[9] In 1601, New Mexico Governor Juan de Oñate led an expedition across the Great Plains and found a large settlement of Indians he called Rayados.

Extensive remains of Indian settlements have been found along six miles (9.7 km) of the Walnut River.

[14] The line was leased and operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

[15] The original branch line connected Florence, Burns, De Graff, El Dorado, Augusta, Douglass, Rock, Akron, Winfield, and Arkansas City.

Arkansas City grew steadily through the latter part of the 19th century, and enjoyed a population explosion starting in 1891, when thousands of people moved into the area in anticipation of the Cherokee Strip Land Run.

At the turn of the century, Arkansas City was a rival to Wichita in size and enterprise, boasting several busy rail lines, an elegant opera house, numerous fine hotels, a manufacturing base and a bustling agricultural economy.

A popular swimming hole called Paris Lake was located west of downtown; the lake—and the hot springs at Geuda as well—was mired with silt in a flood about 1919.

[citation needed] The Kirkwood Wind Engine Company, a former windmill manufacturer, was headquartered in Arkansas City near the turn of the 20th century;[citation needed] the now-defunct Kanotex Refining Company established a refinery and headquarters in the city in 1917.

This annual event still draws thousands of visitors each October, and features a queen, a carnival, dozens of homegrown fair food vendors and a spectacular parade typically lasting two hours or more.

During the 1955 Arkalalah celebration, retired Santa Fe steam locomotive 2542 was dedicated in Wilson Park, where it remains today.

Montgomery KONE Elevator and Central Plains Book Manufacturing at nearby Strother Field were also shuttered.

[citation needed] Arkansas City is now home to state-of-the-art meat processor Creekstone Farms Premium Beef LLC which employs over 1100 workers.

Both cities, only 11 miles (18 km) apart, now have large Wal-Mart stores (a new Wal-Mart Supercenter opened in Arkansas City in March 2006, and another has been constructed in Winfield, Kansas); conversely, both towns' (in Arkansas City—the Burford, the Howard, and the Crest) movie theaters recently closed and were replaced by a single facility halfway between the cities, just south of the Strother Field industrial park.

B & B Theatres donated the two downtown buildings to non-profit organizations in each of the respective communities.

The Ark City Burford Theatre and Commercial Building is undergoing a transformation/renovation that will become a new community arts center and gathering space.

[19] In 2010, the Keystone-Cushing Pipeline (Phase II) was constructed west of Arkansas City, north to south through Cowley County, with much controversy over tax exemption and environmental concerns (if a leak ever occurs).

[24] The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

[25] The 2020 United States census counted 11,974 people, 4,467 households, and 2,762 families in Arkansas City.

The community is served by the Arkansas City USD 470 public school district.

Professor H. B. Norton first hosted a school in his home when Arkansas City was first established.

The college also owns one of the old high school buildings (Ireland Hall), which houses its criminal justice and cosmetology classes.

The most recent building, Webb-Brown, is located on the Eastern corner of 3rd and Washington, replacing the former Ark City Junior High School.