Chautauqua County, Kansas

Chautauqua County is a county located in Southeast Kansas, United States. Its county seat and most populous city is Sedan.[3] As of the 2020 census, the county population was 3,379.[1] The county is named for Chautauqua County, New York, the birthplace of Edward Jaquins, a Kansas politician who was instrumental in getting the county established.[4]

Chautauqua County
Chautauqua County Courthouse in Sedan (2023)
Chautauqua County Courthouse in Sedan (2023)
Map of Kansas highlighting Chautauqua County
Location within the U.S. state of Kansas
Map of the United States highlighting Kansas
Kansas's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 37°09′N 96°14′W / 37.150°N 96.233°W / 37.150; -96.233
Country United States
State Kansas
FoundedMarch 25, 1875
Named forChautauqua County, New York
SeatSedan
Largest citySedan
Area
 • Total
645 sq mi (1,670 km2)
 • Land639 sq mi (1,660 km2)
 • Water5.9 sq mi (15 km2)  0.9%
Population
 • Total
3,379
 • Estimate 
(2023)[2]
3,347 Decrease
 • Density5.3/sq mi (2.0/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Area code620
Congressional district4th
Websitechautauquacountyks.com

History

edit

Early history

edit

For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. The name is non-native, but is derived from the now-extinct Native Erie language, spoken near the Great Lakes. 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

edit

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. Chautauqua County was created by an act of the Kansas legislature on June 1, 1875, by the division of Howard County into Elk County (the northern half) and Chautauqua County (the southern half). At the time of its creation, the county's population was about 7,400.[citation needed]

Geography

edit

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 645 square miles (1,670 km2), of which 639 square miles (1,660 km2) is land and 5.9 square miles (15 km2) (0.9%) is water.[5]

Adjacent counties

edit

Major highways

edit

Sources: National Atlas,[6] U.S. Census Bureau[7]

Demographics

edit
 
Population pyramid based on 2000 census age data
Historical population
CensusPop.Note
188011,072
189012,29711.1%
190011,804−4.0%
191011,429−3.2%
192011,5981.5%
193010,352−10.7%
19409,233−10.8%
19507,376−20.1%
19605,956−19.3%
19704,642−22.1%
19805,0168.1%
19904,407−12.1%
20004,359−1.1%
20103,669−15.8%
20203,379−7.9%
2023 (est.)3,347[2]−0.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[8]
1790-1960[9] 1900-1990[10]
1990-2000[11] 2010-2020[1]

As of the 2000 census,[12] there were 4,359 people, 1,796 households, and 1,235 families residing in the county. The population density was 7 people per square mile (2.7 people/km2). There were 2,169 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile (1.2/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 93.83% White, 0.30% Black or African American, 3.58% Native American, 0.07% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.34% from other races, and 1.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.35% of the population.

There were 1,796 households, out of which 26.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.30% were married couples living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.20% were non-families. 29.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.40% under the age of 18, 6.10% from 18 to 24, 20.90% from 25 to 44, 25.20% from 45 to 64, and 24.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 93.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,717, and the median income for a family was $33,871. Males had a median income of $25,083 versus $21,346 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,280. About 9.00% of families and 12.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.80% of those under age 18 and 10.60% of those age 65 or over.

Government

edit

Presidential elections

edit
Presidential election results
United States presidential election results for Chautauqua County, Kansas[13]
Year Republican Democratic Third party(ies)
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2024 1,287 85.01% 210 13.87% 17 1.12%
2020 1,402 85.28% 212 12.90% 30 1.82%
2016 1,236 83.46% 197 13.30% 48 3.24%
2012 1,304 80.00% 280 17.18% 46 2.82%
2008 1,418 76.57% 401 21.65% 33 1.78%
2004 1,529 78.01% 404 20.61% 27 1.38%
2000 1,347 71.65% 443 23.56% 90 4.79%
1996 1,142 58.27% 568 28.98% 250 12.76%
1992 853 41.15% 598 28.85% 622 30.00%
1988 1,247 64.48% 661 34.18% 26 1.34%
1984 1,688 76.55% 497 22.54% 20 0.91%
1980 1,566 71.60% 543 24.83% 78 3.57%
1976 1,159 55.77% 866 41.67% 53 2.55%
1972 1,546 78.00% 378 19.07% 58 2.93%
1968 1,537 65.52% 478 20.38% 331 14.11%
1964 1,463 55.42% 1,163 44.05% 14 0.53%
1960 2,160 70.54% 885 28.90% 17 0.56%
1956 2,180 70.85% 887 28.83% 10 0.32%
1952 2,542 74.76% 837 24.62% 21 0.62%
1948 1,925 59.34% 1,261 38.87% 58 1.79%
1944 2,305 67.38% 1,106 32.33% 10 0.29%
1940 2,888 62.70% 1,679 36.45% 39 0.85%
1936 2,506 54.49% 2,080 45.23% 13 0.28%
1932 1,893 43.42% 2,263 51.90% 204 4.68%
1928 3,303 75.97% 944 21.71% 101 2.32%
1924 2,439 59.99% 1,087 26.73% 540 13.28%
1920 2,539 68.58% 936 25.28% 227 6.13%
1916 2,085 49.69% 1,737 41.40% 374 8.91%
1912 818 31.35% 752 28.82% 1,039 39.82%
1908 1,689 60.19% 958 34.14% 159 5.67%
1904 2,033 67.47% 681 22.60% 299 9.92%
1900 1,618 55.47% 1,280 43.88% 19 0.65%
1896 1,359 50.92% 1,293 48.45% 17 0.64%
1892 1,408 52.03% 0 0.00% 1,298 47.97%
1888 1,590 57.57% 694 25.13% 478 17.31%

Chautauqua is an overwhelmingly Republican county. The only Republican to ever lose the county has been Herbert Hoover during his landslide 1932 election defeat when he carried fewer than fifty counties west of the Mississippi. Apart from never-Democratic, historically Yankee Doniphan County, it was the only Kansas county to give incumbent President William Howard Taft a plurality in 1912. The last Democrat to pass thirty percent of the county's vote was Michael Dukakis in 1988, and in 2020 Joe Biden received merely less than thirteen percent.

Laws

edit

Although the Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 to allow the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with the approval of voters, Chautauqua County remained a prohibition, or "dry", county, until 2008, when a county wide ballot measure was approved to allow individual liquor sales with a 30 percent food requirement.[14]

Education

edit

Unified school districts

edit

Communities

edit
 
2005 map of Chautauqua County (map legend)

List of townships / incorporated cities / unincorporated communities / extinct former communities within Chautauqua County.[17]

Cities

edit

Unincorporated communities

edit

Ghost towns

edit

Townships

edit

Chautauqua County is divided into twelve townships. None of the cities within the county are considered governmentally independent, and all figures for the townships include those of the cities. 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
Belleville 05575 675 4 (11) 155 (60) 0 (0) 0.14% 37°3′50″N 96°7′48″W / 37.06389°N 96.13000°W / 37.06389; -96.13000
Caneyville 10425 88 1 (2) 144 (55) 1 (0) 0.38% 37°15′23″N 96°27′27″W / 37.25639°N 96.45750°W / 37.25639; -96.45750
Center 11575 75 1 (1) 144 (56) 1 (0) 0.80% 37°15′28″N 96°18′31″W / 37.25778°N 96.30861°W / 37.25778; -96.30861
Harrison 30275 114 1 (2) 142 (55) 0 (0) 0.14% 37°4′3″N 96°26′32″W / 37.06750°N 96.44222°W / 37.06750; -96.44222
Hendricks 31300 179 1 (3) 142 (55) 0 (0) 0.05% 37°1′12″N 96°18′42″W / 37.02000°N 96.31167°W / 37.02000; -96.31167
Jefferson 35125 Cedar Vale 834 6 (15) 144 (56) 1 (0) 0.45% 37°6′45″N 96°29′12″W / 37.11250°N 96.48667°W / 37.11250; -96.48667
Lafayette 37650 65 0 (1) 154 (59) 2 (1) 1.40% 37°15′36″N 96°10′20″W / 37.26000°N 96.17222°W / 37.26000; -96.17222
Little Caney 41525 353 3 (8) 117 (45) 0 (0) 0.31% 37°3′51″N 96°1′5″W / 37.06417°N 96.01806°W / 37.06417; -96.01806
Salt Creek 62775 123 1 (3) 127 (49) 0 (0) 0.34% 37°15′13″N 96°1′34″W / 37.25361°N 96.02611°W / 37.25361; -96.02611
Sedan 63775 Sedan 1,660 13 (34) 128 (49) 1 (0) 0.65% 37°7′50″N 96°11′6″W / 37.13056°N 96.18500°W / 37.13056; -96.18500
Summit 69025 106 1 (2) 144 (56) 1 (0) 0.40% 37°8′17″N 96°19′53″W / 37.13806°N 96.33139°W / 37.13806; -96.33139
Washington 75550 87 1 (2) 121 (47) 1 (0) 0.71% 37°7′41″N 96°0′52″W / 37.12806°N 96.01444°W / 37.12806; -96.01444
Sources: "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files". U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division. Archived from the original on August 2, 2002.

See also

edit
Community information for Kansas

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "QuickFacts; Chautauqua County, Kansas; Population, Census, 2020 & 2010". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. ^ "Chautauqua County, Kansas". Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  5. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  6. ^ National Atlas Archived December 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "U.S. Census Bureau TIGER shape files". Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  8. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  9. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Archived from the original on August 11, 2012. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  10. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  11. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  12. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  13. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
  14. ^ "Map of Wet and Dry Counties". Alcoholic Beverage Control, Kansas Department of Revenue. November 2006. Archived from the original on October 8, 2007. Retrieved December 26, 2007.
  15. ^ Cedar Vale USD 285
  16. ^ Sedan USD 286
  17. ^ "General Highway Map of Chautauqua County, Kansas" (PDF). Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). November 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 27, 2023.
  18. ^ "Kansas Post Offices, 1828-1961 (archived)". Kansas Historical Society. Archived from the original on October 9, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  19. ^ Rydjord, John (1972). Kansas Place-Names. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma. pp. 250–251. ISBN 0-8061-0994-7.
  20. ^ Rydjord, John (1972). Kansas Place-Names. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma. p. 493. ISBN 0-8061-0994-7.
  21. ^ Rydjord, John (1972). Kansas Place-Names. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma. p. 96. ISBN 0-8061-0994-7.

Further reading

edit
edit
County
Maps