Victoria, Kansas
| Victoria, Kansas | |
|---|---|
| City | |
The Basilica of St. Fidelis (1997)
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|
 Location within Ellis County and Kansas |
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 KDOT map of Ellis County (legend) |
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| Coordinates: 38°51′13″N 99°8′51″W / 38.85361°N 99.14750°WCoordinates: 38°51′13″N 99°8′51″W / 38.85361°N 99.14750°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kansas |
| County | Ellis |
| Founded | 1873 |
| Incorporated | 1913 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.59 sq mi (1.53 km2) |
| • Land | 0.59 sq mi (1.53 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,926 ft (587 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,214 |
| • Estimate (2015) | 1,226 |
| • Density | 2,100/sq mi (790/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 67671 |
| Area code(s) | 785 |
| FIPS code | 20-73775 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0484729 |
| Website | victoriaks.com |
Victoria is a city in Ellis County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,214.
A group of English and Scottish colonists led by a Scotsman named George Grant founded Victoria in 1873 on land he had purchased from the Kansas Pacific Railway. They named the settlement after Queen Victoria. Grant intended for Victoria to be a ranching community and was purportedly responsible for bringing the first Aberdeen Angus cattle to the United States. Most of the colonists, however, were remittance men more interested in sports and dancing than in raising livestock. Their families soon learned of this and reduced the remittances, driving most of the colonists to leave by 1880. Some returned to Britain; others left for South America.
In 1876, Volga Germans from villages near Saratov, Russia established the settlement of Herzog one half mile north of Victoria. Herzog's Roman Catholic settlers built a series of churches which culminated in the construction of St. Fidelis Catholic Church, known as "The Cathedral of the Plains," in 1911. Herzog grew rapidly and later absorbed Victoria, eventually adopting the older settlement's name. Herzog was officially renamed Victoria in 1913.
In 1942, the U.S. Army built Walker Army Airfield 3 miles northeast of Victoria. During World War II, thousands were stationed at the airfield, most for training in operation of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber aircraft. The military closed the base in 1946.
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