Kansas
Laser Tag Source State of the Week
Kansas Quick Facts
- State Nickname: Sunflower State • Jayhawk State
- State Flower: Sunflower
- State Parks: 24
- State Animal: Buffalo
- State Song: “Home on the Range”
Other Kansas Facts
Waterbeds
At Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine waterbeds for horses are used in surgery.
First Woman Mayor
The first woman mayor in the United States was Susan Madora Salter. She was elected to office in Argonia in 1887.
Inventors
Kansas inventors include Almon Stowger of El Dorado who invented the dial telephone in 1889; William Purvis and Charles Wilson of Goodland who invented the helicopter in 1909; and Omar Knedlik of Coffeyville who invented the first frozen carbonated drink machine in 1961.
Buffalo
The three largest herds of buffalo (correctly called bison) in Kansas are located on public lands at the Maxwell Game Preserve (McPherson), Big Basin (Ashland), and Buffalo Game Preserve (Garden City).
Kansas By the Numbers
ft long
South of Ashland the Rock Island Bridge is the longest railroad bridge of its kind. It measures 1,200 feet long and is 100 feet above the Cimarron River.
lb ball of twine
A ball of twine in Cawker City measures over 38′ in circumference and weighs more than 16,750 pounds and is still growing.
center of all states
Smith County is the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states.
th president
Dwight D. Eisenhower from Abilene was the 34th President of the United States.
Sq miles
The Hugoton Gas Field is the largest natural gas field in the United States. It underlies all or parts of 10 southwestern Kansas counties as well as parts of Oklahoma and Texas. The gas field underlies almost 8,500 square miles, an area nearly 5 times as large as the state of Rhode Island.