Town file
Hutchinson, Kansas
Hutchinson, Kansas (Reno County, Kansas) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 146, "A Strangle Here, A Strangle There" (21 November 2019).
- Town
- Hutchinson
- County
- Reno County
- State
- Kansas
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 146
- Approximate location
- 38.064, -97.909
Episode 146 / 21 November 2019 / 166 min / full
A Strangle Here, A Strangle There
"We're going to Hutchinson, Kansas, and it is in Reno County." about 0:05:57
The case: Murder of Rachel Parks (June 1978); Attempted murder of Viola Parks (1994). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2019
- Population
- 41,316
- Median age
- 39
- Median household income
- $45,000
- Median home value
- $94,100
- Two-bedroom rent
- $729
- Cost of living
- 74
- Religious
- about 53%
- Property crime
- ▲ almost double
- Violent crime
- ▲ about one third above
History, in brief
- Founded in 1871 by Clinton C. Hutchinson, an Indian agent, who contracted with the Santa Fe Railroad to build a town at the railroad's crossing over the Arkansas River. about 0:10:03
- The town grew north of the tracks on the banks of Cow Creek, where a couple of houses already stood. about 0:10:46
- Hutchinson founded the Reno County Bank and erected the state's first water mill. about 0:10:59
- Nicknamed Temperance City because the founder made it a dry town with no alcohol. about 0:11:12
- Incorporated in 1872 as a third-class city. about 0:12:36
- In 1887 the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a main line from Herrington through Hutchinson. about 0:13:37
- Salt deposits were found in 1887 when the land speculator Ben Blanchard, drilling for oil, struck salt; he founded South Hutchinson. about 0:14:14
- Salt mining became the town's major industry and gave it the nickname the Salt City. about 0:15:02
- Hutchinson has hosted the Kansas State Fair since 1873. about 0:15:16
- In 1943 German and Italian prisoners of war were brought to Kansas as forced labour in the salt mines, at Camp Concordia, Camp Funston and Camp Phillips. about 0:15:37
- In January 2001, 143 million cubic feet of compressed natural gas leaked from a storage field; an explosion at 10.45am destroyed two downtown businesses, a second explosion the next day in a mobile home park killed two people, and the Kansas National Guard was called in to evacuate the city. about 0:19:00
- In January and June 2013 the town was renamed Smallville for a day to promote the Smallville Con comic book convention. about 0:20:28
The reviews read out
1 star
"A sewer pond full of corrupt cops and city officials, with a new city tax every year, an out-of-hand meth problem, a buffoon of a city manager and a Target that was run out of town."about 0:21:06
1 star
"Full of hateful drug-infested people who drive slowly to annoy you, thieves who lie to your face, only one major store, a hospital with a mortality rate through the roof and sonic booms from the mining; the whole town is going to sink."about 0:21:49
1 star
"Hutchinson is a sewer: rude people, thieves, criminals ruling, a full jail, a medical system that sucks, police who cannot keep up and firemen standing on every corner."about 0:22:23
1 star
"Two months in Hutch and it is terrible: a major meth issue, nothing to do, not a place to raise kids, a horrible vibe and nowhere to shop except Dillon's."about 0:23:47
1 star
"Hutch is lacking quite a bit of things. End of story."about 0:24:28
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Newton, Kansas31 miles
- Kingman, Kansas31 miles
- Great Bend, Kansas52 miles
- Wellington, Kansas61 miles
- Arkansas City, Kansas83 miles
- Emporia, Kansas96 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.