Concordia / Cloud Co.

Concordia holds the distinction of being elected the county seat before the town was created. The founder, James M. Hagaman created a complete layout of the town on paper including streets, blocks, courthouse, and parks, and the name "Concordia" was chosen because a member of the early group of promoters ("Cap" Snyder) had once lived in Concordia, Missouri. It was over a year later when Concordia officially became a town on January 16, 1871.

Concordia was visited in its early years by various traveling entertainers including Wild Bill Hickock, Buffalo Bill Cody, Ringling Brothers, and others. In 1892, the Ringling train wrecked east of the town killing two men and twenty horses, but the show played the next day to a crowd of 4,000.

In November 1905, Concordia resident Colonel Napoleon Bonaparte Brown announced to the townspeople his plans to build a fully outfitted opera house. Restored to its original 1907 splendor, the 650 seat Brown Grand Theatre, once the finest theater between Kansas City and Denver, now serves as a tourist attraction and performing arts/community center for Concordia and North Central Kansas.

During World War II, Camp Concordia housed German Prisoners of War. The P.O.W. Camp was located north of Concordia and the original guard house remains and has been restored.

Concordia is also the site of the National Orphan Train Complex Inc. which recently merged with the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America, Inc. and houses their archives. The former Union Pacific Depot, placed on the national historic registry, has undergone a complete restoration in preparation to become the Orphan Train Rider Museum.

Concordia, with a population around 5,700 is the county seat of Cloud County, and is located in the Republican River Valley, 150 miles north of Wichita, 175 miles west of Topeka, and 110 miles southwest of Lincoln, Nebraska.

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