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Overview

Last Updated: 4/7/2026

Where Did They Go? Overview

Where Did They Go? is an interactive web application that visualizes rural population migration across Kansas from 1860 to 2020. The application helps students, teachers, museums, historical societies, and local governments explore how Kansas communities have changed over 160 years and understand the potential causes behind rural outmigration.

What Question Does It Answer?

The application answers a fundamental question: Why have rural Kansas populations changed over time? By combining historical census data with geographic infrastructure and community service layers, users can investigate correlations between population trends and factors like railroad construction, highway development, access to schools, and healthcare availability.

Who Is It For?

Where Did They Go? serves multiple audiences:

  • K-12 Students: Explore Kansas history through interactive maps and data visualization
  • Teachers: Use the tool to teach demographic trends, Kansas history, and data literacy
  • Museums & Historical Societies: Provide visitors with engaging ways to understand local community changes
  • Local Governments: Analyze historical patterns to inform planning and policy decisions

Exploring the Data: A Three-Part Narrative

The application guides users through a structured exploration using three key questions:

1. Context: Where and When?

The core interface presents an interactive map of Kansas with a timeline slider spanning 1860 to 2020 in 10-year increments. Users see county boundaries and can observe how populations shifted across the state over time. A color-coded heat map option visualizes population density, with darker blue indicating higher populations and lighter blue showing lower populations. Click any county to zoom in for a detailed view, then click again to return to the state-level perspective.

2. Causes: Who and What?

Nine data layers reveal the infrastructure and community elements that may have influenced migration patterns:

Infrastructure Layers:

  • Railroads: Track lines that became operational over time, showing when rail access reached different regions
  • Interstates: Major highway construction from the mid-20th century onward
  • Rivers: Natural waterways that shaped early settlement patterns
  • Lakes: Water bodies and reservoirs

Community & Services Layers:

  • Cities: Population centers with their changing populations (1970–2020)
  • County Population Heat Map: Visual representation of population density by county
  • Schools: Educational facilities visible at county zoom level
  • Healthcare Facilities: Hospitals, pharmacies, EMS stations, laboratories, public health centers, urgent care, and VA facilities (county zoom only)
  • Tracts: Census tract boundaries for detailed demographic analysis (county zoom only)

3. Explanation: Why?

Users can toggle layers on and off through the filter panel to test hypotheses. For example: Did counties with early railroad access maintain larger populations? How did interstate highway construction correlate with urban growth? Did rural areas without nearby healthcare facilities experience greater outmigration? By comparing the timeline with different data layers, users develop their own explanations for the patterns they observe.

What You Can Explore

The application provides a hands-on learning experience:

  • Compare decades: Drag the timeline slider to see how Kansas transformed from 1860 to 2020
  • Watch history unfold: Use the play button to automatically advance through time at 3.5-second intervals
  • Zoom for detail: Click counties to examine local infrastructure and services
  • Test relationships: Enable and disable data layers to investigate correlations between population change and specific factors
  • Discover patterns: Notice which regions grew, which declined, and what infrastructure existed in each area

Technical Foundation

Where Did They Go? runs as a modern web application built with Vue 3 for the interactive frontend and Node.js with Express for the backend server. The backend serves pre-processed JSON and GeoJSON data files—there are no dynamic API endpoints. All visualizations render using D3.js for smooth, responsive map interactions. The application uses Docker Dev Containers for consistent development environments across different machines.

Getting Started

To run the application locally, you’ll need Docker Desktop and Visual Studio Code with the Dev Containers extension. The development environment automatically starts both the client (running on port 5173) and server (running on port 3000) when you open the project in a container. Alternatively, you can run the application without Docker by installing Node.js and starting the client and server manually.

The application aggregates data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other public sources to provide an accurate historical view of Kansas demographics and infrastructure development. All data has been carefully processed and formatted for efficient web delivery.

Running With Docker