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Ellis County, Kansas | |
Ellis County Courthouse in Hays
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Location in the state of Kansas | |
Kansas's location in the U.S. | |
Founded | February 26, 1867 |
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Seat | Hays |
Area - Total - Land - Water |
900.47 sq mi (2,332 km²) 899.97 sq mi (2,331 km²) 0.50 sq mi (1 km²), 0.06% |
Population - (2010) - Density |
28,452 29.9/sq mi (11.6/km²) |
Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
Website | www.EllisCo.net |
Ellis County (county code EL) is a county located in Northwest Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 28,452.[1] Its county seat and most populous city is Hays.[2] The Hays Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Ellis County.
Contents
History[]
In 1942, the Walker Army Airfield was built northwest of Walker. Thousands were stationed at the airfield for training of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress during World War II. The airfield was abandoned and most of it razed.
Law and government[]
Ellis 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. The food sales requirement was removed with voter approval in 1988.[3]
Geography[]
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 900.47 square miles (2,332.2 km2), of which 899.97 square miles (2,330.9 km2) (or 99.94%) is land and 0.50 square miles (1.3 km2) (or 0.06%) is water.[4]
Politics[]
Ellis County is an anomaly in western Kansas, having voted several times for Democratic presidential candidates, even when the vast majority of the state's 105 counties went for the Republican nominee. Ellis County bucked the national and statewide trend by voting for Michael Dukakis over winner George H.W. Bush in the 1988 presidential election, one of only two Kansas counties to go for Dukakis. Ellis County gave a plurality to Bill Clinton over Bush and Ross Perot in the 1992 presidential election, but has been in the Republican column in each of the past four elections, giving 66 percent to Republican John McCain to 32 percent for Democrat Barack Obama in the 2008 election, higher than the 57 percent McCain won statewide.[5]

2005 Kansas Department of Transportation Map of Ellis County (map legend)
Adjacent counties[]
- Rooks County (north)
- Osborne County (northeast)
- Russell County (east)
- Rush County (south)
- Ness County (southwest)
- Trego County (west)
Major highways[]
Demographics[]
Historical populations | |||
---|---|---|---|
Census | Pop. | %± | |
1870 | 1,336 | ||
1880 | 6,179 | 362.5% | |
1890 | 7,942 | 28.5% | |
1900 | 8,626 | 8.6% | |
1910 | 12,170 | 41.1% | |
1920 | 14,138 | 16.2% | |
1930 | 15,907 | 12.5% | |
1940 | 17,508 | 10.1% | |
1950 | 19,043 | 8.8% | |
1960 | 21,270 | 11.7% | |
1970 | 24,730 | 16.3% | |
1980 | 26,098 | 5.5% | |
1990 | 26,004 | −0.4% | |
2000 | 27,507 | 5.8% | |
2010 | 28,452 | 3.4% | |
Population pyramid
As of the U.S. Census in 2000,[6] there were 27,507 people, 11,193 households, and 6,771 families residing in the county. The population density was 31 people per square mile (12/km²). There were 12,078 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.10% White, 0.67% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 0.82% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.31% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.37% of the population.
There were 11,193 households out of which 28.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.00% were married couples living together, 7.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.50% were non-families. 30.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the county the population was spread out with 22.40% under the age of 18, 18.40% from 18 to 24, 25.20% from 25 to 44, 19.60% from 45 to 64, and 14.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 95.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.60 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $32,339, and the median income for a family was $44,498. Males had a median income of $29,885 versus $21,269 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,259. About 6.50% of families and 12.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.20% of those under age 18 and 10.00% of those age 65 or over.
Cities and towns[]
Incorporated cities[]
Name and population (2004 estimate):
Unincorporated places[]

The town of Antonino
- Antonino
- Catharine
- Emmeram
- Munjor
- Pfeifer
- Smoky Hill City
- Toulon
- Walker
- Yocemento
Townships[]
Ellis County is divided into nine townships. The cities of Ellis and Hays 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 center |
Population | Population density /km² (/sq mi) |
Land area km² (sq mi) |
Water area km² (sq mi) |
Water % | Geographic coordinates |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Big Creek | 06650 | 1,798 | 7 (18) | 252 (97) | 0 (0) | 0.01% | ||
Buckeye | 08950 | 285 | 1 (2) | 352 (136) | 0 (0) | 0.06% | ||
Catherine | 11050 | 318 | 2 (4) | 208 (80) | 0 (0) | 0.03% | ||
Ellis | 20475 | 386 | 1 (2) | 457 (176) | 0 (0) | 0.02% | ||
Freedom | 24625 | 125 | 1 (3) | 117 (45) | 0 (0) | 0% | ||
Herzog | 31525 | 894 | 3 (7) | 325 (126) | 1 (0) | 0.18% | ||
Lookout | 42700 | 569 | 2 (5) | 317 (122) | 0 (0) | 0.10% | ||
Victoria | 73800 | 845 | 6 (16) | 139 (54) | 0 (0) | 0% | ||
Wheatland | 77650 | 401 | 3 (7) | 140 (54) | 0 (0) | 0% | ||
Sources: "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files". U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/places2k.html. |
Education[]
Unified school districts[]
Private schools[]
Universities and Colleges[]
- Fort Hays State University
- North Central Kansas Technical College
Trivia[]
Ellis County is the official German Capital of Kansas. German immigrants settled in Hays, Ellis, Victoria, and nearby villages in the 1870s and 1880s.[7]
Gallery[]
See also[]
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Ellis County, Kansas
- Walker Army Airfield, an abandoned World War II airfield.
Information on this and other counties in Kansas
- List of counties in Kansas
- List of Kansas county name etymologies
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Kansas
- Kansas locations by per capita income
Other information for Kansas
- List of cities in Kansas
- List of unified school districts in Kansas
- List of colleges and universities in Kansas
References[]
- ^ "2010 County Population and Housing Occupancy Status". U.S. Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL2.ST05&prodType=table. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ "Map of Wet and Dry Counties". Alcoholic Beverage Control, Kansas Department of Revenue. November 2006. http://www.ksrevenue.org/abcwetdrymap.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
- ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
- ^ 2008 Presidential General Election Results - Kansas
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "Tidbits: Did You Know...". Publishing Group of America (americanprofiles.com). p. 13.
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
- Additional information
- Maps
- Ellis County Map, KDOT
- Kansas Highway Map, KDOT
- Kansas Railroad Map, KDOT
- Kansas School District Boundary Map, KSDE
- Victory Highway Guide - San Francisco to Kansas City; Mohawk-Hobbs; 1926
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Rooks County | Osborne County | ![]() | |
Trego County | Russell County | |||
![]() ![]() Ellis County, Kansas | ||||
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Ness County | Rush County |
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This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Ellis County, Kansas. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |