Great Bend, Kansas

Great Bend is a city in Barton County, Kansas, United States. It is also the county seat of Barton County. It is named for its location at the place where the Arkansas River bends east then southeast. In 2020, 14,733 people lived there.

Geography
Great Bend is at  (38.3644567, -98.7648073). It has an elevation of 1,850 feet (564 m). It is in central Kansas, and it is at the intersection of U.S. Route 281 and U.S. Route 56. Great Bend is  northwest of Wichita,  west-southwest of Kansas City, and  east-southeast of Denver.

The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . Of that,  is land and  is water.

People

2020 census
In 2020, there were 14,733 people, 6,136 households, and 3,690 families living in Zurich. Of the households, 61.0% owned their home and 39.0% rented their home.

The median age was 38.6 years. Of the people, 77.3% were White, 1.5% were Black, 0.6% were Native American, 0.4% were Asian, 11.0% were from some other race, and 9.1% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.5% of the people.

Education
Primary and secondary education
Great Bend Public Schools (USD 428) has about 3,000 students. It runs eight schools in Great Bend:

 Washington Early Childhood Center (Grades Pre-K)
 Eisenhower Elementary School (K–6)
 Jefferson Elementary School (K–6)
 Lincoln Elementary School (K–6)

 Park Elementary School (K–6)
 Riley Elementary School (K–6)
 Great Bend Middle School (7–8)
 Great Bend High School (9–12)

Colleges and universities
Barton Community College is a two-year community college. It is about three miles northeast of Great Bend.

Media
The Great Bend Tribune is the city's daily newspaper. It makes over 6,200 copies.

Parks and recreation
The city government's Park Department maintains 10 parks in Great Bend.

Culture
Sports
Greyhound racing started in the United States in the bottoms in 1886 during a formal coursing event.

References

Other websites

City
 City of Great Bend
 Great Bend - Directory of Public Officials
 Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau
 Great Bend Chamber of Commerce
Schools
 USD 428 , local school district
 Barton Community College
Attractions
 Great Bend Zoo
 Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area
Historical
 Barton County Historical Museum
 , from Hatteberg's People on KAKE TV news
Maps
 Great Bend City Map , KDOT

Category:Cities in Kansas
Category:County seats in Kansas
Category:Barton County, Kansas