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Topeka Conventions, Trade Shows, Conferences and Meetings
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Locating Convention Centers and Trade Shows in Topeka
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Topeka is the capital of the State of Kansas and is in north east Kansas at the intersection of I-70 and U.S. Highway 75. Its name is actually a Kansas Native-American tribe name and means "a good place to dig potatoes". However, the potatoes referred to are the prairie potato, a perennial herb in the pea family, native to prairies and plains in central North America, whose starchy root was an important food for Native Americans.
Topeka became the capital in 1861 and its central location was a perfect spot for the hub of the railroads as they expanded westward. Burlington Northern and Santa Fe have been one of Topeka's major industries for more than a hundred years; in 1866 Union Pacific began operating here and the Rock Island Railroad followed in 1887. In 1995, the Santa Fe merged with the Burlington Northern, becoming the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation. Since that time, the company has since changed its name to BNSF Railway Co.
One of Topeka's claims to fame dates back to 1951 when Linda Brown was responsible for eliminating the standard of "separate but equal". She was the named plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education and as a result of the lawsuit, required racial integration in American public schools. Monroe Elementary is the segregated school that figured in the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision and is now an historic monument. The Brown decision had a tremendous impact on the civil-rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and hastened integration throughout the country, especially among the southern states. Interestingly, Topeka has always struggled with the issue of racial segregation, giving it the name "Bleeding Kansas" back in the 1800s. Ironically, since it was founded in the 1890s, Topeka High School has always been integrated and only the elementary schools in Topeka were segregated until the suit was filed.
The history of Topeka and Kansas is an interesting one and was influenced greatly by the railroads. In the 1840s, the Oregon Trail was the route that wagon trains used to travel from Missouri, on a 2,000 mile journey west. Then in the 1840s, a ferry service was created to allow travelers to cross the Kansas River at the site that is now Topeka. A new military road leading to Fort Riley supplemented the old Oregon Trail in the early 1850s and new cabins began springing up in Topeka. At that time, the "Topeka Town Association" was founded by nine men. One of them, Cyrus K. Holliday, became mayor of Topeka and went on to found the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. As a result, Topeka became an important hub where meat, lumber and flour would arrive at the docks by steamboats. Potatoes, corn and wheat would be returned and by 1870 Topeka enjoyed a boom period as the railroad established its machine shops and offices here.
In the 1890s, Topeka was able to weather the depression of that time and its population doubled. Today, Topeka's economy is comprised of over 50% of Government and service workers. The Fortune 500 companies that are located in Topeka include The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Hallmark Cards and Frito-Lay. |
