Ellis

History

The Kansas Pacific Railway built a water station at the site of present-day Ellis in 1867 and then purchased the site under the Homestead Act. Three years later, in 1870, the U.S. Post Office Department opened a post office at Ellis, marking the town's foundation. Kansas Pacific laid out the town in 1873, establishing a depot, a hotel, and a few shops. That same year, settlers from Syracuse, New York, and later from Louisville, Kentucky, arrived to work for the railroad. The first church opened in Ellis in 1873, the first school in 1874. Starting in 1875 and for the rest of the 1870s, Ellis was a cowtown, serving as a shipping point for cattle herds from the south. Ellis incorporated as a city in January 1888.

Geography

Ellis is located at (38.936211, -99.559269), at an elevation of 2,120 feet (646 m). It is approximately northwest of Wichita and west of Kansas City. Ellis lies on the western edge of the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains. Big Creek, a tributary of the Smoky Hill River, runs east through the city and has been dammed to form a long, narrow reservoir, Big Creek Lake. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. On average in Ellis, January is the coolest month, and July is both the warmest month and the wettest month. The hottest temperature recorded in Ellis was 110 °F (43 °C) in 2003; the coldest temperature recorded was -24 °F (-31 °C) in 1989.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,165
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  1,726
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  1,485
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,481
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,132
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,082
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  910
• Common Grackle

  Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  813

Largest nearby schools

• Washington Elem
  Elementary · Ellis · 173 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• Ellis Jr/Sr High
  High · Ellis · 169 students · 8.9:1 ratio