Concordia, Kansas  Concordia is a city in and the county seat of Cloud County, Kansas, United States. It is located along the Republican River in the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains in North Central Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,395. Concordia is home of the Cloud County Community College and the Nazareth Convent and Academy. Concordia holds the distinction of being elected the county seat before the town was created. The founder of the town, James M. Hagaman had created a complete layout of the town on paper including streets, blocks, courthouse, and parks. The name "Concordia" was chosen because a member of the early group of promoters ("Cap" Snyder) had once lived in Concordia, Missouri. December 1869 was the first election for the county seat with Concordia, Clyde and the now defunct town Sibley. Without a clear majority, a second election was held between Concordia and Sibley on January 4, 1870. Concordia was declared the winner over Sibley 165 votes to 129. It was over a year later when Concordia officially became a town when the Republican Land District Office opened on January 16, 1871. The Concordia Land Office continued until February 28, 1889 when it was consolidated with the land office in Topeka, Kansas. Also in 1871, Concordia elected its first mayor, R. E. Allen. Under his leadership, Concordia was officially incorporated as a third class city under Kansas law in August 1872. Concordia was visited in its early years by many traveling shows. As early as 1876 various traveling entertainers including Wild Bill Hickock, Buffalo Bill Cody, Ringling Brothers, and others came to Concordia. In 1892, the Ringling train wrecked east of the town killing two men and twenty horses, but the show played the next day to a crowd of 4,000. The first schoolteacher to teach inside the city limits was Milo Stevens, who was paid a salary of twenty dollars per month. A state normal school was set up in Concordia in 1874 with F. E. Robinson as principal and former state Superintendent H. D. McCarty became president the second year. In 1876 the state ceased to provide funding and the school was closed. In 1887, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway built a branch line from Neva (3 miles west of Strong City) through Concordia to Superior, Nebraska.