The city of Topeka, Kansas serves as the county seat of Shawnee County and the state capital. The city is situated within the northeast section of the state along the Kansas River. The city has a current population of approximately 128,000. The Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of roughly 230,800. Other counties within the metro area are Jefferson, Jackson, Wabaunsee, Shawnee and Osage.
The city was the location of the landmark legal Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, where it was declared that it was unconstitutional to declare racial segregation in public schools. Three Navy ships have been named after Topeka to remember its importance.
"Topeka" is word taken from the Kansa and Loway that means "to dig good potatoes." The Native Americans who occupied the region used the prairie potato as a major food source. The Kansa people called what is now known as the Kansas River as "Topeka." The name was initially recorded in 1826, but the settlement was not called Topeka until 1855 when the founders declared it "novel, of Indian origin and euphonious of sound." Joseph James (Jojim) was a mixed-blood Kansa Indian who thought of the name. The city of Topeka was a Free-State township founded by Eastern antislavery men following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Topeka was chartered as a city in the year 1857.
A lot of the economy in the city of Topeka is based around the sectors of government and services. Approximately 25 percent of the workforce is hired by city, county and state governments, with the state of Kansas being the largest employer within the city. 30% of the workforce is employed in services industries. Many are employed in food processing, publishing and printing, flour mills and iron foundries. There are some Fortune 500 companies with manufacturing or distribution facilities in Topeka. Popular businesses consist of Frito-Lay Inc, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, Hallmark Cards and Payless Shoe Source.
The city of Topeka boasts many fine art galleries with significant selections of art, like for example the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library and the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University. A little known fact regarding the city of Topeka is that it is the home of the character Alfred E. Neuman, the logo character for Mad Magazine.