Kansas Fun Facts

We live in a state with lots of fun facts! Did you know these things about our state?

• Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, was from Abilene.
   
• The first woman mayor in the United States was Susanna “Dora” Madora Salter. She was elected to office in Argonia in 1887.
   
• Amelia Earhart, first woman granted a pilot's license by the National Aeronautics Associate and first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean was from Atchison.
   
• The first ever restaurant chain in the U.S. was the “Harvey House” started in 1876 to serve railroad travelers. The Harvey House Museum is located in Florence.
   
• In the late 1940s, Forest P. Gill, a Kansas City, Mo., printer, combined two recently developed products—fluorescent ink and self-sticking adhesive—and invented the self-sticking bumper sticker.
   
• Kansas in one of only two sources of helium in the U.S.
   
• Second only to Texas, there have been more meteorites found in Kansas than in any other state west of the Mississippi.
   
• Smith County is the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states.
   
• By 1880, approximately 40,000 African-Americans had left the South for new lives in Kansas, a wave of emigration known as "the Exodus." The “Exodusters” established numerous communities during this time, including Nicodemus which remains today as a National Historic Site.
   
• The First United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, Kansas, was built during the state's notorious grasshopper plague of 1874. As a result, thousands of grasshoppers made their way into the concrete mixed for the foundation.
   
• Dodge City is the windiest city in the United States, with an average wind speed of 14 miles per hour.
   
• Our state motto is Ad astra per aspera which means “To the stars through adversity.”
   
• Kansas was named after the Kansas River, which got its name from the French after the Kansas, Omaha, Kaw, Osage and Dakota Sioux Indian word "KaNze" meaning "south wind" or “people of the south wind.” The state name for Arkansas shares its origins with Kansas.
   
• Our state flower is the sunflower.
   
• Our nicknames are The Sunflower State and The Wheat State.
   
• Our state animal is the bison, commonly called buffalo.
   
• Our state song is “Home on the Range.” Sing the lyrics!
   
• Our state tree is the Cottonwood.
   
• Our state bird is the Western Meadowlark.
   
• Our state birthday is January 29th, 1861 when we became the 34th state. See a 34 star flag at the following link.
   
• Our state capitol is Topeka. Topeka means “to dig good potatoes” in the languages of the Kansa and the Ioway. The potato referred to is the prairie potato, a perennial herb which was an important food for many Native Americans of the time. Topeka’s founders chose the name in 1855 because it was “novel, of Native American origin, and sounded good to the ear.”

Note to parents and caregivers: Kansas is a state rich in history. Here are some resources for you and your child to explore together to learn more about Kansas.

The Kansas Historical Society website offers online stories and other activities for kids related to our state’s history.

The Kansas Sampler Foundation and the Kansas Explorer Club are your guides to the exploration of what there is to see, do, hear, taste, buy, and learn in Kansas.