90 years ago today: a Wichita-founded company announced it was leaving town

The big announcement came 90 years ago on this day (1934), when company president E.W. (Billy) Ingram announced the White Castle System would be moving from its home base in Wichita to Columbus, Ohio, to be completed by October 1st.

The Wichita office for local operations remained in charge of A.J. King; (his local eateries eventually morphed into the Kings-X chain).

White Castle started in Wichita in 1921 with a single hamburger stand at the rear of the Dorsey Building, to the west of the intersection of 1st & Main downtown.

Although the company originated in Wichita, the city has not had a White Castle restaurant since 1938, nor is there a White Castle in the entire state of Kansas. White Castle is one of the few restaurant chains that does not have a location in its original city.

White Castle company headquarters remain based in Columbus, and the Ingram family still runs the company; White Castle has about 350 locations throughout the United States.

Growing steadily after its founding in Wichita, White Castle has generally been credited as the world's first fast-food hamburger chain, serving up "sliders" for decades. In 2014, Time magazine named the White Castle slider "The Most Influential Burger of All Time".