Wichita began as a small outpost in the 1800s, but quickly grew after becoming a major transportation hub a few decades later. Over the years it earned nicknames such as “Cowtown” and the “Air Capital of the World.” Back then a huge amount of passengers and goods, especially cattle, arrived here by train. Although passenger trains aren’t nearly as important today, railroads are still a big part of the city. While exploring Wichita I noticed what looked like a dozen trains parked on a bridge. I hiked up to get a closer look and discovered it was actually a train museum. Unfortunately the museum was closed, so I’ll have to return another time, but I at least got this photo of one of the trains.
My favorite part of Wichita was easily Cowtown. Cowtown was once a nickname for the entire city, earned after Wichita became a major railroad hub and cattle from Texas were driven here before being shipped across the United States. Today the historic district preserves part of Wichita’s Wild West past and is probably one of the most interesting historical areas I visited in the Great Plains.
Cowtown is basically a living history museum rather than just a collection of old buildings. You can walk through historic streets, see what businesses looked like during the 1800s, and even grab an old-fashioned soda. Several of the buildings have also been preserved with their interiors set up to show what everyday life in early Wichita would have looked like.
What really made Cowtown stand out were all the characters in costume and the reenactments. This photo shows a robbery being carried out in the middle of the street. The whole act lasted only a few minutes, but included plenty of humor along with real guns firing blanks. Like many towns throughout the American West, I imagine Wichita had some pretty rough and lawless times during its early history!
Before my trip to Kansas I actually mistook Topeka for the state’s largest city. Wichita is much bigger, but like Topeka I didn’t find the downtown area particularly busy during my visit. Wichita isn’t really known for skyscrapers or a massive skyline, but this was one of the taller buildings I came across while exploring the city.
Wichita isn’t particularly old compared to many cities I’ve visited, but I was surprised by some of its architecture. There are several beautiful churches and historic buildings scattered around the city. This church above and the Scottish Rite Temple below are two examples that got my attention.
Wichita might not have a huge skyline, but one thing the city definitely isn’t lacking are monuments and museums. One of its most famous landmarks is the Keeper of the Plains, a massive Native American statue standing where the Big and Little Arkansas rivers meet. Unfortunately I didn’t spend nearly enough time exploring the museums around this part of the city, which is something I’ll have to fix the next time I visit.
The waterfront around here is pedestrian friendly and home to several museums and attractions. Above is Exploration Place, an interactive science museum along the river. Even without visiting everything, I enjoyed walking around this part of Wichita and would spend more time here on another trip.
Of all the museums in Wichita, the one I did visit was the Kansas Aviation Museum. The museum is inside Wichita’s former municipal airport terminal and has dozens of aircraft, aviation artifacts, and exhibits covering the city’s long history with the aviation industry. There’s a good reason Wichita calls itself the “Air Capital of the World,” as aircraft manufacturing has played a huge role in the city’s history.
Somehow I did a terrible job photographing the museum. I only have this one decent photo showing some of the aircraft, despite there being tons of them here. The collection ranges from military aircraft such as a B-52 to Learjets, Cessnas, and other aircraft connected to Wichita’s aviation history. This museum is definitely worth visiting, and I feel like I’ve done it a disservice by having so few photos. That’s another thing I’ll have to fix whenever I return!
Since I love the outdoors, this was easily one of my favorite experiences in Wichita. You might think the surrounding photos are from some remote part of Kansas, but they’re actually from within the city limits! The Great Plains Nature Center protects a small area of natural habitat with several trails and provides a refuge for wildlife right inside Wichita. You’re still close enough to major roads that you’ll never mistake this for true wilderness, but I was definitely impressed by this place and glad I didn’t miss it.
Joggers, photographers, fishermen, and families were all out enjoying the trails. Despite the relatively small area, there’s a surprising variety of habitats here including restored prairie, small ponds, and short trails that enter wooded areas.
This pond had mostly dried out when I visited, and strangely I found some giant freshwater mussels along the exposed bottom. I never would have imagined finding something that looked so much like a clam this far from the ocean!
While I was walking around the nature center I ran into some other photographers who were also trying to capture shots of wildlife. I saw quite a few species but unfortunately didn’t get many photos I was happy with. This was earlier in my travels when I had a pretty primitive lens, and the hawk above was taken at full zoom. Still, finding this much wildlife in the middle of Kansas’s largest city was a nice surprise and a great way to finish my visit to Wichita.
