Editing Goddard, Kansas (section)

==History==
[[File:Stouffer's Railroad Map of Kansas 1915-1918 Sedgwick County.png|thumb|left|1915 Railroad Map of Sedgwick County]]
In 1883, Ezekiel Wilder purchased farmland on the planned railway of the [[Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway]] south of Blendon, Kansas, approximately {{convert|10|mi|km}} west of [[Wichita, Kansas|Wichita]].<ref name=History>{{cite web | title = History | publisher = City of Goddard, Kansas | url = http://www.goddardks.gov/Community/History/ | access-date = 2014-06-27 | archive-date = August 6, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140806041244/http://www.goddardks.gov/Community/History/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> There, he established the town of Goddard in honor of J. F. Goddard, former third vice-president of the ATSF Railway.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n138 139]}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ukMKAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA6 The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway and Auxiliary Companies - Annual Meetings, and Directors and Officers; January 1, 1902]</ref> The railroad reached Goddard in 1884, and a post office was established there the same year. Several buildings were relocated from Blendon, including the town hall and the planned [[Methodism|Methodist]] church.  Goddard was officially [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] in 1910.

On June 23, 1969, an F4 tornado struck Goddard. No fatalities occurred, but six people were injured.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/19690623.20.10 |title=Tornado History Project: 19690623.20.10 |access-date=2018-04-22 |archive-date=2018-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423033810/http://www.tornadohistoryproject.com/tornado/19690623.20.10 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

In recent decades as Wichita has expanded westward, a growing number of commuters have settled in Goddard, transforming it from a rural agricultural community into a suburb.