Kanopolis is a city in Ellsworth County, Kansas, United States. The town is built on the site of Fort Harker, a United States Army base that housed infantry and cavalry troops involved in the Indian Wars from 1867 to 1872. After Fort Harker was closed, the new town was given the name of Kanopolis because it was envisioned as the "Central Metropolis" of the state and in due time was to be its capitol. Most settlement in the area instead went to Ellsworth, Kansas. The population was 543 at the 2000 census.Fort Ellsworth was the first frontier fort established in the Kanopolis area. It was built by the United States Army in August, 1864 at the junction of the Fort Riley-Fort Larned Road and the Smoky Hill Trail, near the Smoky Hill River. Within two years of its creation, the fort had grow... 09/27/2007