Atchison County, Kansas

Atchison County
Atchison County
County
	Atchison County Courthouse in Atchison (2023)
	Location within the U.S. state of Kansas
	Kansas's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 39°32′N 95°18′W / 39.533°N 95.300°W
Country	United States
State	Kansas
Founded	August 25, 1855
Named for	David Rice Atchison
Seat	Atchison
Largest city	Atchison
Area
• Total	434 sq mi (1,120 km2)
• Land	431 sq mi (1,120 km2)
• Water	2.6 sq mi (7 km2) 0.6%
Population (2020)
• Total	16,348
• Density	37.9/sq mi (14.6/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Area code	913
Congressional district	2nd
Website	AtchisonCountyKS.org

Atchison County is a county located in the northeast portion of the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Atchison.^[2] As of the 2020 census, the county population was 16,348.^[1] The county was named in honor of David Atchison, a U.S. Senator from Missouri and border ruffian during the "Bleeding Kansas" era.^[3]

History

Early history

For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of North America. In 1762, after the French and Indian War, France secretly ceded New France to Spain, per the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

19th century

In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping title to about 7,500 square miles. In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre.

In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1855, Atchison County was established.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 434 square miles (1,120 km²), of which 431 square miles (1,120 km²) is land and 2.6 square miles (6.7 km²) (0.6%) is water.^[4] It is the fourth-smallest county by area in Kansas.

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).

Adjacent counties

Major highways

Sources: National Atlas,^[5] U.S. Census Bureau^[6]

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1860	7,729		—
1870	15,507		100.6%
1880	26,668		72.0%
1890	26,758		0.3%
1900	28,606		6.9%
1910	28,107		−1.7%
1920	23,411		−16.7%
1930	23,945		2.3%
1940	22,222		−7.2%
1950	21,496		−3.3%
1960	20,898		−2.8%
1970	19,165		−8.3%
1980	18,397		−4.0%
1990	16,932		−8.0%
2000	16,774		−0.9%
2010	16,924		0.9%
2020	16,348		−3.4%
2023 (est.)	16,016	^[7]	−2.0%
U.S. Decennial Census^[8] 1790-1960^[9] 1900-1990^[10] 1990-2000^[11] 2010-2020^[1]

Atchison County comprises the Atchison, KS Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS Combined Statistical Area.

As of the 2000 census,^[12] 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 people/km²). There were 6,818 housing units at an average density of 16 units per square mile (6.2 units/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 households, 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.

Government

Presidential elections

Atchison County has been a swing county for most of its history. It has had multiple extended streaks of being a bellwether county, the first running from 1896 to 1936. After voting more Republican than the nation in the 1940s & voting for losing candidate Richard Nixon in 1960, another bellwether streak ran from 1964 to 2004. Since then, the county has become significantly more Republican, with Barack Obama failing to win the county in both of his victories & Hillary Clinton losing it by over 30 percent to Donald Trump in 2016.

Presidential election results

United States presidential election results for Atchison County, Kansas^[13]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	4,906	65.94%	2,359	31.71%	175	2.35%
2016	4,049	61.58%	1,989	30.25%	537	8.17%
2012	3,917	58.69%	2,567	38.46%	190	2.85%
2008	3,791	52.72%	3,241	45.07%	159	2.21%
2004	3,880	54.51%	3,120	43.83%	118	1.66%
2000	3,378	48.96%	3,171	45.96%	351	5.09%
1996	2,828	43.25%	2,926	44.75%	784	11.99%
1992	2,521	33.48%	2,959	39.30%	2,050	27.22%
1988	3,243	49.03%	3,177	48.03%	194	2.93%
1984	4,537	62.54%	2,641	36.40%	77	1.06%
1980	4,084	53.87%	3,063	40.40%	434	5.72%
1976	4,030	48.30%	4,108	49.23%	206	2.47%
1972	5,471	67.83%	2,404	29.80%	191	2.37%
1968	3,644	46.00%	3,379	42.65%	899	11.35%
1964	3,147	38.24%	5,037	61.21%	45	0.55%
1960	4,793	52.33%	4,336	47.34%	31	0.34%
1956	5,608	64.08%	3,134	35.81%	9	0.10%
1952	6,004	64.59%	3,283	35.32%	9	0.10%
1948	4,141	51.04%	3,910	48.19%	62	0.76%
1944	4,731	58.58%	3,325	41.17%	20	0.25%
1940	5,921	56.07%	4,557	43.15%	82	0.78%
1936	5,312	47.60%	5,817	52.12%	31	0.28%
1932	4,778	45.18%	5,640	53.33%	157	1.48%
1928	6,647	63.67%	3,756	35.98%	37	0.35%
1924	6,246	63.83%	2,199	22.47%	1,341	13.70%
1920	5,872	65.02%	3,082	34.13%	77	0.85%
1916	4,624	48.61%	4,634	48.72%	254	2.67%
1912	1,535	27.40%	2,449	43.72%	1,618	28.88%
1908	3,244	54.94%	2,593	43.91%	68	1.15%
1904	3,542	64.25%	1,854	33.63%	117	2.12%
1900	3,390	55.54%	2,682	43.94%	32	0.52%
1896	3,326	52.65%	2,963	46.91%	28	0.44%
1892	2,666	49.17%	0	0.00%	2,756	50.83%
1888	3,219	52.10%	2,603	42.13%	357	5.78%

Laws

Atchison County was a prohibition, or "dry", 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.^[14]

Education

Unified school districts

Communities

List of townships / incorporated cities / unincorporated communities / extinct former communities within Atchison County.^[15]

Cities

Unincorporated communities

‡ means a community has portions in an adjacent county.

Ghost towns

Indian reservations

Kickapoo Indian Reservation of Kansas‡

Townships

Atchison County is divided into eight townships. 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.

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	1,076	7 (18)	156 (60)	0 (0)	0.25%	39°30′20″N 95°23′37″W / 39.50556°N 95.39361°W / 39.50556; -95.39361
Center	11550		676	5 (13)	139 (54)	0 (0)	0.15%	39°28′52″N 95°16′54″W / 39.48111°N 95.28167°W / 39.48111; -95.28167
Grasshopper	28225	Muscotah	588	3 (9)	170 (66)	1 (0)	0.52%	39°35′12″N 95°30′4″W / 39.58667°N 95.50111°W / 39.58667; -95.50111
Kapioma	36100		271	2 (6)	123 (48)	0 (0)	0.05%	39°29′6″N 95°31′8″W / 39.48500°N 95.51889°W / 39.48500; -95.51889
Lancaster	38350	Lancaster	922	6 (15)	156 (60)	0 (0)	0.28%	39°35′56″N 95°18′38″W / 39.59889°N 95.31056°W / 39.59889; -95.31056
Mount Pleasant	48925		829	7 (17)	124 (48)	0 (0)	0.09%	39°29′17″N 95°11′3″W / 39.48806°N 95.18417°W / 39.48806; -95.18417
Shannon	64275		1,753	12 (32)	140 (54)	2 (1)	1.16%	39°35′15″N 95°9′26″W / 39.58750°N 95.15722°W / 39.58750; -95.15722
Walnut	74800		427	5 (12)	94 (36)	2 (1)	2.34%	39°27′55″N 95°5′3″W / 39.46528°N 95.08417°W / 39.46528; -95.08417
Sources: "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files". U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division. Archived from the original on August 2, 2002.