Wander logo

Wichita Kansas Rich History

Aviation Capital

By macgyver12 jacksonPublished 3 years ago 10 min read
Like

There are a lot of things that make Wichita Kansas what it is. Kansas for starters is the wheat state. There was a comedian who called Kansas the land of dirt. Kansas folks are strong and smart. People in Kansas are very nice. People will help strangers who are in need. The recent wild fires brought out the best in the people of Kansas.

Wichita Kansas is the largest city in Kansas. Wichita has a rich history. There are ten things that make Wichita a great town to live in.

Keeper Of The Plains

The Keeper Of The Plains is one of the first things that stand out when flying into Wichita. The Keeper is a large statue of an Indian. The height of the statue is 44 ft tall. The statue is made from Cor-ten steel. The person that built the Keeper is a man named Blackbear Bosin.

Bosin is a Kiowa-Comanche Indian. The statue stands at the point where two rivers called Arkansas and Little Arkansas meet. The statue was erected in 1974. The statue is also home to the “Mid America All Indian Center.” There were some things added to Keeper in the past several years such as the ring of fire that is lit at the base of the statue.

Two foot bridges that are suspended which allows people to walk from the North river bank to the South and back. The city did also raise the statue to where it is 30 feet higher than before. The rind of fire burns during the spring and summer months. Kansas is known for windy weather. If Wichita gets very windy weather, the fires are not turned on.

The Mid America All Indian Center

This is a one of a kind place in Kansas. North America has a rich culture when it comes to American Indians. This Center promotes that. The are events that take place a lot at the center such as the powwows. The powwow dancers help represent different Indian tribes that come from all over this country.

There is a museum within the center that displays the traditional items connected with Indian culture. The artifacts represent the past and the present. Not only are there indoor exhibits, there are outdoor ones too. There is a display outdoors that gives a visitor the sense on how Indians lived in the 1850s. The display has a real full sized tepee along with grass houses.

The museum is located in an area of town called Riverside. The center opened in 1976 in Wichita. Betty Nixon, an artist along with fellow artist Blackbear Bosin created the center. Nixon was an American-Kiowa artisan. She was also know for guidance counselor. As the center gained success, worked on the board of directors as chairwomen.

There is an area inside called the “Gallery Of Nations.” Special events take place here. This area can seat around 350 people. This wonderful center houses local Indians as well as Indians from Canada and the US. Since it is named All Indian center, there is no affiliation with one particular tribe. It is for every Indian tribe.

Century 2

There is an icon of a building in Wichita. It resembles a flying saucer. This building is called Century 2. This is the performing arts and convention center. It looks like a saucer because it is round with lights around the round edge of the building. It really looks the part when the lights are lit up at night.

It is know to be the largest building used for events like music concerts. The size of the building is around 200,000 square feet. There are several meeting rooms. It is said to be around twenty meeting rooms. There is little over 1100 seats in the concert area. There is a theater called the Mary Jane Teall theater. It holds about 650 seats in that area.

The convention area seats around 4700. John Hickman was the man who designed this space ship of a building in 1969. Not only did concerts take place here, but pro wrestling events took place here. There are other places in Wichita that hold or held concerts and different events. The Kansas Coliseum and Intrust Bank Arena.

Crazy Weather

Wichita and the state of Kansas is known for the changes in the weather. It can be hot one day and cold the next. A storm can form out of nowhere and do damage. The wind can be calm and then change before you know it. When March comes around, it normally gets warm.

In 2005, a crippling ice storm came through Kansas and paralyzed most cities. Wichita was hit really hard. People were without power for up to two weeks. It took several months to get rid of the broken tree limbs that littered the city. Because of water waste wells in Oklahoma, people in that state and here in Kansas feels earthquakes.

The quakes are strong enough that they are felt in Wichita. Wichita seems to feel one every two to three weeks during 2016. It is not as frequent now.

College Basket Ball

Wichita has three top college basket ball teams. The teams are K-State, KU, and Wichita State. These three teams have made a name for themselves for the past several years. K-State and KU wear always well known teams. WSU was not as well known to America until 2013 when a new coach named Gregg Marshall was hired.

The name of the WSU basket ball team is called the Shockers. The Shocker have the most unique mascot. It is called WuShock. When the shockers became noticeable to the country, people did not know what the WuShock was or what it represented. Since Kansas is a wheat state. The mascot is a whet mascot. Some people thought it looked like a box of french fries.

The three teams always makes it to the March madness basketball tournament. WSU gets to the final four and then the bottom falls out. They made it there are a few occasions. Could three be the charm this year? We will just have to wait.

The Epic Center

The Epic Center is a high rise building in downtown Wichita. This is the tallest of all building in Wichita. It is very similar to a building used in the television series Matlock where Andy Griffith played a defense lawyer. The construction started on this structure in 1987. It was completed and ready for business in 1989. The building gave a big city kind of presence.

The type of business inside are law firms. There are also corporations that deal with loans. This is a 22 story building. Other large building may be in the works.

Construction

One of the most noticeable things people see in Wichita are the orange cones of construction. There is never a year or years that you do not see cones lining some streets in Wichita. There has been a project that started in 1987 and continues today. That is the construction of the highway called Kellogg. This is the longest road project in Wichita history. Wichita road construction is a job anyone can find here. It is never ending.

Road construction is not the only type. There are building going up everywhere. Houses are being built in areas that are just open. New neighborhoods are being built. There will always be a job in this field.

Cow town

The Cow town museum came to be in 1952. This is an open-air history museum. It is one of the oldest in the Midwest. There are 54 historic building along with historic building that have been re-created. There is a period farm that gives the feeling of the old west along with some outbuildings.

The museum focuses on the way Wichita was during the last period of the 19th century. Cow town has re-enactments of gun fights. There is a lot of western building on the property. One of them is the carpenters shop. There is the buffaloes hunters camp and chuck wagon. Other structures that you can see are the empire house and empire hall.

Aviation

Aviation is the most recognizable thing about Wichita. Wichita Ks is known to be the air capital of the world. It started in the late 1920s. Wichita is well known today because of the manufacturing of aircraft. Before Boeing made a footprint in the legacy of Wichita. There was another company that started the whole industry.

The name of the first company was called E.M Laird. This was started in 1920. The last names of the people who were apart of this are very recognizable. They are Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna, and Lloyed Stearman. There were other small aviation companies around the state.

Stearman planes were the aircraft that had the double wings. Stearman started his own company and moved it to Wichita from California in 1926. Cessna Aircraft was formed by Clyde in 1927, Beechcraft was formed by Walter Beech in 1932 after he sells his aviation company called Travel air. The company that bought it was the precursor to Boeing.

It was the Boeing plants that built the B-29 bomber planes during the war. All companies built planes to assist in the second world war. There are several changes to the names of aircraft companies today here. In 1994, Beechcraft was now changed to Raytheon.

Today in 2017 Textron aviation is a company that combined Cessna and Beechcraft companies. Another company that is called Spirit Aero systems was founded in 2005. They are the worlds largest first-tier aerostructures manufacturer. They build several parts that go on the Boeing 737 and 787 jets.

A famous aircraft has been restored which took fifteen years to re-build. The plane is known as Doc.

Doc

Doc is one of two restored B-29 bombers that are airworthy. Doc was rescued from a California desert fifteen years ago. It was brought back home to Wichita to be restored. Most of the people that were still living fifteen years ago and built these planes during the second world war. Came back to help restore Doc.

Some have passed on during the restoration time. With a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, Doc takes to the sky for the first time in 60 years. One of the riveters was there to see the first flight. Her working name was Rosie The Riveter. This was a symbol of the women who helped build munitions and aircraft during the second world war.

She riveted certain sections of the plane back in the forties when Doc Was first being built. There was a somewhat of a fight to keep Doc in Wichita. A special hanger will be built for Doc. It is now housed in a hanger at McConnell Air force Base. Some of the original pilots got a chance to fly the plane again during these few times the plane took to the air.

Restoring that plane alone makes Wichita the air capital of the world. History was made and history will continue to be made until the end of time here in the middle of the country.

america
Like

About the Creator

macgyver12 jackson

I am a jack of all trades worker. I am from Wichita Kansas. I am 48 years old. I am an auto technician, lawn mower technician, and freelance writer. I am a drummer for a church. I work on my landlords houses when something goes wrong.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.