10 Incredible, Almost Unbelievable Facts About Kansas

Are you the type who knows everything about Kansas and loves to learn more? If you're like me, you love collecting little facts and tidbits about places you've lived that might surprise others who are new to the state. We've compiled a list of 10 unbelievable facts you might not have ever heard before, and if you have, we encourage you to tell us more about them!

1. The crime rate in Kansas is around 10% higher than the national average.

However, we've got a relatively small jail and prison population compared to most states. It's around 16,000 combined.

2. There's three times the amount of incorporated cities than Idaho, and six times more than Wyoming.

We have 627 incorporated municipalities, if you were wondering.

3. It's (strangely) still against the law to serve cherry pie à la mode on a Sunday.

What were they thinking?

4. Handel's Messiah has been presented in Lindsborg every Easter since 1889, almost as long as we've been a state!

Kansas became a state in 1861, a short time before the Civil War.

5. Though Chicago gets to be called the "Windy City", Dodge city is actually windier.

Who knew? (Not Chicago, apparently!)

6. Comanche County has about a quarter of all Kansas caves, at 128 (and counting) caves within county lines.

Pictured is a cave in Ellsworth, at Kanopolis, one of the 528 catalogued caves in Kansas.

7. We have the highest population of prairie chickens in all of North America.

So don't feel bad if they're your favorite in the fall/winter.

8. Hutchinson, Kansas doesn't have the world's largest or longest grain elevator. Wichita does!

Wichita's DeBruce elevator holds in excess of 22.4 million bushels, and is 84 feet longer than Hutch's, and that's after the loss of length in 1998.

9. In 1990, Kansas produced enough wheat to give everyone on earth 6 loaves of bread. (33 billion loaves)

That's crazy! Kansas is known as the Wheat State for a reason!

10. Nowhere else on earth has the number or size of sandstone concretions as Rock City (There's about 200 of them, some as large as small houses)

They were made when a huge rock was eroded by water, leaving these giant stones behind.

Were you surprised by any of these? Know any other good facts that'll shock us? Let us know in the comments below!