Salina, Kansas

Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States.

In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land in Indian Territory reached eastward from the middle of what became the Kansas Territory. In 1858, settlers from Lawrence founded the Salina Town Company with a wagon circle, under constant threat of High Plains tribal attacks from the west. It was named for the salty Saline River. Saline County was soon organized around this township, and in 1870, Salina incorporated as a city.

As the westernmost town on the Smoky Hill Trail, Salina boomed until the Civil War by establishing itself as a trading post for westbound immigrants, gold prospectors bound for Pikes Peak, and area American Indian tribes. It boomed again from the 1940s-1950s when the Smoky Hill Army Airfield was built for World War II strategic bombers.

It is now a micropolis and regional trade center for North Central Kansas. Its larger employers are Tony's Pizza, Exide Battery, Great Plains Manufacturing, and Asurion. Salina is home to Kansas Wesleyan University and KSU College of Technology and Aviation higher education institutions.

History

Native inhabitance: up to 1800s

left|thumb|In the early 1700s, [[North American fur trade|French traders mapped a Kansa village at the area which became Salina.]]

Shortly prior to European colonization of the area in the early 1700s, the site that would become Salina was located within the western territory of the Kansa people. Claimed first by France as part of Louisiana and later acquired by the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, it was within the area organized by the U.S. as Kansas Territory in 1854. The French traders who mapped the forks of les Grande Riviere des Cansez, located the western village of les Cansez at the general confluence of the Smoky Hill, Saline, and Solomon Rivers with villages of the Paducas tribe just to the west on heads of those streams.

By the time of exploration of the prairie by the United States following the Louisiana Purchase in the early 1800s, the Republican Pawnee had established its influence in the Smoky Hills, driving the Kansa to its northeastern Kansas settlements.

The United States established forts throughout the territory to provide security for established commercial trade trails, including the Smoky Hill Trail and the Santa Fe Trail. The Smoky Hill Trail passed through the Salina site where the Fort Riley/Fort Larned Road split off to cross the Smoky Hill River to the southwest.

Battle of Indian Rock: 1857

By the time of the first tentative settlements by United States citizens, the site was claimed as hunting grounds by the High Plains tribes of Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux, which had expanded into the area, driving out the Pawnee. However, the Kansa continued to hunt in the area, in which they were joined by the Delaware and Potawatomi tribes which had been relocated by the U.S. Government near the Kansa's reserve and assured of hunting access to the plains. The High Plains tribes were hostilely opposed to both the U.S. settlers in central Kansas and to the relocated tribes in Eastern Kansas and Nebraska, who they also regarded as settlers, and there were several raids in the Salina area in the 1850s. These Indian skirmishes repeatedly discouraged settlement of the Salina site until 1857, according to William A. Phillips who resided in Lawrence while scouting settlement locations.

thumb|1915 railroad map of [[Saline County, Kansas|Saline County]]

Growth resumed with returning war veterans, and the town expanded rapidly with the arrival of the Kansas Pacific Railway in 1867. The construction of the railroad through Salina to Denver was a violation of treaty promises of Indian hunting grounds west of Salina, and Dog Soldiers began raiding the construction parties between Salina and Fort Wallace. The following U.S. military action removed Indians from western Kansas by 1868.

Salina incorporated as a city in 1870.

Growth: 1872–1950s

The cattle trade arrived in 1872, transforming Salina into a cowtown. It brought further prosperity, but also a rowdy culture that agitated local residents. The cattle trade relocated westward just two years later. During the 1870s, wheat became the dominant crop in the area, steam-powered flour mills were built, and agriculture became the engine of the local economy. In 1874, Salina resident E. R. Switzer introduced alfalfa to area farmers, and its cultivation spread throughout the state. By 1880, the city had become an area industrial center with several mills, a carriage and wagon factory, and a farm implement works. In 1889, the original garment factory of jeans maker Lee was opened. In the following decade, three railroads were built through the city.

In 1943, the U.S. Army established Smoky Hill Army Airfield southwest of the city. The installation served as a base for strategic bomber units throughout World War II. Renamed Smoky Hill Air Force Base in 1948, it was closed the following year and was reopened in 1951 as Schilling Air Force Base, part of the Strategic Air Command. The re-opening triggered an economic boom in Salina, causing the city's population to increase by nearly two-thirds during the 1950s.

The Salina micropolitan area is a center of trade, transportation, and industry in North Central Kansas.

Salina lies in the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains approximately west-southwest of the confluence of the Saline and Smoky Hill Rivers. The Smoky Hill River runs north then northeast through the eastern part of the city; the Saline River flows southeast immediately north of the city. In the northeast part of the city, the old channel of the Smoky Hill branches from the river's current course and winds west, north, and back east before draining back into the river. Mulberry Creek, a tributary of the Saline, flows northeast through the far northern part of the city. Dry Creek, a tributary of Mulberry Creek, flows north through the western part of the city.

Climate

Salina lies in the transition area between North America's humid subtropical (Köppen Cfa) and humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) zones. Consequently, summers are typically hot and humid, and winters are typically cold and dry. On average, January is coldest (and most dry), July is hottest, and May has the greatest precipitation.

Salina is in a region prone to severe thunderstorms with damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes. On June 21, 1969, an F3 tornado struck the southern part of the city, severely damaging or destroying more than 100 homes and businesses and injuring 60 people. On September 25, 1973, a second F3 tornado passed through the southeast part of town, injuring six people and destroying two houses and a trailer park. On June 11, 2008, another EF3 tornado passed on the south side of the town, severely damaging several buildings. Snowfall averages per year. Snowfall is most prevalent in January, with .

|source 2 = National Weather Service Weatherbase: Humidity

| align-fn = center

| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<br/>2010-2020

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Salina had a population of 46,889, 19,295 households, and 11,159 families. The population density was 1,824.5 per square mile (704.4/km). There were 20,885 housing units, of which 7.6% were vacant; the homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.3%.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census

! Race !! Number !! Percent

| White || 36,639 || 78.1%

| Black or African American || 1,780 || 3.8%

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 315 || 0.7%

| Asian || 1,097 || 2.3%

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 29 || 0.1%

| Some other race || 2,133 || 4.5%

| Two or more races || 4,896 || 10.4%

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 6,300 || 13.4%

2016–2020 American Community Survey

The 2016–2020 5-year American Community Survey estimates show that the median household income was $49,870 (with a margin of error of +/- $2,394) and the median family income $68,074 (+/- $5,484). Males had a median income of $35,303 (+/- $3,159) versus $26,949 (+/- $1,154) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $30,335 (+/- $1,129). Approximately, 7.6% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.6% of those under the age of 18 and 11.7% of those ages 65 or over.

2010 census

, there were 47,707 people, 19,391 households, and 12,024 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 20,803 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup was 86.2% White, 3.7% African American, 2.3% Asian, 0.5% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.8% from some other race, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 10.7% of the population.

There were 19,391 households, of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples living together, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39, and the average family size was 2.99. Major employers include these: Tony's Pizza, a Schwan Food Company brand, has operations in Salina to produce frozen pizzas and food for school cafeterias and other institutions; , the median home value was $109,700, the median selected monthly owner cost was $1,070 for housing units with a mortgage and $396 for those without, and the median gross rent was $599. these were the employers with the most employees in 2019:

{| class="wikitable"

! #

! Employer

! # of Employees

| 1

| Salina Regional Health Center

| 1,875

| 2

| Schwan's Global Supply Chain

| 1,700

| 3

| Salina United School District (USD) 305

| 1,500

| 4

| Great Plains Manufacturing

| 1,100

| 5

| Exide Technologies

| 600

| 6

| City of Salina

| 425

| 7

| Salina Vortex

| 375

| 8

| REV Group

| 300

| 9

| Walmart

| 250

| 10

| Signify

| 190

Government

Salina is a city of the first class with a commission-manager form of government which it adopted in 1921. The city commission consists of five members elected at large, one of whom the commission annually selects to serve as mayor. Commission candidates who receive the most and second–most votes are elected for a four-year term; the candidate who receives the third most votes is elected for a two-year term.

The Salina Fire department operates four stations inside the city.

Salina is the county seat of Saline County. The county courthouse is located downtown, and all departments of the county government base their operations in the city.

Salina lies within Kansas's 1st U.S. Congressional District. For the purposes of representation in the Kansas Legislature, the city is located in the 24th district of the Kansas Senate and the 69th, 71st, and 108th districts of the Kansas House of Representatives.

Salina USD 305 school district operates twelve schools in Salina:

Salina High School Central (9-12)
Salina High School South (9-12)
Lakewood Middle School (6-8)
Salina South Middle School (6-8)
Coronado Elementary School (K-5)
Cottonwood Elementary School (K-5)
Grace E. Stewart Elementary School (K-5)
Heusner Elementary School (K-5)
Meadowlark Ridge Elementary School (K-5)
Oakdale Elementary School (K-5)
Schilling Elementary School (K-5)
Sunset Elementary School (K-5)

Southeast of Saline USD 306 school district includes a tiny amount of the south side of Salina,

Sacred Heart Junior-Senior High School (7-12), Catholic school
St. John's Military School (6-12), male only, closed in 2019
Cornerstone Classical School (PreK-12)

Colleges and universities

thumb|right|Pioneer Hall is at [[Kansas Wesleyan University (2013).]]

Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus
Kansas Wesleyan University
Marymount College (closed in 1989)
Salina Area Technical College
Salina Normal University (closed in 1904)
University of Kansas School of Medicine, Salina

Infrastructure

Transportation

thumb|A CityGo bus stop

Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 40 run concurrently east-west north of Salina. Interstate 135 and U.S. Route 81 run concurrently north-south along the west side of the city. The I-70/I-135 interchange northwest of the city is the northern terminus of I-135. K-140, which approaches Salina from the southwest, formally ends at its interchange with I-135, and enters the city as State Street. North of Salina, the city's main north-south thoroughfare, Ninth Street, becomes K-143 at its interchange with I-70.

CityGo is the local public transport bus service with five routes, and intercity paratransit bus service to surrounding communities. Greyhound Lines provides bus service westward toward Denver, Colorado and eastward toward Kansas City, Missouri. Bus service is provided daily southward toward Wichita, Kansas by BeeLine Express (subcontractor of Greyhound Lines). It is primarily for general aviation, and hosts commercial airline United Express with flights to Chicago O'Hare, Houston Intercontinental, and Denver International Airport.

Union Pacific Railroad operates one freight rail line through Salina. Its Kansas Pacific (KP) Line runs northeast-southwest through the northern part of the city. Salina is the southeastern terminus for the Kyle Railroad and the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad. The nearest Amtrak stop is at the Newton station serving the Southwest Chief.

Utilities

The city government's Department of Public Works is responsible for water treatment and distribution, waste water removal, sewer maintenance, and trash collection. Westar Energy provides electric power. Residents primarily use natural gas for heating fuel, provided by Kansas Gas Service.

Media

The Salina Journal is the local daily newspaper.

Salina is a center of broadcast media for North Central Kansas. Three AM and 13 FM radio stations are licensed to or broadcast from the city. Salina is in the Wichita-Hutchinson television market, and five television stations broadcast from the city. These include two independent stations and ABC, Fox, and NBC affiliates which are satellites of their respective affiliates in Wichita. Salina has the only public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels in the state. Cox Communications is the main cable system serving the city, and customers can see local programming and create their own programming to be shown on channels 20 and 21.

Culture

Events

thumb|right|[[Blue Heaven Studios (2011)]]

Each June, the Salina Arts & Humanities department holds the Smoky Hill River Festival lasting three and a half days, with arts and crafts shows, music concerts, games, and other activities. Originally held as a downtown street parade in 1976 to celebrate the United States Bicentennial, the festival proved popular enough for the city to hold it every year. To celebrate Independence Day, the city puts on its All American Fourth and Play Day in the Park which includes children’s games, music, and dance performances in Oakdale Park. The Smoky Hill Museum Street Fair in September includes a parade, a chili cook-off, and historic demonstrations. In November, downtown Salina hosts the Christmas festival which includes a 5k run, a mile walk, live music, dance performances, children's entertainment, and the Parade of Lights.

Points of interest

thumb|alt=Kenwood Cove has a busy summer day, featuring the wide orange slide in the foreground and the towering green and purple tube slides of the main complex in the background.|Kenwood Cove's main tower has green and purple enclosed tube slides, with a wide orange open-flume family slide in the foreground (2017).

The Smoky Hill Museum is operated by the city's Arts & Humanities department, containing artifacts, exhibits, and public educational programs on local history, agriculture, and education with collections since 1879.

The Tony's Pizza Events Center (formerly Bicentennial Center) is the primary venue in the city for large indoor events. It includes a 7,500-seat multipurpose arena and the Heritage Hall convention center. The Center hosts concerts, sporting events, and trade shows.

The Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure is a public zoo and wildlife park located west of the city near Hedville. It has animal exhibits, an art gallery, and a wildlife museum.

Indian Rock Park is the tallest point in the area, mainly featuring a hill within the vast Wellington Formation stretching from Nebraska to Oklahoma. In the late 1950s, part of the hill was excavated for flood control after the Great Flood of 1951, diverting the Smoky Hill River along the edge of the park and creating 80-foot steep shale bluffs. It has a panoramic view of the city, a river fishing pier, a pond from the former brick factory, and hiking trails.

In 2010, the city opened Kenwood Cove Aquatic Park to replace the aging Kenwood Municipal Pool operating 1956 to 2009. The Caribbean-themed water park was designed to transcend the typical scope of a city pool, with over of slides and a wave pool, as a primary regional tourist attraction.<

Religion

thumb|right|Sacred Heart Cathedral (2015)

More than 70 Christian churches are in and around Salina including the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina (Sacred Heart Cathedral) and the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas (Christ Cathedral). The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina has its regional administrative offices in Salina as do the Presbytery of Northern Kansas and the Salina District of the United Methodist Church which is based at Kansas Wesleyan University.

A Buddhist temple is located northwest of the city.

Sports

Salina hosted minor league baseball from 1898–1952. The Salina Blue Jays and other Salina teams played as a member of the Kansas State League (1898), Central Kansas League (1908–1910, 1912), Kansas State League (1913–1914), Southwestern League (1922–1926) and Western Association (1938–1941, 1946–1952). Salina was an affiliate of the Cleveland Indians (1941) and Philadelphia Phillies (1946–1952). Salina teams played at Athletic Park (1898–1914), Oakdale Park (1922–1926) and Kenwood Field (1938–1952).
Salina hosted the Kansas Cagerz and Salina Rattlers basketball teams.
Salina hosted the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I women's basketball national tournament each season in the Bicentennial Center.
Salina hosted the Women's Big Eight basketball tournament at the Bicentennial Center. When the Big Eight became the Big 12, the tournament was moved to Kansas City, Missouri.
Salina hosts the Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) Class 4A state wrestling tournament and the Class 3A & 4A volleyball tournaments, the Class 4A state basketball tournament, and the Class 4A state softball tournament. Salina also occasionally hosts the Class 4A state baseball tournament and one of the state championship football games.
Salina was home to the Salina Bombers, an indoor football team playing in the Champions Professional Indoor Football League from 2013 to 2014, then Champions Indoor Football.
Salina hosts the Salina Liberty, the second indoor football team from the city, who now play in the CIF.
Salina is the home of the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes, a 20-sport National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics athletics program. The Coyotes have been a member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference since 1928.

In popular culture

The 1980 teen comedy film Up the Academy starring Ralph Macchio was filmed entirely in Salina, mostly on the campus of St. John's Military School.
Scenes in the 1955 movie Picnic, starring William Holden and Kim Novak, were filmed in Salina: the train arrival and The Bensons' mansion.
Millie Dillmount, the fictional main character in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, is from Salina. She leaves home for New York City, determined never to return, as depicted in the opening number, "Not for the Life of Me".
In Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo, the character Judy Barton (played by Kim Novak) comes from 425 Maple Avenue in Salina.
The Avett Brothers wrote a song "Salina" on the 2007 album Emotionalism.

Notable people

Notable individuals who were born in or have lived in Salina include former White House press secretary Marlin Fitzwater, dancer and war correspondent Betty Knox of the variety act Wilson, Keppel and Betty, astronaut Steven Hawley, former Governors of Kansas John W. Carlin and Bill Graves, inventor of Lee Jeans Harry Lee, and US Women's National Soccer Team goalkeeper Adrianna Franch.

References

External links

Salina - Directory of Public Officials
Salina - Chamber of Commerce
Smoky Hill Museum