316 Area Code 🌍☎️

Wichita is the most populous city in Kansas with a 2020 census population of 397,532 and a metropolitan area population of 647,610, located in south-central Kansas along the Arkansas River as the county seat of Sedgwick County. Founded as a trading post on the Chisholm Trail in the 1860s and incorporated in 1870, the city earned the nickname "Cowtown" as a major railhead for cattle drives traveling north from Texas after the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway arrived in 1872. Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, aircraft manufacturers including Beechcraft, Cessna, and Stearman established operations in Wichita, making it "The Air Capital of the World," with major aerospace companies like Textron Aviation, Learjet, Airbus, and Boeing/Spirit AeroSystems continuing significant manufacturing and design operations there today. As a major industrial and cultural hub, Wichita hosts Wichita State University (the third-largest post-secondary institution in Kansas), the Old Cowtown Museum, Intrust Bank Arena, Century II, and major airports including McConnell Air Force Base and Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, Kansas's largest airport. The city's history dates to 3000 BC with archaeological evidence of human habitation, and it was explored by Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado in 1541 before becoming part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Newton, Kansas is a city of 18,602 residents (2020 census) located 25 miles north of Wichita in Harvey County, serving as the county seat and part of a five-county metropolitan area of 650,000 people. Founded in 1871 and named after Newton, Massachusetts, the city became a major railroad hub when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway extended its main line there in July 1871, establishing the western terminal and Chisholm Trail railhead by 1872. Newton sits at the intersection of Interstate 135, U.S. Route 50, and U.S. Route 81 (the Meridian Highway connecting Winnipeg, Canada to Mexico City), positioning it as a significant transportation junction. The city gained notoriety in its early years following the August 1871 Gunfight at Hide Park that killed eight men, earning it a reputation as "the wickedest city in the west," though it developed into an agricultural and small manufacturing center where BNSF Railway remains a major industrial taxpayer. Newton's humid subtropical climate and central location make it part of the broader Wichita metropolitan statistical area in central Kansas. El Dorado is the county seat of Butler County in south-central Kansas, located 30 miles east-northeast of Wichita along the Walnut River, with a 2020 census population of 12,870. Founded in 1868 and incorporated in 1870, the city is known for the El Dorado Oil Field, discovered in 1915 using scientific geologic mapping, which became the largest single oil field producer in the United States by 1918, accounting for 12.8% of national oil production and earning the reputation of "the oil field that won World War I." The city is home to Butler Community College and experienced significant historical events including a devastating F4 tornado on June 10, 1958, that killed 13 people and injured at least 80. El Dorado served as a branch camp location for German and Italian prisoners of war during World War II and was connected to regional railroad networks starting in 1877 via the Florence, El Dorado, and Walnut Valley Railroad Company, later operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.