ABOUT

Atchison is a city and county seat of Atchison County, Kansas, United States, and situated along the Missouri River. As of the2010 census, its population was 11,021.

History

Atchison was founded in 1854 and named in honor of Senator David Rice Atchison, who, when Kansas was opened for settlement, interested some of his friends in the scheme of forming a city in the new territory. Senator Atchison was interested in ensuring that the population of the new Kansas Territory would be majority pro-slavery, as he had been a prominent promoter of both slavery and the idea of popular sovereignty over the issue in the new lands.