Mayor's Welcome

Welcome to the official website of the City of Independence, Kansas, the friendliest town in America.

Proud Heritage

Independence is located in Montgomery County in the southeast corner of Kansas and has a population of 8,548. Independence has a strong industrial base with a "Hometown Atmosphere" and consider ourselves to be, in part, a rural community with many farming sites in the area surrounding the City. Independence also has a historical downtown district and was named one of the first Main Street cities in Kansas.

The 150-year history of our City includes pioneer stories (Little House on the Prairie), oil magnates (Harry Sinclair), stately mansions, the first lighted baseball stadium, the first monkey to go into space (Ms. Able), a presidential candidate (Alf Landon), a Broadway playwright (William Inge) where the community annually celebrates the William Inge Festival honoring a different famous playwright each year in April, a movie star (Vivian Vance), a TV journalist (Bill Kurtis), FDIC Chair (Sheila Bair), an academy award winner (Donald Burt) and one of Kansas' largest celebrations "Neewollah" (Halloween spelled backwards) just to name a few.

Riverside Park & Ralph Mitchell Zoo

When you visit our City be sure to stop by our 124 acre park and zoo. Ralph Mitchell Zoo contains approximately 200 animal species. In addition to the zoo, Riverside Park contains a new aquatic center, new tennis courts, a miniature golf course, a miniature train and a merry-go-round which only cost 5 cents to ride. Riverside Park also contains one of the Sinclair Dinosaurs (Corythosaurus) that was featured at the 1964 World's Fair in New York. In addition, the park has several park buildings which are available for rent. For more information, please visit our Park webpage or call City Hall at 620-332-2500.

Memorial Hall & Civic Center

If you are organizing a convention, meeting, banquet or concert be sure to check out our newly renovated Memorial Hall and Civic Center located at Penn/Locust. The Memorial Hall building is equipped with wireless internet and includes a nearly 2000 seat auditorium with the latest computerized sound, lighting and stage rigging equipment, a large Civic Center suitable for large banquets, a large meeting room equipped with a ceiling mounted projector, built in audio and an automatic screen, plus several other smaller meeting rooms which are all available for rent. For more information, please visit our Memorial Hall webpage or call 620-332-2508.

Independence Housing

If you are considering relocating to our city and want a newly constructed home, then you may be interested in learning more about the Jefferson Subdivision which is a new subdivision that is being constructed by the City and Independence Housing Authority. This new subdivision will consist of 20 new homes located across the street from Jefferson Elementary School. Infrastructure construction has begun and should be completed August 2024, with housing construction beginning September 2024. If your interest is older historic homes, you are lucky as Independence had the most millionaires per capita in the 1920’s with many of their grand homes having been preserved. If downtown living is your desire, a Topeka developer is rehabilitating 6 buildings for commercial use on the main floor with 20 upper story apartments. Homes are available for sale and rent at various price ranges throughout the community to meet your needs. If you would like more information about available housing, please visit our Housing Authority webpage or call April Nutt, Housing Director at 620-332-2536

Independence Schools

Independence has an award-winning public school system (USD 446) which enrolls more than 1,800 students in grades preK-12. School facilities include an early learning center, two elementary schools, one middle school, one high school and a virtual academy. All school campuses within the district have been newly constructed or extensively renovated within the past 15-20 years to keep pace with the evolving needs, challenges and opportunities of preK-12 education.

All USD 446 students have access to challenging and enriching learning opportunities, including special education programming and support; Advanced Placement (AP) programs; career and technical education; community-based learning; and concurrent college credit courses. Additionally, a full array of athletic programs, extra-curricular activities, clubs and organizations are offered for students of all ages with diverse interests. The district also offers an after-school program to offer extended academic and enrichment opportunities for students from Kindergarten through sixth grade.

U.S. News & World Report annually ranks schools in the nation and by state, based upon student scores in math, reading and science and, for high schools, graduation rates and Advanced Placement scores are figured in. Most recently, Independence schools were ranked as follows:

Jefferson School (3rd-5th Grades): 170th of 959 Kansas elementary schools (top quarter / 82nd percentile);
Independence Middle School (6th-8th Grades): 61st of 763 Kansas middle schools (top 10% / 92nd percentile);
Independence High School (9th-12th Grades): 22nd of 386 Kansas public high schools (top 10% / 94th percentile). Nationally, IHS ranked 4,128 out of 17,680 public high schools (top quarter / 77th percentile).

For more information on the Independence public schools, please visit www.indyschools.com or call 620-332-1800.

Independence Public Library

The Independence Public Library offers a welcoming atmosphere with comfortable seating and work space in our historic three-story library, located at 220 E. Maple. IPL received the 2012 Best Small Library in America award and was named a 2022 National Medal finalist by the Institute of Museum and Library Service. Visitors can utilize our free public access computers, as well as our wireless Internet available throughout the building and on library grounds. Stay up-to-date with our fantastic community programming, by visiting our website (iplks.org), or our Facebook (@IPLKS). Browse our shelves to find the top bestsellers as well as old favorites and everything in between. The Independence Public Library provides access to regular print, large print, audiobooks, DVDs, and a robust digital collection (eBooks and Audiobooks).

Our friendly staff is always willing to help you find what you need from finding a title from our over 750,000 item SEK-n-Find catalog, to researching on the Internet. Youth can create masterpieces at our art station, play video games, browse books, and use a variety of technology all on their floor (3rd floor). IPL’s genealogy and research department can help you discover your family tree by utilizing our subscription to the international version of Ancestry.com and utilizing microfilm to view local newspapers dating back as early as the 1800s, all for free. Our $80,000 small business center and maker space helps entrepreneurs launch, build, and maintain their small businesses. Our innovative library offers a unique service called Open Access that allows the community extended library access. We are 1 of a handful of communities in North America that offer this service. For more information, contact the Director at 620-331-3030.

Economic Development

If you are considering relocating or expanding your business in Independence, we do have two main industrial parks with available acreage for your business. The Airport Industrial Park is located southwest of the City and is currently home to various businesses including Textron Aviation. The West Laurel Industrial Park is located on the west side of the City. If you would like specific industrial site and economic development incentive information, please visit our Economic Development webpage or contact David Cowan, Assistant City Manager at 620-332-2528 or Melissa Johnson, Montgomery County Action Council at 620-331-3830. For other business support, contact the Chamber of Commerce at 620-331-1890 or Independence Main Street at 620-331-2300.

We sincerely appreciate the support of the citizens we serve and look forward to also serving those who wish to visit or relocate to our community. Thank you for visiting our website.

Tim Emert, Mayor