Edwards County, Kansas
Encyclopedia
Edwards County is a county located in Southwest Kansas
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 3,037. 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 Kinsley
Kinsley, Kansas
Kinsley is a city in and the county seat of Edwards County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,457.-Geography:...

.

Law and government

Edwards 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 622.1 square miles (1,611.2 km²), of which 622.02 square miles (1,611 km²) (or 99.99%) is land and 0.08 square mile (0.2071990488 km²) (or 0.01%) is water.

Geographic Features

The Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...

 flows through Edwards County from the southwest corner to the Pawnee County
Pawnee County, Kansas
Pawnee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 6,973...

 line near U.S. Route 56
U.S. Route 56
U.S. Route 56 is an east–west United States highway that runs for in the Midwestern United States. The highway's eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 71 in Kansas City, Missouri. Its western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business in Springer, New Mexico. Much of it follows the Santa Fe...

. Since the early 1990s, however, the riverbed has contained little to no water, and can be waded across in most places.

Major highways

Three U.S. Routes run through Edwards County, all meeting in Kinsley
Kinsley, Kansas
Kinsley is a city in and the county seat of Edwards County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,457.-Geography:...

. An east-west route, U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean to West Sacramento, California. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near...

 circumvents Belpre and Lewis before joining with westbound U.S. Route 56
U.S. Route 56
U.S. Route 56 is an east–west United States highway that runs for in the Midwestern United States. The highway's eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 71 in Kansas City, Missouri. Its western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business in Springer, New Mexico. Much of it follows the Santa Fe...

 in Kinsley. The single road then passes through Offerle and west into Ford County. U.S. Route 183
U.S. Route 183
U.S. Route 183 is a north–south United States highway. U.S. 183 was the last US route to be completely paved. The 20 mile segment in Loup County, Nebraska, north of Taylor, was unpaved until 1967. The highway's northern terminus is in Presho, South Dakota, at an intersection with...

 runs from Kiowa County in the South to Kinsley, where it joins eastbound U.S. 56, running as a single highway to Panwee County. Kansas Highway K-19 starts at U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching just over from Ocean City, Maryland on the Atlantic Ocean to West Sacramento, California. Until 1972, when it was replaced by Interstate Highways west of the Sacramento area, it extended to San Francisco, near...

 near Belpre, and travels North into Pawnee County.

Adjacent counties

  • Pawnee County
    Pawnee County, Kansas
    Pawnee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 6,973...

     (north)
  • Stafford County
    Stafford County, Kansas
    Stafford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 4,437. Its county seat is St. John...

     (east)
  • Pratt County
    Pratt County, Kansas
    Pratt County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 9,656. The largest city and county seat is Pratt.-19th century:...

     (southeast)
  • Kiowa County
    Kiowa County, Kansas
    Kiowa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 2,553...

     (south)
  • Ford County
    Ford County, Kansas
    Ford County is a county located in southwest Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 33,848. The Dodge City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Ford County. Its county seat and most populous city is Dodge City. The county is named in...

     (southwest)
  • Hodgeman County
    Hodgeman County, Kansas
    Hodgeman County is a county located in Southwest Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 1,916...

     (northwest)

Demographics

As of the U.S. Census in 2000
United 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 3,449 people, 1,455 households, and 955 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 6 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 1,754 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile (1/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 92.52% 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...

, 0.32% 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...

, 0.49% 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...

, 0.32% 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,...

, 5.57% from other races, and 0.78% 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 9.71% of the population.

There were 1,455 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 28.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.30% 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, 6.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.30% were non-families. 32.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.60% under the age of 18, 6.70% from 18 to 24, 25.10% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 20.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 97.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.80 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 $30,530, and the median income for a family was $38,250. Males had a median income of $27,050 versus $20,132 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 $17,586. About 7.00% of families and 10.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.40% of those under age 18 and 8.00% of those age 65 or over.

Incorporated cities

Name and population (2004 estimate):
  • Kinsley
    Kinsley, Kansas
    Kinsley is a city in and the county seat of Edwards County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,457.-Geography:...

    , 1,559 (county seat)
  • Lewis
    Lewis, Kansas
    Lewis is a city in Edwards County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 451.-Geography:Lewis is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

    , 476
  • Offerle
    Offerle, Kansas
    Offerle is a city in Edwards County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 199.-Geography:Offerle is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 220...

    , 215
  • Belpre
    Belpre, Kansas
    Belpre is a city in Edwards County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 84.-Geography:Belpre is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 104 people,...

    , 101

Townships

Edwards County is divided into ten townships
Civil 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 Kinsley
Kinsley, Kansas
Kinsley is a city in and the county seat of Edwards County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,457.-Geography:...

 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
Belpre 05850 186 1 (3) 140 (54) 0 (0) 0.01% 37°57′14"N 99°6′12"W
Franklin 24350 93 0 (1) 191 (74) 0 (0) 0 % 37°48′55"N 99°11′12"W
Jackson 34750 98 1 (1) 187 (72) 0 (0) 0.05% 37°59′35"N 99°30′18"W
Kinsley 37100 160 1 (3) 121 (47) 0 (0) 0.01% 37°56′27"N 99°24′0"W
Lincoln 40650 143 1 (2) 193 (74) 0 (0) 0 % 37°49′17"N 99°4′39"W
Logan 41875 42 0 (1) 93 (36) 0 (0) 0 % 38°3′5"N 99°23′47"W
North Brown 51100 67 0 (1) 163 (63) 0 (0) 0.05% 37°51′43"N 99°21′34"W
South Brown 66550 90 0 (1) 251 (97) 0 (0) 0 % 37°47′5"N 99°22′5"W
Trenton 71400 306 2 (6) 136 (53) 0 (0) 0 % 37°52′50"N 99°32′31"W
Wayne 76125 606 5 (12) 132 (51) 0 (0) 0 % 37°56′28"N 99°15′30"W
Sources:

Unified school districts


Further reading


External links

Official sites
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