Salina, Kansas

Salina was founded in April eighteen fifty-eight by Colonel William Phillips, a journalist and politician who rode west from Lawrence with two companions, chose a site along the Smoky Hill River, and organized a town company. The name came from the Saline River nearby, whose water ran distinctly salty. Salina grew slowly until Kansas Pacific rails arrived in eighteen sixty-seven, then became a shipping hub for livestock and grain.

The city sits near the geographic center of the contiguous United States, a fact locals are fond of noting. Today it is the largest city between Wichita and Junction City along Interstate Seventy, a regional hub for health care, agriculture, and military aviation at Salina Regional Airport, which traces its roots to a Second World War training base.