Topeka, Kansas

Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site Photo Tour
Capitol Building Tours The state capitol building, with murals by John Steuart Curry, including the famous portrait of John Brown towering over "Bleeding Kansas" and the Kansas prairie, and topped with the sculpture of an American Indian named Ad Astra (from the state motto Ad Astra per Aspera, meaning "To the Stars Through Difficulty".) Capitol Dome Tour
Combat Air Museum at Forbes Air Force Base
Great Overland Station railroad museum and All Veterans Memorial
Heartland Park Topeka, a major drag racing and road racing course just south of the city.
Kansas Museum of History with 20,000 sq ft (2,000 m²). of award-winning exhibits
Reinisch Rose Garden and Doran Rock Garden
Topeka High School, a magnificent gothic building constructed during the WPA.
Topeka Performing Arts Center
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
Topeka Zoo, famous as the birthplace of the first Golden Eagle chick hatched in captivity
Ward-Meade Park Botanical Gardens
Washburn University, the last city-chartered university in the United States.

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Media

Topeka is the home of a daily newspaper, the Topeka Capital Journal, and a bi-weekly newspaper, The Topeka Metro News. There are affiliates of the major television networks including Fox 43 ([1]), NBC 27 (KSNT), ABC 49 (KTKA), PBS 11 ((KTWU-TV)) and CBS 13 (WIBW-TV), which is the station where Bill Kurtis started his television career. There are also many local radio stations and AM talk shows.

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Government

See also: List of mayors of Topeka

The chief executives of Topeka are Mayor Bill Bunten (R) and City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr.

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Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

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Education

Monroe Elementary

Topeka is served by four public school districts including Topeka USD 501, Auburn-Washburn USD 437, Shawnee Heights USD 450, and Seaman USD 345. Topeka is also home to several private and parochial schools including Topeka Collegiate, Cair Paravel-Latin School, and Hayden High school. There are also elementary and junior high schools supported by other Christian denominations.

Topeka has several colleges, universities and technical schools including Washburn University and the Baker University School of Nursing.

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Transportation

I-70 Viaduct going through Downtown Topeka

I-70, I-470, and I-335 all go through the City of Topeka. I-335 is part of the Kansas Turnpike where it passes through Topeka. Other major highways include: US-24, US-40, US-75, and K-4. Major roads within the city include NW/SW Topeka Blvd. SW Wanamaker Road. N/S Kansas Ave. SW/SE 29th St. SE/SW 21st St. SE California Ave. SW Gage Blvd. and SW Fairlawn Rd.

Philip Billard Municipal Airport (TOP) is located in the Oakland neighborhood of Topeka and Forbes Field (FOE)is located south of Topeka in Pauline, Kansas. Passenger air service is not currently available. Service may be added in the near future. Forbes Field also serves as an Air National Guard base, home of the highly decorated 190th Air Refueling Wing. Kansas City International Airport is the closest commercial airport.

Passenger rail service provided by Amtrak stops at the Topeka Station. Freight service is provided by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad and Union Pacific Railroad.

Bus service is provided by Greyhound
In City bus service provided by Topeka Transit

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Notable natives and residents

Pat Roberts, U.S. Senator from Kansas
Annette Bening, actress
Gregg Binkley, actor
Gwendolyn Brooks, poet
Fred Comer, racecar driver
Charles Curtis, U.S. Vice President (1929–33)
Art Crews, wrestler
Aaron Douglas, Harlem Renaissance artist
Ronald Evans, astronaut
Max Falkenstein, radio broadcaster
Ann Gottesman, author
Josh Kulick, former Heavy Metal Drummer for Through The Eyes Of The Dead
Coleman Hawkins, jazz saxophonist
Wes Jackson, environmentalist, The Land Institute
Kansas, rock band
Bill Kurtis, television anchor
Ben Lerner, poet
Harriet Lerner, clinical psychologist and author
Katrina Leskanich, singer (Katrina and the Waves)
Trey Lewis NFL Defensive Tackle 2007-Present
Andy McKee, musician
Karl Menninger, psychiatrist
William C. Menninger, psychiatrist
Origin, metal band
John Parrella, football player
Eric Rosen, Kansas Supreme Court Justice
Thomas Ryan, U.S. Representative and Ambassador to Mexico
Dean Smith, former University of North Carolina basketball coach
Karl Targownik, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor
Mark Turgeon, head basketball coach at Texas A&M University
Max Yoho, author

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Topeka in popular culture

Bloo, a character from the children's cartoon series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends watches a TV news report about Topeka, Kansas and states that "It's hot in Toe-Peek-A". This is a pun of Toepicker, a somewhat humorous insult.
Topeka is first mentioned in The Waste Lands and features prominently in Wizard and Glass, two books from Stephen King's Dark Tower series.
In the Sherlock Holmes short story The Adventure of the Three Garridebs, the first Garrideb and ultimately the villain John Garrideb claims he is from Topeka, Kansas.
In the popular post-nuclear game Wasteland (computer game), one of the clans of rail nomads is called the Topeka clan.
In an episode of Star Trek: TNG, True Q, Amanda's parents were killed by a tornado in Topeka, KS.
In Our Worlds at War a comic book crossover published by DC Comics, Topeka is destroyed by the extraterrestrial supervillain Imperiex.
In the video game Command & Conquer (video game) during the introduction of the game a newscast shows a sample of Tiberium and states that this sample was collected near Topeka, Kansas.
In "The Red Badge of Gayness" episode of South Park, originally aired on November 24, 1999, Eric Cartman leads the South Park Confederates to attack Topeka.