Topeka, Kansas

Topeka, Kansas is the capital of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County, Kansas. It is situated along the Kansas River in northeast Kansas. As of 2020, the population of the city was 126,587, and the metropolitan area (which includes parts of several counties) had a population of 233,870.

The name "Topeka" is a Kansa-Osage word that means "place where we dig potatoes" or "a good place to dig potatoes". As a placename, Topeka was first recorded in 1826 as the Kansa name for what is now called the Kansas River. The city, laid out in 1854, was one of the Free-State towns founded by Eastern antislavery men immediately after the passage of them Kansas-Nebraska Act. In 1857, Topeka was chartered by the state as a city.

The city is known for the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson and declared racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional.