Atchison County, Kansas
Encyclopedia
Atchison County is a county located in Northeast Kansas
, in the Central
United States
. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 16,924. Its county seat
and most populous city is Atchison
. The county is named in honor of David Rice Atchison
, a United States Senator
from Missouri
. The Atchison Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Atchison County.
, county until the Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 and voters approved the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with a 30% food sales requirement.
On July 4, 1804, to mark Independence Day
, the Lewis and Clark Expedition
named Independence Creek (River) located near the city of Atchison
(see Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
).
, there were 16,774 people, 6,275 households, and 4,279 families residing in the county. The population density
was 39 people per square mile (15/km²). There were 6,818 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup
of the county was 91.62% White
, 5.32% Black or African American
, 0.55% Native American
, 0.34% Asian
, 0.06% Pacific Islander
, 0.51% from other races, and 1.59% from two or more races
. Hispanic
or Latino
of any race were 1.95% of the population.
There were 6,275 household
s out of which 32.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.30% were married couples
living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% were non-families. 27.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the county the population was spread out with 26.70% under the age of 18, 11.30% from 18 to 24, 24.50% from 25 to 44, 21.40% from 45 to 64, and 16.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.30 males.
The median income for a household
in the county was $34,355, and the median income for a family was $40,614. Males had a median income of $29,481 versus $20,485 for females. The per capita income
for the county was $15,207. About 7.90% of families and 13.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.80% of those under age 18 and 17.90% of those age 65 or over.
. The city of Atchison
is considered governmentally independent and is excluded from the census figures for the townships. In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size.
Historical
Maps
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, in the Central
Central United States
The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern United States and Western United States as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions of the Southern United States; the term is also sometimes used...
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 16,924. Its county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
and most populous city is Atchison
Atchison, Kansas
Atchison is a city situated along the Missouri River in the eastern part of Atchison County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,021. It is the county seat and most populous city of Atchison County...
. The county is named in honor of David Rice Atchison
David Rice Atchison
David Rice Atchison was a mid-19th century Democratic United States Senator from Missouri. He served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate for six years...
, a United States Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. The Atchison Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Atchison County.
Law and government
Atchison County was a prohibition, or "dry"Dry county
A dry county is a county in the United States whose government forbids the sale of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. Hundreds of dry counties exist across the United States, almost all of them in the South...
, county until the Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 and voters approved the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with a 30% food sales requirement.
Geography
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 435.04 square miles (1,126.7 km²), of which 432.34 square miles (1,119.8 km²) (or 99.38%) is land and 2.7 square miles (7 km²) (or 0.62%) is water.On July 4, 1804, to mark Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
, the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
named Independence Creek (River) located near the city of Atchison
Atchison, Kansas
Atchison is a city situated along the Missouri River in the eastern part of Atchison County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,021. It is the county seat and most populous city of Atchison County...
(see Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
This is the timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition through the American West .-1804:*May 14 – The Corps of Discovery departs from Camp Dubois at 4 P.M., marking the beginning of the voyage to the Pacific coast....
).
Adjacent counties
- Doniphan CountyDoniphan County, KansasDoniphan County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 7,945. Its county seat is Troy and its most populous city is Wathena. The county along with Buchanan, Andrew, and DeKalb counties in Missouri is included in...
(north) - Buchanan County, MissouriBuchanan County, MissouriBuchanan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population was 89,201. Its county seat is Saint Joseph. When originally formed in 1838, the county was named Roberts County, after settler Hiram Roberts; it was renamed in 1839 for James Buchanan, then a U.S....
(northeast) - Leavenworth CountyLeavenworth County, KansasLeavenworth County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 76,227. Its county seat and most populous city is Leavenworth...
(southeast) - Platte CountyPlatte County, MissouriAs of the census of 2000, there were 73,781 people, 29,278 households, and 20,231 families residing in the county. The population density was 176 people per square mile . There were 30,902 housing units at an average density of 74 per square mile...
, MissouriMissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
(east) - Jefferson CountyJefferson County, KansasJefferson County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 19,126. Its county seat is Oskaloosa, and its most populous city is Valley Falls...
(south) - Jackson CountyJackson County, KansasJackson County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 13,462. Its county seat and most populous city is Holton...
(west) - Brown CountyBrown County, KansasBrown County is a county located in Northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 9,984. Its county seat and most populous city is Hiawatha...
(northwest)
Major highways
Sources: National Atlas, U.S. Census Bureau- U.S. Route 59U.S. Route 59U.S. Route 59 is a north–south United States highway . A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, U.S. 59 is now a border-to-border route, Part of NAFTA Corridor Highway System. It parallels U.S. Route 75 for nearly its entire route, never much more than away, until it veers southwest...
- U.S. Route 73U.S. Route 73U.S. Route 73 is a north–south United States highway that runs for 112 miles from northeast Kansas to southeast Nebraska. The highway's southern terminus is Bonner Springs, Kansas at Interstate 70. Its northern terminus is near Dawson, Nebraska at U.S. Highway 75.-Kansas:U.S. Route 73...
- U.S. Route 159U.S. Route 159U.S. Highway 159 is a "child" route of U.S. Highway 59. It currently runs for 85 miles from Nortonville, Kansas at U.S. Highway 59 to New Point, Missouri at U.S. Highway 59. The highway permits through traffic on U.S. 59 to bypass the cities of Atchison, Kansas and Saint Joseph,...
- Kansas Highway 7K-7 (Kansas highway)K-7 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. It is mostly a small country highway winding its way through the Osage Questas and Glaciated Regions of eastern Kansas, although a portion of the highway passes through the Kansas City metropolitan area. Significant portions of the highway overlap...
- Kansas Highway 9K-9 (Kansas highway)K-9 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. The highway goes east–west through Kansas. It has its western terminus south of Dresden at an intersection with K-123 and an eastern terminus at its junction with U.S. Route 73 near Lancaster....
- Kansas Highway 116
Demographics
As of the U.S. Census in 2000United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
, there were 16,774 people, 6,275 households, and 4,279 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 39 people per square mile (15/km²). There were 6,818 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of the county was 91.62% White
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
, 5.32% Black or African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, 0.55% Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, 0.34% Asian
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
, 0.06% Pacific Islander
Pacific Islander American
Pacific Islander Americans, also known as Oceanian Americans, are residents of the United States with original ancestry from Oceania. They represent the smallest racial group counted in the United States census of 2000. They numbered 874,000 people or 0.3 percent of the United States population...
, 0.51% from other races, and 1.59% from two or more races
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
. Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
or Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
of any race were 1.95% of the population.
There were 6,275 household
Household
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
s out of which 32.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.30% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% were non-families. 27.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the county the population was spread out with 26.70% under the age of 18, 11.30% from 18 to 24, 24.50% from 25 to 44, 21.40% from 45 to 64, and 16.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.30 males.
The median income for a household
Median household income
The median household income is commonly used to generate data about geographic areas and divides households into two equal segments with the first half of households earning less than the median household income and the other half earning more...
in the county was $34,355, and the median income for a family was $40,614. Males had a median income of $29,481 versus $20,485 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the county was $15,207. About 7.90% of families and 13.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.80% of those under age 18 and 17.90% of those age 65 or over.
Incorporated cities
Name and population ( estimate):- AtchisonAtchison, KansasAtchison is a city situated along the Missouri River in the eastern part of Atchison County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,021. It is the county seat and most populous city of Atchison County...
, (county seat) - EffinghamEffingham, KansasEffingham is a city in Atchison County, Kansas, United States. The population was 588 at the 2000 census. Effingham was named in honor of Effingham H. Nichols, an early promoter of the Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad.-Geography:...
, - LancasterLancaster, KansasLancaster is a city in Atchison County, Kansas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 291.-Geography:Lancaster is located at ....
, - MuscotahMuscotah, KansasMuscotah is a city in Atchison County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 176. Muscotah was named for the Kickapoo Native American word for "prairie"-History:...
, - HuronHuron, KansasHuron is a city in Atchison County, Kansas, United States. The population was 87 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Huron is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
,
Unincorporated places
- Arrington
- Cummings
- Curlew
- EdenEden, KansasEden is a small unincorporated community in Atchison County, Kansas, United States about 5 miles west and 5 miles north of Atchison. It lies at the present-day intersection of Labette Rd, 322nd Rd, and 326th Rd....
- Farmington
- Good Intent
- Hawthorn
- Kennekuk
- Larkinburg
- Monrovia
- Mount Pleasant
- Oak Mills
- Pardee
- Parnell
- Port William
- Potter
- St. Pats
- Shannon
- Sumner
Townships
Atchison County is divided into eight townshipsCivil township
A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to, and geographic divisions of, a county. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both,...
. The city of Atchison
Atchison, Kansas
Atchison is a city situated along the Missouri River in the eastern part of Atchison County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,021. It is the county seat and most populous city of Atchison County...
is considered governmentally independent and is excluded from the census figures for the townships. In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size.
| Township | FIPS | Population center |
Population | Population density /km² (/sq mi) |
Land area km² (sq mi) | Water area km² (sq mi) | Water % | Geographic coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton | 06150 | Effingham Effingham, Kansas Effingham is a city in Atchison County, Kansas, United States. The population was 588 at the 2000 census. Effingham was named in honor of Effingham H. Nichols, an early promoter of the Central Branch Union Pacific Railroad.-Geography:... |
1,076 | 7 (18) | 156 (60) | 0 (0) | 0.25% | 39°30′20"N 95°23′37"W |
| Center | 11550 | 676 | 5 (13) | 139 (54) | 0 (0) | 0.15% | 39°28′52"N 95°16′54"W | |
| Grasshopper | 28225 | Muscotah Muscotah, Kansas Muscotah is a city in Atchison County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 176. Muscotah was named for the Kickapoo Native American word for "prairie"-History:... |
588 | 3 (9) | 170 (66) | 1 (0) | 0.52% | 39°35′12"N 95°30′4"W |
| Kapioma | 36100 | 271 | 2 (6) | 123 (48) | 0 (0) | 0.05% | 39°29′6"N 95°31′8"W | |
| Lancaster | 38350 | Lancaster Lancaster, Kansas Lancaster is a city in Atchison County, Kansas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 291.-Geography:Lancaster is located at .... |
922 | 6 (15) | 156 (60) | 0 (0) | 0.28% | 39°35′56"N 95°18′38"W |
| Mount Pleasant | 48925 | 829 | 7 (17) | 124 (48) | 0 (0) | 0.09% | 39°29′17"N 95°11′3"W | |
| Shannon | 64275 | 1,753 | 12 (32) | 140 (54) | 2 (1) | 1.16% | 39°35′15"N 95°9′26"W | |
| Walnut | 74800 | 427 | 5 (12) | 94 (36) | 2 (1) | 2.34% | 39°27′55"N 95°5′3"W | |
| Sources: | ||||||||
Unified school districts
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Atchison County, KansasNational Register of Historic Places listings in Atchison County, KansasThis is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Atchison County, Kansas.This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Atchison County, Kansas, United States...
Further reading
- History of the State of Kansas; William G. Cutler; A.T. Andreas Publisher; 1883. (Online HTML eBook)
- Kansas : A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc; 3 Volumes; Frank W. Blackmar; Standard Publishing Co; 944 / 955 / 824 pages; 1912. (Volume1 - Download 54MB PDF eBook),(Volume2 - Download 53MB PDF eBook), (Volume3 - Download 33MB PDF eBook)
External links
Official sites- Atchison County - Official Website
- Atchison County - Directory of Public Officials
- Atchison County - Chamber of Commerce
- Atchison County - Information, Skyways
Historical
- Atchison County - History, Kansas State Historical Society
- Atchison County - Historical Society
Maps
- Atchison County Map, KDOT
- Kansas Highway Map, KDOT
- Kansas Railroad Map, KDOT
- Kansas School District Boundary Map, KSDE