Cherokee County, Kansas

Cherokee County
Cherokee County
County
	Tri-State Marker (2006)
	Location within the U.S. state of Kansas
	Kansas's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 37°10′N 94°51′W / 37.167°N 94.850°W
Country	United States
State	Kansas
Founded	February 18, 1860
Named for	Cherokee Native Americans
Seat	Columbus
Largest city	Baxter Springs
Area
• Total	591 sq mi (1,530 km2)
• Land	588 sq mi (1,520 km2)
• Water	3.5 sq mi (9 km2) 0.6%
Population (2020)
• Total	19,362
• Density	32.9/sq mi (12.7/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Area code	620
Congressional district	2nd
Website	cherokeecountyks.gov

Cherokee County is a U.S. county located in Southeast Kansas. Its county seat is Columbus,^[2] and its most populous city is Baxter Springs. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 19,362.^[1] The county was named for the Cherokee tribe.

History

19th century

In 1803, United States acquired from France the 828,000-square mile Louisiana Purchase, the former French lands west of the Mississippi River, for 2.83 cents per acre. This territory included most of the land for modern-day Kansas.

In the 1830s, the United States conducted Indian Removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the Southeast region, to extinguish their land claims and allow European-American settlement in the area. They were given lands in what was called Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River, mostly in present-day Oklahoma. This part of Kansas was included at the time in the Cherokee Neutral Lands, and the county was named after this tribe.

In 1854, the U.S. organized the Kansas Territory. Settlers began to move into the territory, with violence breaking out between supporters of slavery and those who wanted to abolish it. In 1861, Kansas was admitted as the 34th U.S. state; its constitution prohibited slavery. In 1860, Cherokee County was established.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 591 square miles (1,530 km²), of which 588 square miles (1,520 km²) is land and 3.5 square miles (9.1 km²) (0.6%) is water.^[3]

Adjacent counties

Major highways

Sources: National Atlas,^[4] U.S. Census Bureau^[5]

U.S. Route 66 (decommissioned)
U.S. Route 69
U.S. Route 160
U.S. Route 166
Kansas Highway 7
Kansas Highway 26
Kansas Highway 57
Kansas Highway 66 (successor to the decommissioned U.S. 66)
Kansas Highway 96
Kansas Highway 102

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1860	1,501		—
1870	11,038		635.4%
1880	21,905		98.5%
1890	27,770		26.8%
1900	42,694		53.7%
1910	38,162		−10.6%
1920	33,609		−11.9%
1930	31,457		−6.4%
1940	29,817		−5.2%
1950	25,144		−15.7%
1960	22,279		−11.4%
1970	21,549		−3.3%
1980	22,304		3.5%
1990	21,374		−4.2%
2000	22,605		5.8%
2010	21,603		−4.4%
2020	19,362		−10.4%
2023 (est.)	19,054	^[6]	−1.6%
U.S. Decennial Census^[7] 1790-1960^[8] 1900-1990^[9] 1990-2000^[10] 2010-2020^[1]

As of the 2000 census,^[11] there were 22,605 people, 8,875 households, and 6,239 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile (15 people/km²). There were 10,031 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile (6.6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.27% White, 0.61% Black or African American, 3.45% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.50% from other races, and 2.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.29% of the population.

There were 8,875 households, out of which 32.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.60% were married couples living together, 9.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.70% were non-families. 26.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.00% 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 3.02.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.50% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 23.10% from 45 to 64, and 15.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,505, and the median income for a family was $37,284. Males had a median income of $29,045 versus $19,675 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,710. About 11.40% of families and 14.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.40% of those under age 18 and 10.60% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Presidential elections

For most of its history, Cherokee County had more of a Democratic lean in presidential elections than the rest of the state, particularly before 1968. Since then, it has only voted for Democratic candidates twice. In 1976 & 1992, it was their second and fourth best county in the state, respectively. From 1996 on, the county has swung powerfully Republican similar to the rest of Southeast Kansas, with Hillary Clinton posting the worst percentage for a Democratic candidate ever at only 23.3%.

Presidential election results

United States presidential election results for Cherokee County, Kansas^[12]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	6,766	73.94%	2,194	23.98%	191	2.09%
2016	6,182	70.91%	2,005	23.00%	531	6.09%
2012	5,456	63.66%	2,930	34.19%	185	2.16%
2008	5,886	60.90%	3,594	37.19%	185	1.91%
2004	6,083	61.36%	3,726	37.59%	104	1.05%
2000	5,014	54.92%	3,783	41.43%	333	3.65%
1996	4,138	45.76%	3,771	41.70%	1,134	12.54%
1992	3,589	36.78%	4,083	41.85%	2,085	21.37%
1988	4,281	50.95%	4,069	48.43%	52	0.62%
1984	5,801	60.72%	3,663	38.34%	89	0.93%
1980	5,296	54.81%	3,969	41.08%	397	4.11%
1976	3,957	42.93%	5,154	55.91%	107	1.16%
1972	6,019	67.03%	2,806	31.25%	155	1.73%
1968	4,211	47.46%	3,597	40.54%	1,064	11.99%
1964	3,730	39.28%	5,720	60.23%	47	0.49%
1960	5,753	56.45%	4,366	42.84%	73	0.72%
1956	5,824	58.39%	4,112	41.22%	39	0.39%
1952	6,261	57.37%	4,597	42.12%	56	0.51%
1948	4,616	47.77%	4,854	50.23%	193	2.00%
1944	5,458	54.65%	4,468	44.73%	62	0.62%
1940	6,600	49.27%	6,670	49.79%	126	0.94%
1936	5,445	40.61%	7,894	58.88%	69	0.51%
1932	4,045	34.05%	7,442	62.64%	393	3.31%
1928	7,478	66.20%	3,442	30.47%	376	3.33%
1924	5,437	52.90%	3,071	29.88%	1,770	17.22%
1920	5,466	55.83%	3,832	39.14%	492	5.03%
1916	4,350	37.55%	6,188	53.41%	1,047	9.04%
1912	1,994	26.54%	2,641	35.15%	2,878	38.31%
1908	3,893	44.26%	3,819	43.42%	1,083	12.31%
1904	4,586	55.81%	2,253	27.42%	1,378	16.77%
1900	4,478	45.18%	5,302	53.50%	131	1.32%
1896	3,505	40.20%	5,108	58.58%	106	1.22%
1892	2,696	41.43%	0	0.00%	3,812	58.57%
1888	2,935	45.62%	2,038	31.68%	1,461	22.71%

Laws

Although the Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 to allow the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with the approval of voters, Cherokee County voters chose to remain a prohibition, or "dry", county on Sunday until 2012.^[13]

Education

Unified school districts

Communities

List of townships / incorporated cities / unincorporated communities / extinct former communities within Cherokee County.^[14]

Cities

Unincorporated communities

‡ means a community has portions in an adjacent county. † means a community is designated a Census-Designated Place (CDP) by the United States Census Bureau.

Ghost towns

Treece, officially disincorporated in 2012^[15]^[16]

Townships

Cherokee County is divided into fourteen townships. The cities of Baxter Springs, Columbus, Galena, Scammon, and Weir are considered governmentally independent and are 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	Population density /km² (/sq mi)	Land area km² (sq mi)	Water area km² (sq mi)	Water %	Geographic coordinates
Cherokee	12800	336	6 (15)	57 (22)	0 (0)	0.08%	37°18′33″N 94°45′36″W / 37.30917°N 94.76000°W / 37.30917; -94.76000
Crawford	16225	646	7 (18)	94 (36)	0 (0)	0.24%	37°9′21″N 94°47′11″W / 37.15583°N 94.78639°W / 37.15583; -94.78639
Garden	25250	3,039	41 (105)	75 (29)	2 (1)	2.80%	37°2′55″N 94°41′18″W / 37.04861°N 94.68833°W / 37.04861; -94.68833
Lola	42350	382	3 (9)	115 (44)	1 (0)	0.50%	37°10′25″N 95°0′15″W / 37.17361°N 95.00417°W / 37.17361; -95.00417
Lowell	43075	672	20 (52)	33 (13)	1 (0)	3.04%	37°6′11″N 94°40′23″W / 37.10306°N 94.67306°W / 37.10306; -94.67306
Lyon	43400	528	4 (11)	130 (50)	0 (0)	0.08%	37°2′19″N 94°52′37″W / 37.03861°N 94.87694°W / 37.03861; -94.87694
Mineral	47000	254	3 (8)	79 (31)	0 (0)	0.15%	37°15′32″N 94°47′29″W / 37.25889°N 94.79139°W / 37.25889; -94.79139
Neosho	49725	306	2 (5)	157 (61)	2 (1)	1.08%	37°3′15″N 95°1′37″W / 37.05417°N 95.02694°W / 37.05417; -95.02694
Pleasant View	56675	658	5 (13)	136 (52)	0 (0)	0.14%	37°17′4″N 94°40′1″W / 37.28444°N 94.66694°W / 37.28444; -94.66694
Ross	61350	893	6 (17)	140 (54)	1 (0)	0.71%	37°16′29″N 94°53′55″W / 37.27472°N 94.89861°W / 37.27472; -94.89861
Salamanca	62575	569	6 (17)	89 (34)	0 (0)	0.07%	37°10′3″N 94°52′37″W / 37.16750°N 94.87694°W / 37.16750; -94.87694
Shawnee	64475	505	6 (15)	90 (35)	1 (0)	0.61%	37°9′30″N 94°40′18″W / 37.15833°N 94.67167°W / 37.15833; -94.67167
Sheridan	64625	249	1 (4)	172 (67)	1 (1)	0.79%	37°15′41″N 95°0′15″W / 37.26139°N 95.00417°W / 37.26139; -95.00417
Spring Valley	67725	1,007	8 (21)	122 (47)	0 (0)	0.36%	37°3′11″N 94°46′5″W / 37.05306°N 94.76806°W / 37.05306; -94.76806
Sources: "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files". U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division. Archived from the original on August 2, 2002.