Wichita ? That star next to Topeka on the map might mean it’s the capital of Kansas, but it’s not the only capital in Kansas.

From the Missouri state line to the Colorado border, there are actually 70 capitals in all, including Goodland, the Sunflower Capital for the Sunflower State.

These self-proclaimed capitals boast some of the strangest connections — the 29 residents of Russell Springs in western Kansas call their town the Cowchip Capital.

Hungry? Visit Pittsburg, the Fried Chicken Capital, or Phillipsburg, the Hamburger Capital near the Nebraska-Kansas border. For dessert, head over to Washington, the Pie Capital.

Marci Penner, director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, which promotes rural culture, said she began encouraging towns to self-proclaim themselves nearly 15 years ago.

“Some people think Kansas is dull, flat or boring, but every town and county has its own personality,” Penner said. “Everybody wants their personality to be different than the next person. The capitals are a way to punctuate that. Some are fun, some are historic, some are more on the economic development or commerce side.”

There’s not much spinach farming going on in the Kansas City suburb of Lenexa anymore, but it’s the Spinach Capital. There’s air everywhere, but aircraft building hub of Wichita claims to be the Air Capital of the world.

If you need to make a pit stop on this tour of Kansas capitals, pull off in Elk Falls, population 122, the Outhouse Capital of Kansas.

Their capital-ism of sorts started nine years ago when residents began brainstorming about what the town might do to attract more visitors.

Capitals of Kansas

There’s not much else, but “Elk Falls does have a lot of outhouses,” said resident Steve Fry.

At first, he said, some folks laughed at the idea because most of the town’s outhouses were long abandoned.

But then Fry thought up an outhouse weekend where people fixed up their outhouses and let folks from out of town vote for their favorite.

Fry built his own outhouse with a front porch. It’s insulated and wired for electricity.

The idea caught on.

“It’s just offbeat enough that it is something different,” Fry said.

Kansas has a Purple Martin Capital, a White Tail Deer Capital and a Prairie Chicken Capital. There’s a goose, watermelon, stone bridge and barbed wire capitals. Dodge City is the Cowboy Capital and Olathe, the Cowboy Boot Capital.

A number of the capitals have annual festivals or events celebrating their claim to fame.

Sometimes capitals give specks on the map an identity and promote tourism. Others might scare off tourists — Palco in north-central Kansas, is the Earthquake Capital. Folks there say there are tremors all the time.

Beverly Hurley, travel media representative for the Kansas Travel and Tourism Development Division, says it’s important to have the capitals, especially when national economic experts forecast decline in the Great Plains population and natural resources.

“Anytime you can find a niche and use it as a marketing tool, it gives something for people to identify with,” Hurley said. “Is somebody going to come because you are a capital? Maybe not. But it adds to those quirky things.”