Topeka, Kansas

Topeka, Kansas
State capital city
Downtown skyline from Burnett's Mound Kansas State Capitol Constitution Hall Topeka Public Library Topeka High School Railyard buildings at Great Overland Station
Flag
Location within Shawnee County and Kansas
KDOT map of Shawnee County (legend)
Coordinates: 39°03′N 95°41′W / 39.050°N 95.683°W / 39.050; -95.683[1]
Country	United States
State	Kansas
County	Shawnee
Founded	1854; 170 years ago (1854)
Incorporated	1857; 167 years ago (1857)
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
• Mayor	Mike Padilla (D)[2]
• City Manager	Stephen Wade [3]
Area [4]
• State capital city	62.76 sq mi (162.54 km2)
• Land	61.45 sq mi (159.15 km2)
• Water	1.31 sq mi (3.39 km2)
Elevation [1]	938 ft (286 m)
Population  (2020)[5][6]
• State capital city	126,587
• Rank	US: 222nd KS: 5th
• Density	2,000/sq mi (780/km2)
• Urban	150,003 (US: 217th)
• Metro	232,670 (US: 200th)
Demonym	Topekan
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Codes	66601–66612, 66614–66622, 66624–66626, 66628–66629, 66636–66637, 66642, 66647, 66652–66653, 66667, 66675, 66683, 66692, 66699[7]
Area code	785
FIPS code	20-71000
GNIS ID	485655[1]
Website	topeka.org

Topeka (pronounced /tə-pē'kə/)^[8] is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas. Topeka is the county seat of Shawnee County, and it is in the northeast part of the state. In 2020, 126,587 people lived there.^[6]

Topeka was established in 1854 when nine white men founded the Topeka Town Association.^[9] At an election in November 1861, the people of Kansas chose Topeka as the permanent capital of the state.^[10]

The name Topeka is made up of three words from the Kaw, Omaha, and Iowa Native American tribes. The first, to, means "potato". The second, pe (short for pekae) is an adjective meaning "good". The third, okae, means "to dig". Thus, the name Topeka means "a good place to dig potatoes".^[11] The name was chosen because "[i]t was a novel name of Indian origin, euphonious [pleasing] of sound and simple".^[12]

Charles Sheldon and Charles Fox Parham, both important people in the history of American Christianity, were preachers in Topeka. Many historians believe that the modern Pentecostalism movement started in Monroe's church in 1901. Sheldon was a preacher in Topeka around the same time, who is famous for coming up with the phrase "What would Jesus do?"^[13]

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a lawsuit that went before the United States Supreme Court in 1954. Several families sued the public school board in Topeka for the right for black students to go to the same schools as white students. The Supreme Court decided that school districts could not make students go to different schools because of their race. Today, the government has a museum in Topeka about Brown v. Board of Education and civil rights for African-Americans.

Topeka is at 39°03′N 95°41′W / 39.050°N 95.683°W / 39.050; -95.683,^[1] in north east Kansas. It is at the intersection of I-70 and U.S. Highway 75. It is the start of I-335 which is a part of the Kansas Turnpike running from Topeka to Emporia, Kansas. Topeka is also on U.S. Highway 24 (about 50 miles east of Manhattan, Kansas) and U.S. Highway 40 (about 30 miles west of Lawrence, Kansas). U.S.-40 is coincident with I-70 west from Topeka. The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of 62.76 square miles (162.55 km²). Of that, 61.45 square miles (159.15 km²) is land and 1.31 square miles (3.39 km²) is water.^[4]

In 2007 Forbes Magazine saidd Topeka as one of the leading U.S. cities in terms of having the biggest changes in temperature, precipitation, and wind.^[14] Topeka has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa). It has hot, somewhat humid summers and cool to cold, fairly dry winters. It is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6.^[15] Over the course of a year, the monthly daily average temperature ranges from 29.7 °F (−1.3 °C) in January to 79.0 °F (26.1 °C) in July. The high temperature reaches 90 °F or 32.2 °C on average of 41.5 afternoons per year. The high reaches 100 °F or 37.8 °C an average of 3.5 afternoons per year. The low temperature falls below 0 °F or −17.8 °C on average of four mornings per year, and there are 21 afternoons per year that stay below freezing.^[16] The general time of year for freezing temperatures is October 15 through April 17.^[16]

The area gets about 36.5 inches (930 mm) of precipitation during an average year. The most being received in May and June—the April through June period averages 33 days of measurable precipitation. Generally, the spring and summer months have the most rainfall. Autumn and winter are fairly dry. During a typical year the total amount of precipitation may be anywhere from 25 to 47 inches (640 to 1,190 mm). Much of the rainfall is comes from thunderstorms. These can be very bad. They often have lightning, big hail, and sometimes tornadoes. Winter snowfall averages almost 17.8 inches or 0.45 metres. Measurable (≥0.1 inches or 0.0025 metres) snowfall occurs an average of 12.9 days per year, with at least one inch (0.025 metre) of snow being received on five of those days. Snow depth of at least an inch happens an average of 20 days per year.^[16]

The 2020 census says that there were 126,587 people, 53,938 households, and 29,912 families living in Topeka. Of the households, 54.8% owned their home and 45.2% rented their home.

The median age was 38.3 years. Of the people, 68.4% were White, 10.4% were Black, 1.6% were Asian, 1.4% were Native American, 0.1% were Pacific Islanders, 6.1% were from some other race, and 11.9% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.4% of the people.^[5][21]

The 2010 census says that there were 127,473 people, 53,943 households, and 30,707 families living in Topeka.^[22]

C W Porubsky's Deli & Tavern's chili "has been a lure to north Topeka since 1951".^[23][24][25] In 2014, Travel + Leisure said it was one of America's Best Chilis.^[26]

The Topeka Capital-Journal is a newspaper that is published every day. The Topeka Metro News is a newspaper that is published twice per week. Both newspapers have online versions (The Topeka Metro News - Online Edition and CJOnline).

The following radio stations are licensed to Topeka:

AM

FM

The following television stations are licensed to Topeka:

Greyhound Lines has buses going towards Denver, Colorado, eastward to Kansas City, Missouri, and southwest to Wichita, Kansas.^[31]

• Great Flood of 1951
• 1966 F5 tornado

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Topeka, Kansas.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide about: Topeka

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Topeka.

Wikisource has the text of the 1879 American Cyclopædia article Topeka.

• Official website
• Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce
• Kansas State Historical Society
• Topeka, Kansas at Curlie
• Topeka City Map, KDOT