Manhattan is a city in northeastern Kansas in the United States, located at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County, although it also extends into Pottawatomie County. A small portion of Manhattan is a mutually shared jurisdiction between the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office and the Riley County Police Department, which extends from U.S. Highway 24 and Levee Drive, west to the intersection of Fort Riley Boulevard and East Poyntz Avenue, and then from Tuttle Creek Boulevard north to Casement Road.
The city of Manhattan was founded by settlers from the New England Emigrant Aid Company as a Free-State town in the 1850s, during the Bleeding Kansas era. Nicknamed “The Little Apple” as a play on New York City’s “Big Apple”, Manhattan is today best known as being the home of Kansas State University and has a distinct college town atmosphere.
The town was named an All-American City in 1952, becoming the first city in Kansas to win the award. More recently, in 2007 CNN and Moneymagazine rated Manhattan as one of the ten best places in America to retire young. And in 2011 Forbesrated Manhattan No. 1 for “Best Small Communities for a Business and Career.”
Manhattan Regional Airport (MHK) is the second-busiest commercial airport in Kansas. Eight miles (13 km) west of the city is Fort Riley, a United States Army post.
Manhattan is the site of Kansas State University sporting events, Aggieville, performing arts, lecture series and the annual Country Stampede Music Festival –the largest music festival in Kansas.
In 2009, the United States Department of Homeland Security announced that it would locate the NBAF in Manhattan. The NBAF is scheduled to open in 2022, and will be a federal lab to research biological threats involving human, zoonotic (i.e., transmitted from animals to humans) and foreign animal diseases. It is expected to employ between 250 and 350 people, including researchers, technical support and operations specialists.
Contact the Riley County Police: (785) 537-2112
Visit the Riley County Police Department Website: http://rileycountypolice.org/