Wilson, Kansas
| Wilson, Kansas | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Downtown Wilson (2008)
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| Motto: "Czech Capital of Kansas" | |
 Location within County and Kansas |
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 KDOT map of Ellsworth County (legend) |
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| Coordinates: 38°49′32″N 98°28′29″W / 38.82556°N 98.47472°WCoordinates: 38°49′32″N 98°28′29″W / 38.82556°N 98.47472°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kansas |
| County | Ellsworth |
| Founded | 1871 |
| Incorporated | 1883 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–Council |
| • Mayor | Leland Francis |
| • City Clerk | Susan Kriley |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.60 sq mi (1.55 km2) |
| • Land | 0.60 sq mi (1.55 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,683 ft (513 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 781 |
| • Estimate (2015) | 760 |
| • Density | 1,300/sq mi (500/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 67490 |
| Area code | 785 |
| FIPS code | 20-79675 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0475335 |
| Website | WilsonKansas.com |
Wilson is a city in Ellsworth County, Kansas, United States. The community promotes itself as the "Czech Capital of Kansas" due to the role of Czech immigrant settlers in its early history. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 781.
The Butterfield Overland Despatch built a stagecoach station one-half mile south of present-day Wilson in 1865. Three years later, the Kansas Pacific Railway built Wilson Station, named after the surrounding township, at the modern town site. In 1871, The National Land Company surveyed and planned the first town there, naming it Bosland in the hopes of attracting the cattle trade. Settlers from Pennsylvania, including some Pennsylvania Dutch, arrived over the following year. The settlement never became a center of the cattle trade, however, and continued to be known as Wilson, a name the U.S. Post Office officially codified in 1873.
Beginning in 1874, Czech immigrants from Bohemia came to Wilson to work on the railroad, establishing the town as an area center of Czech culture.
Wilson was incorporated as a city in 1883.
Wilson is located at 38°49′32″N 98°28′29″W / 38.82556°N 98.47472°W (38.825619, -98.474748) at an elevation of 1,683 feet (513 m). Located in north-central Kansas 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the intersection of Interstate 70 and Kansas Highway 232 (K-232), Wilson is 95 miles (153 km) northwest of Wichita, 205 miles (330 km) west of Kansas City, and 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Ellsworth, the county seat.
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Wikipedia