Why visit Ellis
Townapedia lists 4 museums and landmarks, 2 parks and trails, 3 places to eat and 1 place to stay in and around town.
Highlights include Ellis Congregational Church and Ellis Railroad Museum.
Weather in Ellis
Forecast from the National Weather Service. Full forecast
About Ellis
Ellis is a city in Ellis County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,958.
From the Wikipedia article Ellis, Kansas (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Museums and landmarks4
Ellis Congregational Church
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 0.4 mi
Church building in Kansas, United States of America
Bukovina Society Headquarters and Museum
Museum · 0.5 mi
Museum in Ellis, Kansas
Parks, trails and playgrounds2
Restaurants and cafes3
Arthur's Pizza and Mexican Foods
Restaurant · Pizza, Mexican
103 West 9th Street, Ellis
Where to stay1
History
The Kansas Pacific Railway built a water station at the site of present-day Ellis in 1867 and then purchased the site under the Homestead Act. Three years later, in 1870, the U.S. Post Office Department opened a post office at Ellis, marking the town's foundation. Kansas Pacific laid out the town in 1873, establishing a depot, a hotel, and a few shops. That same year, settlers from Syracuse, New York, and later from Louisville, Kentucky, arrived to work for the railroad. The first church opened in Ellis in 1873, the first school in 1874. Starting in 1875 and for the rest of the 1870s, Ellis was a cowtown, serving as a shipping point for cattle herds from the south. Bukovina Germans began settling in the area in 1886. Ellis incorporated as a city in January 1888.
Long ago, Ellis (as well as Hays) was once a sundown town, where African Americans were not welcome after dark.
From the History section of Ellis, Kansas on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Gas and EV charging2
Schools, colleges and libraries4
Map of Ellis
16 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
People and cost of living
American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020-2024, U.S. Census Bureau. Estimates have margins of error, larger for small towns.
Disaster history
Ellis County has had 14 federal disaster declarations since 2000, most often for severe storms.
- 2025-05-21: Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, And Wildfires (Severe Storm)
- 2022-05-25: Severe Winter Storms And Straight-Line Winds (Snowstorm)
- 2022-02-17: Severe Storms And Straight Line Winds (Severe Storm)
- 2020-03-29: Covid-19 Pandemic (Biological)
- 2020-03-13: Covid-19 (Biological)
- 2016-10-20: Severe Storms And Flooding (Severe Storm)
OpenFEMA disaster declarations summaries.
Getting there and nearby towns
Hays Regional Airport (HYS) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 17 miles away.
- Hays 13 mi east, about 21 min by car
- WaKeeney 18 mi west, about 30 min by car
- Victoria 23 mi east, about 37 min by car
- Plainville 25 mi northeast, about 40 min by car
- Gorham 29 mi east, about 47 min by car
- La Crosse 31 mi southeast, about 50 min by car
- Hill City 34 mi northwest, about 54 min by car
- Natoma 34 mi northeast, about 54 min by car
- Stockton 37 mi northeast, about 1 h by car
- Russell 38 mi east, about 1 h by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB, the NEMICO news database.
Reviews, tips and questions
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Sources and licences
- NCES EDGE (Public domain): public schools
- OpenFEMA (Public domain): disaster declarations
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- U.S. Census Bureau (Public domain): population, income, housing, education, commute
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Ellis Kansas 5-7-2014, Richard Bauer, CC BY 2.0
- Ellis, Kansas First Congregational from SE 1, Ammodramus, CC0
Page built October 30, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or suggest a place.