Udall, KS

Udall is a Cowley County city on the south-central Kansas map, about twenty-five miles south of Wichita and along Kansas Highway 15. Its first post office opened in 1879, the town was laid out in 1881, and the name came from English author Cornelius Udall. A 1912 county history places the early settlement on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, with a mill, bank, stores, newspaper, and school already giving the young city a working center.

Udall’s defining history is the tornado that struck on May 25, 1955. The storm leveled much of the city and killed dozens of residents; the Kansas Historical Society remembers it as the deadliest tornado in Kansas history, while the National Weather Service preserves the storm report and warning timeline. The Cowley County profile now points visitors toward Udall’s museum, park, water projects, and community center. The local scoop is a railroad-born city that rebuilt its civic map around memory, weather knowledge, and a town center still carrying the name.