The City of Atchison is a place filled with history. Before European settlers arrived, the area that would become Atchison was home to the Kansa Indians. Famed explorers, Lewis and Clark, observed remnants of their village as they traversed their way west across America in the early 1800s. The community became settled in the 1850’s by migrants from Platte City, Missouri, who named the area after the Senator of Missouri, David Atchison.

Atchison is located along the Missouri River in northeastern Kansas. Since it was settled, Atchison has flourished over the years and has grown to become the county seat of Atchison County. One of Kansas’ oldest industrial communities, Atchison was also home to one of the state’s first banks. Tragedy struck Atchison in 1958 as flash floods devastated the area including destruction of many commercial buildings. But this tragedy only went on to showcase the resilience of Atchison’s citizens who picked themselves up, dusted themselves of, and set of to reconstruct the area’s hardest hit areas. The fruits of their labor was the Pedestrian Mall which sits in the heart of the city.

The most famous person to come out of Atchison is national aviation hero, Amelia Earheart, the first female to fly solo over both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Every year, Atchison pays tribute to her incredible legacy with the popular Amelia Earheart Festival, which draws crowds from all over the country.