History of NOTO
1800s
The expansion of the Union Pacific railroad into North Topeka in the mid-1800s would, for much of the 19th century, be the industrial heart of the Kansas capital. This excluded, of course, the mammoth Santa Fe shops just across the river. In April 1867, southside Topeka annexed Eugene, a small town founded a few years prior by Louis Laurent and William Curtis, the grandfather of Charles Curtis, a native North Topekan who became vice president under President Hoover. At the time, the evenly-matched population and economy of north and south Topeka resulted in a tug-of-war for industry and commerce throughout the remainder of the 1800s.
1900s
The 800 and 900 blocks of North Kansas Avenue – known during the 1940s and early 1950s as the North Topeka business district – was a vibrant retail and service center. It was along this stretch where a grocery store, movie theater, hardware store, and auto repair shop once sat. Families would set aside special days to head to town just to visit North Topeka.
Still, the area has witnessed its hardships. When the historic Kansas River flood of 1951 ravished North Topeka’s downtown, many businesses simply could not recover. Then again in 1965, the collapse of the Kansas Avenue bridge, which connected North Kansas Avenue to South Kansas Avenue, impacted many businesses north of the bridge. Finally, when a new bridge was built one block east, it seemed like the final downfall of what was a buzzing retail and service area. Various businesses and the Topeka Rescue Mission remained, but the district increasingly became an area characterized by grunge and crime.
2000s
In the early 2010s, through the Heartland Visioning process, the Topeka community requested an “Arts district” in a survey. The historic North Topeka downtown was suggested as the location for the proposed arts district. Investors purchased many of the historic buildings to begin the revitalization. The area, dubbed the NOTO Arts & Entertainment District, welcomed three businesses in 2011, 12 businesses in 2012 and has since continued to grow to include art galleries, antique and home décor shops, restaurants and bars, all locally owned and operated. Included is the NOTO Arts Center, which serves as the district office as well as an art gallery or a venue for classes and events.
The arts scene is alive and well in the NOTO Arts & Entertainment District, with over 3,000 people visiting every month for the ARTSConnect First Friday Artwalk. Other events held throughout the year attract visitors to NOTO’s murals, visiting artists, and more!