Lebanon

History

Lebanon was founded in 1876 at a site about distant from its present site. It was moved to the new site in about 1887–1888. Lebanon is named after Lebanon, Kentucky. In 1918, a scientific survey established the geographic center of the 48 contiguous US states about northwest of Lebanon, and a monument was subsequently erected at the site. The geographic center of all 50 of the US states is located near Belle Fourche, South Dakota. On May 27, 2013, a large and violent EF-3 tornado touched down North East of the small town. Traveling East, it struck multiple small farm structures. The Tornado Intercept Vehicle 2 (TIV-2) crew, composed of Brandon Ivey, Sean Casey, and the late Herb Stein, intercepted the tornado on Ee Road, North East of town. The vehicle was struck by multiple pieces of debris, opening the roof hatch, opening a side door, spinning the roof mounted turret housing the IMAX camera, as well as Sean Casey, and sparking on the polycarbonate windshield. A tree branch also landed in the vehicle. Before being struck by a large piece of sheet metal, the anemometer recorded wind speeds of 175 mph (281.6 kp/h). These were the highest recorded wind speeds inside of a tornado. The massive wedge tornado tracked North of town, continuing East until dissipation, just North of the neighboring community of Esbon, Kansas.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. On February 13, 1905, the temperature fell to , the lowest minimum temperature ever recorded in Kansas.

Race & ethnicity