Wichita's position on the Chisholm Trail made it a destination for cattle drives traveling north from Texas to access railroads, which led to markets in eastern U.S. A 1915 railroad map of Sedgwick County, showing many railroads that previously passed through Wichita. Wichita formally incorporated as a city on July 21, 1870. In 1870, Munger and German immigrant William "Dutch Bill" Greiffenstein filed plats laying out the city's first streets. That summer, Mead and others organized the Wichita Town Company, naming the settlement after the Wichita tribe. Business opportunities attracted area hunters and traders, and a new settlement began to form. Mead was among a group of investors who established a town company, and surveyor Darius Munger built a log structure for the company to serve as a hotel, community center, and post office. In 1867, after the war, the Wichita returned to Indian Territory. During this period, trader Jesse Chisholm established a trading post at the site, one of several along a trail extending south to Texas which became known as the Chisholm Trail. The Wichita people returned in 1863, driven from their land in Indian Territory by Confederate forces in the American Civil War, and established a settlement on the banks of the Little Arkansas. Ĭlaimed first by France as part of Louisiana and later acquired by the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, it became part of Kansas Territory in 1854 and then the state of Kansas in 1861. 19th century Darius Sales Munger House, built in 1868, is the oldest surviving building in Wichita (at Old Cowtown Museum). Prior to European settlement of the region, the site was in the territory of the Kiowa.
Conflict with the Osage in the 1750s drove the Wichita further south. In 1541, a Spanish expedition led by explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado found the area populated by the Quivira, or Wichita, people. See also: History of Kansas Early history Īrchaeological evidence indicates human habitation near the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers, the site of present-day Wichita, as early as 3000 BC. Wichita State University is the third-largest post-secondary institution in the state. The city's Old Cowtown Museum maintains historical artifacts and exhibits the city's early history. It hosts several universities, large museums, theaters, parks, shopping centers, and entertainment venues, most notably Intrust Bank Arena and Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center. Eisenhower National Airport, the largest airport in Kansas.Īs an industrial hub, Wichita is a regional center of culture, media, and trade. Several airports located within the city of Wichita include McConnell Air Force Base, Colonel James Jabara Airport, and Wichita Dwight D. Textron Aviation, Learjet, Airbus, and Boeing/ Spirit AeroSystems continue to operate design and manufacturing facilities in Wichita, and the city remains a major center of the American aircraft industry. The city became an aircraft production hub known as "The Air Capital of the World". In the 1920s and 1930s, businessmen and aeronautical engineers established aircraft manufacturing companies in Wichita, including Beechcraft, Cessna, and Stearman Aircraft. Wyatt Earp served as a police officer in Wichita for around one year before going to Dodge City. It became a destination for cattle drives traveling north from Texas to Kansas railroads, earning it the nickname "Cowtown". Wichita began as a trading post on the Chisholm Trail in the 1860s and was incorporated as a city in 1870. It is located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. Wichita ( / ˈ w ɪ tʃ ɪ t ɔː/ WITCH-ih-taw) is the most populous city in the U.S.
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