Great Bend is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Barton County,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, United States. It is named for its location at the point where the course of the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

bends east then southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 14,733. It is home to

Barton Community College Barton Community College, previously Barton County Community College, is a public community college in Great Bend, Kansas. Its service area includes Barton, Ellsworth, Pawnee, Rush and Russell Counties, Stafford County north of US Highway 50, ...

History

Prior to American settlement of the area, the site of Great Bend was located in the northern reaches of

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...

territory. Claimed first by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as part of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and later acquired by the United States with the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

in 1803, it lay within the area organized by the U.S. as

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

in 1854. Kansas became a state in 1861, and the state government delineated the surrounding area as Barton County in 1867. The first settlers of the area arrived in 1870. Living in sod houses and dugouts, they worked as

buffalo hunters Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the t ...

since trampling by

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

herds precluded crop farming. In 1871, the Great Bend Town Company, anticipating the westward construction of the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

, founded Great Bend at a site roughly three miles west of

Fort Zarah Fort Zarah was a fort in Barton County, Kansas, northeast of present-day Great Bend, Kansas, that was used from 1864 to 1869. Dates of operation In July 1864, because of frequent attacks from indigenous tribes in the area, Camp Dunlap was establ ...

on the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...

. They named the settlement after its location at the "great bend" in the

where the river's course turns eastward. The town began to grow as more settlers arrived over the following year and opened several businesses. Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Barton County

Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Barton County

The railroad reached Great Bend in July 1872, and an election at about the same time declared the town the permanent county seat. Great Bend was incorporated as a city soon thereafter. The county courthouse and the city's first public school were built the following year. In 1873, following the arrival of the railroad, Great Bend became a shipping point for cattle. This stimulated local business but also transformed the city into a rowdy, violent cowtown. In 1876, the

Kansas Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators. ...

extended the legal "dead line" restricting the presence of Texas cattle 30 miles west of Barton County. The cattle trade moved westward accordingly, and the city became more peaceful. Over the following decades, Great Bend continued to grow and modernize, becoming a center of area commerce. This was despite two disasters which struck the city: a downtown fire in 1878 and a

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

outbreak in 1882 which resulted in a brief quarantine. In 1886, local speculators began to fund exploration for

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

in the area. By 1930, the oil and gas industry brought more than $20 million annually to the county. More than 3,000 wells produced during the 1930s, and the influx of workers dramatically increased the city's population. The

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

opened

Great Bend Army Airfield Great Bend Army Air Field is a closed United States Air Force base. It is located west-southwest of Great Bend, Kansas, and was closed in 1946. Today it is used as Great Bend Municipal Airport. Great Bend Army Air Field (AAF) is significantly ...

west of the city in 1943. The base served as training facility for

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fly ...

bomber aircraft personnel during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war, the City of Great Bend acquired the base and repurposed it for civilian use as Great Bend Municipal Airport. The city continued to grow through the 1950s, its population peaking at almost 17,000 in 1960. In 1973, the

Fuller Brush Company The Fuller Brush Company sells branded and private label products for personal care as well as commercial and household cleaning. It was founded in 1906 by Alfred Fuller. Consolidated Foods, now Sara Lee Corporation, acquired Fuller Brush in 19 ...

relocated its production facilities to Great Bend, becoming one of the city's major employers. Despite a modest decline in population in recent decades, Great Bend continues to serve as a commercial center for central Kansas.

Geography

Great Bend is located at (38.3644567, -98.7648073) at an elevation of 1,850 feet (564 m). Located in central Kansas at the intersection of

U.S. Route 281 U.S. Route 281 (US 281) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway. At it is the longest continuous three-digit U.S. Route. The highway's northern terminus is at the International Peace Garden, north of Dunseith, North Dakota, at t ...

and

U.S. Route 56 U.S. Route 56 (US 56) is an east–west United States highway that runs for approximately in the Midwestern United States. US 56's western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business (I-25 Bus.), US 412 and New Mexico State Road 21 (NM 21) in Springe ...

, Great Bend is northwest of Wichita, west-southwest of

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, and east-southeast of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Lying in the Great Bend Sand Prairie region of the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

, the city is situated on the north side of the

where the river's course shifts from northeast to southeast. Dry Walnut Creek, a tributary of nearby Walnut Creek, flows east along the northern edge of the city.

Cheyenne Bottoms Cheyenne Bottoms is a wetland in the central Great Plains of North America. Occupying approximately in central Kansas, it is the largest wetland in the interior United States. The Bottoms is a critical stopping point on the Central Flyway for mil ...

, a large inland wetland, is located approximately to the northeast. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Climate

Located near the convergence of North America's

humid continental A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(Köppen: ''Dfa''),

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(Köppen: ''Cfa''), and

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(Köppen: ''BSk'') climate zones, Great Bend experiences hot summers and cold, dry winters. On average, January is the coldest month, July the hottest and May is the wettest. The hottest temperature recorded in Great Bend was 111 °F (44 °C) in 1980; the coldest temperature recorded was -21 °F (-29 °C) in 1989. The average temperature is . Over the course of a year, temperatures range from an average low of in January to an average high of in July. The high temperature reaches or exceeds an average of 70 days a year and reaches or exceeds an average of 13 days a year. The minimum temperature falls below the freezing point an average of 112 days a year. The first fall freeze typically takes place by the third week of October, and the last spring freeze by the second week of April. Great Bend receives of precipitation during an average year, and there are, on average, 71 days of measurable precipitation each year. The average

relative humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

is 67%. Annual snowfall averages . Measurable snowfall occurs an average of seven days a year with at least an inch of snow being received on six of those days. Snow depth of at least an inch occurs an average of 23 days a year.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 15,995 people, 6,483 households, and 4,038 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was . There were 7,113 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 84.0%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 1.7%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.6% American Indian, 0.2%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 11.0% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 19.8% of the population. There were 6,483 households, of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.7% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.04. The median age in the city was 36.7 years. 26.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.5% were from 25 to 44; 24.5% were from 45 to 64; and 16.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.5% male and 51.5% female. As of 2010, the median income for a household was $42,293, and the median income for a family was $46,969. Males had a median income of $33,623 versus $25,038 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $24,529. About 10.2% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

is the predominant industry in Great Bend, and its

grain elevators A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposi ...

are visible from miles away. The oil industry flourished from about 1930–1960. There was even an oil well in the city park. But this industry has been on the decline for years. Cattle raising is also an important source of income for many people. As of 2012, 66.5% of the population over the age of 16 were in the labor force. 0.0% were in the armed forces, and 66.5% were in the civilian labor force with 61.0% employed and 5.5% unemployed. The composition, by occupation, of the employed civilian labor force was: 30.2% in management, business, science, and arts; 27.8% in sales and office occupations; 19.2% in service occupations; 9.6% in natural resources, construction, and maintenance; 13.3% in production, transportation, and material moving. The four industries employing the largest percentages of the working civilian labor force were: educational services, health care, and social assistance (27.3%); retail trade (11.9%); manufacturing (9.8%); and arts, entertainment, recreation, and accommodation and food services (9.8%). Great Bend Public Schools,

, and CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions are the city's three largest employers. Other major employers include local government, local hospitals,

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

Superior Essex Superior Essex is the parent brand of Essex Furukawa Magnet Wire, Superior Essex Communications, and Essex Brownell. It has over 3,000 employees in 11 countries. Essex is among the leading global manufacturers of magnet wire. It is active in the ...

, and

. The cost of living in Great Bend is relatively low; compared to a U.S. average of 100, the cost of living index for the city is 79.4. As of 2012, the median home value in the city was $78,300, the median selected monthly owner cost was $979 for housing units with a mortgage and $400 for those without, and the median gross rent was $539.

Government

Great Bend is a city of the second class with a mayor-council form of government. The

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

consists of eight members, two elected from each city

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

for two-year terms. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

is elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

, also for a two-year term. The mayor and city council together constitute the city's Governing Body which sets goals, establishes policies, and approves all ordinances and resolutions. The council meets on the first and third Monday of each month. As the

, Great Bend is the administrative center of Barton County. The

county courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

is located downtown, and most departments of the county government base their operations in the city. Great Bend lies within Kansas's 1st U.S. Congressional District. For the purposes of representation in the

, the city is located in the 33rd district of the

Kansas Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members ...

and the 112th district of the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...

Education

Colleges

, a two-year public college, is located approximately three miles northeast of Great Bend.

Public schools

Great Bend USD 428 public school district serves approximately 3,000 students and operates eight schools in the city: *

Great Bend High School Great Bend High School is a public high school located in Great Bend, Kansas, serving students in grades 9–12. The school is the only high school in Great Bend USD 428 public school district. The athletic teams are known as the Panthers and all ...

(9–12) * Great Bend Middle School (7–8) * Eisenhower Elementary School (K–6) * Jefferson Elementary School (K–6) * Lincoln Elementary School (K–6) * Park Elementary School (K–6) * Riley Elementary School (PreK-6) * Helping Hands Preschool (PreK)

Private schools

The

Roman Catholic Diocese of Dodge City The Diocese of Dodge City ( la, Dioecesis Dodgepolis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church covering twenty-eight counties in Kansas. Pope Pius XII created the diocese on May 19, 1951. The Diocese of Dodge ...

oversees the Holy Family School (PreK–6). There is also one non-denominational

Christian school A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some countr ...

in the city, Central Kansas Christian Academy (K-8).

Infrastructure

Transportation

Great Bend was located on the

National Old Trails Road National Old Trails Road, also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and became part of the National Auto Trail system in the United States. It was long and stretched from Baltimore, Maryland (some old maps indicate Ne ...

, also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, that was established in 1912. Currently, two U.S. Highways and two Kansas state highways pass through the city.

runs north–south through Great Bend, intersecting

K-96 K96 or K-96 may refer to: *K-96 (Kansas highway) K-96 is a state highway in central and southern Kansas. Its western terminus is at the Colorado state line east of Towner, Colorado, where it continues as Colorado State Highway 96; its eastern ...

, and K-156 which run concurrently east–west through the city. K-96 splits from U.S. 56 and K-156 in western Great Bend, exiting the city to the northwest. U.S. 56 and K-156 continue concurrently west, then turn south and ultimately southwest. Great Bend Municipal Airport is located approximately west of the city. Used primarily for general aviation. A

Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad The Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in the Midwestern United States. It is primarily located in Kansas and extends into Colorado, but despite its name, not into Oklahoma. Overview The KO is a subsidiary of Watco, w ...

line runs east–west through the city with a second line branching off to the northwest, paralleling K-96.

Utilities

The city government's Public Works Department is responsible for water distribution, waste water treatment, and sewer maintenance. One of the few cities in the area not to have a water treatment plant or water tower, Great Bend obtains its water supply directly from ten wells located throughout the city. Waste water is treated and recycled at the city's Wastewater Treatment Facility and then emptied into the Arkansas River. Two regional energy cooperatives, Midwest Energy, Inc. and Wheatland Electric, provide electric power. Local residents primarily use natural gas for heating fuel; Midwest Energy and

Kansas Gas Service Kansas Gas Service is the largest natural gas distribution company in the U.S. state of Kansas, operating in 82 counties. It is a regulated public utility which serves 634,000 customers in 360 communities, employing 1,000 employees. In addition t ...

both provide natural gas service.

Health care

There is one primary medical facility in the city. Great Bend Regional Hospital, a 33-bed general medical and surgical facility, is the city's sole hospital. St. Rose Ambulatory & Surgery Center, formerly Central Kansas Medical Center, was an outpatient care facility affiliated with

Catholic Health Initiatives Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) is a national Catholic healthcare system, with headquarters in Englewood, Colorado. CHI is a nonprofit, faith-based health system formed, in 1996, through the consolidation of three Catholic health systems. It is ...

. St. Rose Ambulatory & Surgery Center was closed and demolished in 2015.

Media

The ''Great Bend Tribune'' is the city's daily newspaper with a circulation of over 6,200 copies. The ''Interrobang'' was the student newspaper at the Great Bend-based

. Great Bend is a center of broadcast media for central Kansas. Two AM and ten FM radio stations are licensed to and/or broadcast from the city. Two television stations, one

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

affiliate and one

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

affiliate, also broadcast from the city. Both are satellite stations of their respective affiliates in Wichita as Great Bend is part of the Wichita-Hutchinson, Kansas television market.

Parks and recreation

The city government's Park Department maintains 10 parks in the city. The two largest are Brit Spaugh Park and Veteran's Memorial Park. Located in the north-central part of the city, Brit Spaugh Park includes the

Great Bend Zoo The Great Bend Zoo (formally the Great Bend-Brit Spaugh Zoo) is a medium-sized zoo in Great Bend, Kansas in the United States. It is located within Brit Spaugh Park, just off U.S. Route 281 in the north central portion of the city. Founded in 195 ...

, the Wetlands Aquatic Center, two softball fields, horseshoe courts, picnic areas, playgrounds, a skateboarding area, and a

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...

track. Veteran's Park is located in the northwestern part of the city and includes an 18-hole

disc golf Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...

course, a fishing lake with limited boating, sand volleyball, ballfields, a playground, and walking trails. The department also maintains hiking and biking trails along flood control levies around the city along with Stone Lake, a fishing lake immediately south of the city. The Club at StoneRidge, located on the northern edge of the city, includes a private, 18-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

that opened in 1940. A second 18-hole course, the Lake Barton Golf Course, lies approximately north of the city.

Culture

Arts and music

From 1947 to 1989, Great Bend was the home of the

Argonne Rebels This is a list of inactive Drum Corps International member corps and non-member corps. 27th Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps The 27th Lancers Drum and Bugle Corps was an Open Class (now ''World Class'') competitive junior drum and bugle corps. ...

Drum and Bugle Corps Drum and bugle corps is a name used to describe several related musical ensembles. * Drum and bugle corps (modern), a musical marching unit * Drum and bugle corps (classic), musical ensembles that descended from military bugle and drum units retu ...

. Under the direction of Glenn and Sandra Opie, the corps achieved national fame, most notably winning the American Legion national championships in 1971, 1972, and 1973. The Rebels were one of the thirteen founding member corps of

Drum Corps International Drum Corps International (DCI) is a governing body for junior drum and bugle corps responsible for developing and enforcing rules of competition, and for providing standardized adjudication at sanctioned drum and bugle corps competitions througho ...

, finishing in 5th place in 1972 and 11th in 1973.

Points of interest

* The Barton County Historical Society Museum and Village is located in Great Bend. * The Great Bend Zoo and Raptor Center, founded in 1952, contains over 60 species of animals.

Sports

Greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

got its start in the United States in the bottoms in 1886 during a formal

coursing Coursing by humans is the pursuit of game or other animals by dogs—chiefly greyhounds and other sighthounds—catching their prey by speed, running by sight, but not by scent. Coursing was a common hunting technique, practised by the nobility, t ...

event. The first nationwide

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

sponsored event called "the Nationals" was held in 1955, in Great Bend, Kansas at the Great Bend Municipal Airport.

In popular culture and the arts

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influential film co ...

's character in the 1923 film ''

Safety Last ''Safety Last!'' is a 1923 American silent romantic-comedy film starring Harold Lloyd. It includes one of the most famous images from the silent-film era: Lloyd clutching the hands of a large clock as he dangles from the outside of a skyscraper ...

'' comes from Great Bend before moving to the big city. In November 1959, Perry Smith and

Richard Hickock Richard Eugene Hickock (June 6, 1931 – April 14, 1965) was one of two ex-convicts convicted of murdering four members of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas on November 15, 1959, a crime made famous by Truman Capote in his 1966 non-fiction n ...

stopped for dinner in Great Bend on their 400-mile journey to

Holcomb, Kansas Holcomb is a city in Finney County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,245. History Holcomb took its name from a local hog farmer. The city was a station and shipping point on the Atchison, Topeka a ...

, where they murdered the Clutter family. Author

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...

wrote ''

In Cold Blood ''In Cold Blood'' is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966. It details the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote learned of the qua ...

'' about the murder. In the 1993 novel, ''The Death and Life of Superman'' by

Roger Stern Roger Stern (born September 17, 1950) is an American comic book author and novelist. Biography Early career In the early 1970s, Stern and Bob Layton published the fanzine ''CPL'' (''Contemporary Pictorial Literature''), one of the first platfor ...

, Jonathan and Martha Kent fly from the Metropolis airport to the Great Bend airport and proceed to drive to

Smallville ''Smallville'' is an American superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produced by Millar Gough ...

, which would put Smallville somewhere in central Kansas. Great Bend was mentioned briefly in the 2006 CBS drama ''

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

''. Great Bend is the setting for the

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

original comedy series '' Quick Draw'', created by and starring

John Lehr John Lehr (born November 25, 1965) is an American film and television actor and comedian. Personal life Lehr was born on November 25, 1965, in Overland Park, Kansas. He went to high school at Shawnee Mission West High. He graduated from Northw ...

Notable people

Notable individuals who were born in and/or have lived in Great Bend include jazz singer and pianist

Karrin Allyson Karrin Allyson (pronounced ''KAR-in''; born Karrin Allyson Schoonover on July 27, 1963) is an American jazz vocalist. She has been nominated for five Grammy Awards and has received positive reviews from several prominent sources, including the ' ...

(1963– ), co-inventor of the

integrated circuit An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

(IC) and 2000

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

laureate in physics

Jack Kilby Jack St. Clair Kilby (November 8, 1923 – June 20, 2005) was an American electrical engineer who took part (along with Robert Noyce of Fairchild) in the realization of the first integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments (TI) in 1 ...

(1923–2005), and 1952 gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic basketball player

John Keller John Frederick Keller (November 10, 1928 – October 6, 2000) was an American basketball player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics. He competed in three games as a member of the American basketball team, which won the gold medal. ...

(1928–2000).

References

External links

City of Great Bend

Great Bend - Directory of Public Officials

Barton County Historical Museum

Great Bend city map
KDOT {{Authority control Cities in Kansas County seats in Kansas Cities in Barton County, Kansas Micropolitan areas of Kansas Kansas populated places on the Arkansas River