1955 Map of Wichita

About this map

Wichita serves as the central hub of this mid-century survey, shown just as its metropolitan footprint was expanding alongside the critical operations at McConnell AFB. The landscape is a complex intersection of the old river-and-rail economy and the modernizing interstate system, featuring the Kansas Turnpike and the massive Cheney Reservoir. To the east, the Flint Hills begin to break the grid of the agricultural plains, while the confluence of the Arkansas River and Little Arkansas River remains the focal point for settlement growth.