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Topeka
Capital of Kansas, on the Kansas River
Topeka sits on the Kansas (Kaw) River in the eastern part of the state, where the rolling tallgrass country begins its long climb toward the High Plains. Founded by anti-slavery settlers in 1854 during the "Bleeding Kansas" struggle, it became the state capital at statehood in 1861. The river crossing and the arrival of the Santa Fe Railway, headquartered here, fixed the city's early growth.
The surrounding land is gently rolling prairie, part of the eastern Kansas farm belt. Topeka is a government and rail town, its name long carried across the country in the "Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" railroad. It also holds a place in legal history as the city in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education school-desegregation case.