In 1854, the City of Leavenworth was founded as the very "First City of Kansas". Leavenworth became nationally known as the "jumping off point" for the opening of the West.

"The City with a Future”, Lansing was not incorporated until 1959; however, it springs from a settlement begun during the last year of the Civil War in conjunction with the establishment of Kansas State Prison just five miles south of Leavenworth.

In 1827, Colonel Henry Leavenworth founded Fort Leavenworth on the bluffs of the Missouri River. Fort Leavenworth is the oldest Army fort in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River.