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Top employers
According to the town's 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
Arts and culture
Museums
The C.W. Parker Carousel Museum is listed as one of the "8 Wonders of Kansas Customs" by the Kansas Sampler Foundation.
The Fred Harvey Museum, owned and operated by the Leavenworth Historical Museum Association, offers insights into the Harvey family and information about the chain of Harvey Houses in the American Southwest. Also owned and operated by Leavenworth Historical Museum Association, First City Museum tells the rich history of Leavenworth. Displays include famous citizens, businesses, Indian tribes, the prison industry, the military, large collection of horse drawn vehicles and a 17th century dugout canoe.
The Leavenworth County Historical Society maintains a museum at the Edward Carroll House, a Victorian-era mansion that is open to the public for touring.
The Richard Allen Cultural Center and Museum contains items and artifacts from African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
pioneers and members of the military, including the "Black Dignity" collection of 1870s-1920s photographs from the Mary Everhard Collection.
Events
Leavenworth enjoys year-round plays and musicals performed by a community theater group, the River City Community Players.
The Annual Saint Patrick's Day Parade is held each year since 1984 on March 17 at 12 noon in downtown Leavenworth. The day begins with a 9:00 a.m. Roman Catholic Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, "The Old Cathedral": ancestral home of the Irish of Leavenworth. Various fraternal and civic clubs and restaurants host events; monies raised above Parade costs are donated to local charities.
Military
A parade is held each year on Veterans' Day in downtown Leavenworth to honor veterans. Leavenworth has an active Byron H. Mehl American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...
Post #23 and Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States Armed Forces, United States war veterans who fought in wars, Military campaign, campaig ...
George Edward White Post 56. Leavenworth High School boasts the very first Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps in the country.
Points of interest
Leavenworth has a 28-block historic shopping district, which includes antique shops, restaurants, a brewery and a variety of artisan gift shops.
Haymarket Square is a covered lot where a local farmer's market takes place from May to October.
Parks and recreation
The Leavenworth Parks and Recreation Department maintains a system of more than 25 public parks as well as Riverfront Community Center, which includes an indoor cardio room and pool, and Wollman Aquatic Center. An off-leash dog park near the Dwight D. Eisenhower Veterans Affairs Medical Center was built with public donations in 2010.
Government
Leavenworth is a city of the first class with a commission-manager form of government. The city commission is the city's governing body and consists of five members, including the mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...
and the mayor pro-tem. It sets city policies, adopts the city government's annual operating budget, and appoints city boards, commissions, and officials, including the city manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...
. Commissioners are elected to either four-year or two-year terms; one is appointed to serve as mayor, and another to serve as mayor pro-tem. The commission meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. The city manager is the city's chief executive, responsible for the day-to-day administration of the city government. The manager supervises all city government departments and employees, prepares and proposes the annual operating budget, and recommends policies to the city commission.
As the county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
, Leavenworth is the administrative center of Leavenworth County. The county courthouse
A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...
is located south of downtown at 4th and Walnut streets, and all departments of the county government base their operations in the city.
Leavenworth lies within Kansas's 2nd U.S. Congressional District. For the purposes of representation in the Kansas Legislature, the city is in the 5th district of the Kansas Senate and the 40th, 41st, and 42nd districts of the Kansas House of Representatives.
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing lifelong healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers an ...
operates the Dwight D. Eisenhower Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leavenworth as part of its Eastern Kansas Health Care System. The Medical Center includes a Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy (CMOP), part of an initiative to provide mail-order prescriptions to veterans using automated systems at strategic locations throughout the United States, as well as the Central Plains Consolidated Patient Account Center (CPAC), a billing and collection agency.
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth, known as the "Intellectual Center of the Army", is home to the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center. It is also home to the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies, the Center for Army Leadership, the Combat Studies Institute, the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate, the Center for Army Lessons Learned and the Mission Command Center of Excellence.
Prisons
Leavenworth is the location of several federal and state detention centers and prisons:
* United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth (USP) constructed in 1903, and its satellite prison camp, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...
* United States Disciplinary Barracks, the U.S. military's only maximum-security facility
* Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility, another U.S. military facility
* Leavenworth Detention Center, operator by for-profit prison corporation, CoreCivic for the United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the United States federal judi ...
Education
Primary and secondary education
Two public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
school districts serve the city. The majority of the city lies within Leavenworth USD 453, which operates six schools: four elementary schools, one middle school, and Leavenworth High School. USD 453 also operates Leavenworth Virtual School, an Internet-based school for students from grades Kindergarten through eighth grade. Senior high school students from Fort Leavenworth attend Leavenworth High School. 5th and 6th graders attend Richard Warren Middle School, which recently completed construction of a technology extension to the original building. Fort Leavenworth USD 207 encompasses Fort Leavenworth,[ and operates three elementary schools and one junior high school. A small portion of southern Leavenworth is in Lansing USD 469.][ Residents of this district are zoned to Lansing High School.
There are also two private schools in Leavenworth, and formerly there was a private high school. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas oversees one ]Catholic school
Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...
, Xavier Elementary School ( Grades Pre-K-8). Immaculata High School (Kansas) closed at the end of the 2016-2017 school year. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
operates one Lutheran school, St. Paul Lutheran School (Pre-K-8).
Colleges and universities
The main campus of University of Saint Mary, a four-year, private Catholic university
Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univers ...
, is in Leavenworth. In addition, Kansas City Kansas Community College operates a satellite campus in the city.
Media
The ''Leavenworth Times
''Leavenworth Times'' is an American daily newspaper published in Leavenworth, Kansas. The newspaper is owned by CherryRoad Media.
History
Founded in 1856 by future United States Senator Robert Crozier, the ''Times'' claims to be the oldest d ...
'', published by CherryRoad Media
CherryRoad Media is an American newspaper publisher and commercial printer based in New Jersey. It is the communications division of CherryRoad Technologies and was founded in 2020 by its CEO Jeremy Gulban. The company specializes in weekly publ ...
is the city's daily newspaper. CherryRoad Media also publishes '' The Fort Leavenworth Lamp'', a weekly newspaper covering local military news, on contract with the U.S. Army.
Leavenworth is in the Kansas City radio and television markets. Two radio stations are licensed in the city: KKLO broadcasts from Leavenworth on 1410 AM, a Fox News affiliate; KQRC-FM broadcasts from Mission, Kansas
Mission is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 9,954.
History
An Indian mission ...
on 98.9 FM, playing a Rock format. The major regional newspaper is the Kansas City Star.
Transportation
In April 2023, RideLV began to provide on-demand transit service within the city using a mobile software app. The service is operated by The Guidance Center in partnership with the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. However, Leavenworth remains the largest city in Kansas without fixed-route public transit service.
The nearest intercity transit services are located in Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas City Union Station
Kansas City Union Station (station code: KCY) is a union station that opened in 1914, serving Kansas City, Missouri, and the Kansas City metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area. It replaced a small Union Depot built in 1878. Union Stat ...
serves Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
's ''Southwest Chief
The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and American Southwest ...
'' and '' Missouri River Runner''. The Kansas City Bus Station serves Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...
and Jefferson Lines
Jefferson Lines (JL or JLI) is a regional intercity bus company operating in 14 states in the Midwest and the West of the United States.
History
The company is operated by Jefferson Partners L.P., located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jefferson P ...
.
In popular culture
Leavenworth is the setting for "Hurt People", a 2009 novel by Cote Smith.
Notable people
Political activist Charles Henry Langston lived and worked here (1863-1870), assisting African-American refugees from slave states and, after the Civil War, working for black suffrage and equal rights of blacks in the West; he moved to Lawrence for the remainder of his life. General of the Army and 34th President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
once served at Fort Leavenworth. Both Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok lived and worked in Leavenworth during its Old West frontier period.
Other notable individuals who were born in and/or have lived in Leavenworth include rock musician Melissa Etheridge, restaurant entrepreneur Fred Harvey, Broadway producer and Tony Awards
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cere ...
founder Brock Pemberton, U.S. Supreme Court justice David Josiah Brewer, author Sanora Babb, and former NBA player, Wayne Anthony Simien.
Sister cities
* Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
* Ōmihachiman, Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
Gallery
File: Leavenworth Landing Park in Kansas spring.jpg, Leavenworth Landing Park along the Missouri River in Leavenworth.
File: Downtown Leavenworth Kansas 2019.jpg, Downtown Leavenworth, Kansas along Delaware Street facing south.
File:Leavenworth Historic Marker.jpg, Marker relating the history of Leavenworth.
File:Leavenworthplaque.jpg, Plaque (2013) memorializing soldiers from Leavenworth County who were killed in action during World War II and Korea.
File:Leavenworth Veterans Memorial.jpg, The Leavenworth Veterans Memorial was erected in 2013 to honor and remember service members who died during the Global War on Terror era.
File:First Presbyterian Church, Leavenworth, Kansas.JPG, First Presbyterian Church (2012).
File:North Esplanade Park and the Centennial Bridge leading into Kansas in fall.jpg, Fall color at North Esplanade Park, the first park founded in the first City of Kansas.
File:David Brewer Park.jpg, David Brewer Park in Leavenworth, Kansas, named for David Josiah Brewer, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
File:David Josiah Brewer House, Leavenworth, Kansas.jpg, Home of David Josiah Brewer, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice, when he lived in Leavenworth.
File:Edward Carroll House with Historical Plaque, Leavenworth, Kansas.jpg, Edward Carroll House, operating since 1965 as a Victorian house museum.
File:Leavenworth Riverfront Community Center (front).jpg, Riverfront Community Center, a former Union Station train depot.
File:A. J. Angell House (Main Building).JPG, A. J. Angell House.
File:Leavenworth-prison.jpg, US Penitentiary in Leavenworth.
File:Nathaniel Burt House, Leavenworth, Kansas.JPG, Nathaniel Burt House.
File:Abernathy Furniture Co (Leavenworth, Kansas) 1.jpg, Abernathy Furniture Co. building was converted to lofts in the early 2000s.
File:Merritt Insley House (East Side), Leavenworth, Kansas.jpg, Merritt Insley House.
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Leavenworth County, Kansas
* List of National Historic Landmarks in Kansas
This is a list of all National Historic Landmarks designated by the U.S. government in Kansas. There are 26 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in Kansas.
The United States National Historic Landmark program is operated under the auspices of t ...
References
Further reading
External links
;City
*
Leavenworth - Directory of Public Officials
League of Kansas Municipalities
The Leavenworth-Lansing Area Chamber of Commerce
Leavenworth city map
KDOT
;Historical
Leavenworth County Historical Society
*
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{{Authority control
Cities in Kansas
County seats in Kansas
Cities in Kansas City metropolitan area
Cities in Leavenworth County, Kansas
1854 establishments in Kansas Territory
Kansas populated places on the Missouri River
Capitals of Kansas
Populated places established in 1854