkansas River near the mouth of the Little Arkansas, about 140 miles (225 km) southwest of Topeka. The city site is a gently rolling plain at an elevation of about 1,300 feet (400 metres). Summers are hot and winters cool; precipitation is moderate and falls mainly during the warm months.
Wichita, the largest city in the state, is at the heart of a three-county metropolitan area. Nearby communities include Park City (north), Andover (east), and Derby and Haysville (south). Inc. city, 1871. Area city, 139 square miles (360 square km). Pop. (2010) 382,368; Wichita Metro Area, 623,061; (2020) 397,532; Wichita Metro Area, 647,610.
Wichita was founded in 1864 as a trading post on the site of a village of the Wichita Indians. It owed its early development to the Texas cattle trade along the Chisholm Trail and to the rapid spread of agricultural settlement along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, then under construction. In its early years Wichita was a stopover on cattle drives to Abilene (Kansas) and other points as the railroad moved west; in 1872 the line reached Wichita, and the city became a major cattle-shipping centre. By 1875 farmers’ fences were obstructing the movement of beef herds, but grain became an important commodity.
Growth was continuous and rapid after 1900, with the population surpassing 100,000 in the 1920s and 250,000 in the 1950s. Meatpacking was a major industrial activity at the beginning of the 20th century, but aircraft manufacturing, begun in the 1920s, soon dominated Wichita’s economy. The discovery of oil there added to the city’s wealth. People of European ancestry have for long constituted the great majority of the population. African Americans, roughly one-tenth of the total, constitute the largest minority group, and there are small but growing communities of Hispanics and Asians.
Wichita’s economy has become much more diversified since the heyday of aviation manufacturing. Aircraft and aerospace industries continue to be leading economic activities, although they remain susceptible to market fluctuations (such as the downturn in the airline industry following the September 11 attacks in 2001). Other manufactures include machinery, computer and precision equipment, and chemicals and petrochemicals. Services (including wholesale and retail trade, government, and health care) are increasingly important, as is the economic input of McConnell Air Force Base, which adjoins the city on the southeast.
Wichita is the seat of Friends University (1898), Newman University (1933), and Wichita State University (1895). The city has a symphony orchestra and a ballet company. The Museum of World Treasures houses an extensive collection of ancient arts; the Wichita Art Museum contains works by American artists; and the Mid-America All-Indian Center traces the culture and history of Native American peoples.
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Visit the Kansas Aviation Museum to learn about the early aviators and how more than half of all U.S. aircraft are now built in Wichita. The city’s diverse heritage is reflected in the Keeper of the Plains Plaza, Kansas African American Museum and the Mid-American All-Indian Center.
- Exploration Place. Visit website Get directions. If you're looking for family-friendly landmarks, you'll want to check out Exploration Place. The science center opened in 2000 in a beautiful contemporary building designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie.
- Arkansas Valley Lodge No. 21, Prince Hall Masons. Get directions. Chartered in 1885 and constructed in 1910, Arkansas Valley Lodge No. 21, Prince Hall Masons, is one of many Wichita historical sites to see.
- Frank Lloyd Wright's Allen House. Visit website Get directions. Famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright has designed properties across the United States, including in Wichita.
- Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Visit website Get directions. Construction of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was completed in 1912, 40 years after the first Catholic church had been built in Wichita in 1872.
Wichita, the largest city in Kansas with a population of 395,699, is the county seat of Sedgwick County. Major highways, including the Kansas Turnpike, U.S. 400 and Interstate I-135, link the city with a large trade area that encompasses a population of more than one million people within a 100-mile radius.
Wichita is the largest city in the state of Kansas and the 48th-largest city in the United States, with a population of more than 389,000. The estimated population of the Wichita metropolitan area is 650,000. The Wild West gave birth to a new era as cowboys and Indians roamed across the Plains, many establishing towns west of the Mississippi.
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