The Emporia Downtown Historic District is the hub of our community. Make your new home in an affordable, walkable neighborhood with amenities just steps from your door!
Downtown Emporia is a friendly, welcoming community with a rich history and a variety of locally owned businesses to explore. You'll find antique stores, a gourmet chocolate shop, brewery, winery, coffee shops, bars, and restaurants serving everything from authentic Mexican and Vietnamese to BBQ, pizza, sandwiches. The Emporia State University campus sits at the north end of downtown, where you can take a class, catch an ESU football game, or just enjoy a stroll around Wooster Lake.
Downtown Amenities
- Grocery
- Pharmacy
- Banks
- Library
- Churches & houses of worship
- City of Emporia offices
- Lyon County Courthouse
- Civic Auditorium
- Granada Theatre
- Brewery & winery
- Emporia State University
- Nightlife
- Restaurants
- Shopping
- History Museum
- Emporia Arts Center
- Professional services
- Bike shops & bike parking
- Farmer's Market
- Disc golf shop
Events
Downtown Commercial Street is the main avenue for parades and special events throughout the year. Imagine watching the Veterans Day, Christmas, or Saint Patrick's Day parades from the balcony of your loft!
Emporia also hosts two international sporting events: the Dynamic Discs Open disc golf tournament and the Unbound Gravel cycling race. Emporia Main Street hosts downtown block parties for each of these events, and they are epic!
There's plenty more to do downtown throughout the year, including the Dia de los Muertos festival and Halloween trick-or-treating, Moonlight Madness Late Night Shopping, and the Great American Market.
More about our community
Emporia is home to large communities of avid disc golfers, cyclists, and outdoor enthusiasts. If you enjoy these sports, you'll quickly feel at home.
One of the nation's largest disc golf retailers, Dynamic Discs, is based in Emporia with their flagship store located downtown. After gearing up, you can hit the chains at one of 8 professionally designed disc courses throughout the city.
The Kansas Flint Hills are located just outside Emporia to the west. Despite popular misconceptions, our area of the state definitely isn't flat. Here you'll find sweeping vistas with views that stretch for miles. Jeeping and cycling on the gravel roads around Emporia is a popular weekend activity, as is hiking or visiting the bison herd at the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.
Downtown's most famous event is the Unbound Gravel Finish Line Party. Unbound Gravel is an ultra-distance endurance cycling race through the Kansas Flint Hills. The event brings over 2,000 cyclists from around the world to compete, and begins and ends in Downtown Emporia. Emporia Main Street throws the biggest party of year to cheer on the athletes as they cross the Finish Line downtown!
Find your new home
Downtown Emporia continues to be revitalized with several new loft apartments complexes being added within past few years. Whether you're looking for a loft, a home close to downtown, or a commercial space, contact an Emporia Main Street member to find your new place!
Realtors
Coldwell Banker Emporia Real Estate
Residential/commercial real estate and rentals
RE/Max EK Real Estate LLC
Residential/commercial real estate and rentals
Trustpoint Insurance & Real Estate
Residential/commercial real estate & insurance
Apartments & Rentals
Coldwell Banker Emporia Real Estate
Residential/commercial real estate and rentals
Haag Management Inc
Lofts, apartments, and townhomes
