Atchison County (county code AT) is a county located in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 16,348. Its county seat and most populous city is

Atchison Atchison may refer to: Places In the United States: * Atchison, California, a former settlement * Atchison, Kansas, a city * Atchison County, Kansas * Atchison County, Missouri People with the surname *Bob Atchison (born 1941), Canadian drag r ...

. The county is named in honor of David Rice Atchison, a United States Senator from Missouri.

History

Early history

For many millennia, the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of

. 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 The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

. In 1854, the

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

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 United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest county by area in Kansas. On July 4, 1804, to mark

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

, the Lewis and Clark Expedition named Independence Creek (River) located near the city of

(see Timeline of the Lewis and Clark Expedition).

Adjacent counties

Doniphan County Doniphan County (county code DP) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the county population was 7,510. Its county seat is Troy, Kansas, Troy, and its most pop ...

(north) * Buchanan County, Missouri (northeast) *

Leavenworth County Leavenworth County (county code LV) is located in the U.S. state of Kansas and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 81,881. Its county seat and most populous city is Leavenworth. Hist ...

(southeast) * Platte County, Missouri (east) * Jefferson County (south) * Jackson County (west) * Brown County (northwest)

Major highways

Sources: National Atlas, U.S. Census Bureau *

U.S. Route 59 U.S. Route 59 (US 59) is a north–south United States highway (though it was signed east–west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, US 59 is now a border-to-border route, part of the NAFTA Corridor Highway Sy ...

U.S. Route 73 U.S. Route 73 (US 73) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from northeast Kansas to southeast Nebraska. The highway's southern terminus is Bonner Springs, Kansas at I-70. Its northern terminus is near Dawson, Nebraska at ...

U.S. Route 159 U.S. Highway 159 (US 159) is a auxiliary route of US 59. It travels from Nortonville, Kansas at US 59 to New Point, Missouri, also at US 59. The highway permits through traffic on US 59 to bypass the cities of Atch ...

Kansas Highway 7 K-7 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. It is mostly a small country highway winding its way through the Osage Questas and Glaciated Regions of eastern Kansas, although a portion of the highway passes through the Kansas City metro ...

* Kansas Highway 9 * Kansas Highway 116

Demographics

Atchison County comprises the Atchison, KS Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

- Overland Park-

, MO-KS Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, 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/km²). There were 6,818 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.62% White, 5.32% Black or African American, 0.55% Native American, 0.34%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 1.59% from

two or more races 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many culture ...

. Hispanic or

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

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 Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

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 statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic ...

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.

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.

Education

Unified school districts

Atchison County USD 377
*

Atchison USD 409 Atchison USD 409 is a Public school (government funded), public unified school district headquartered in Atchison, Kansas, United States. History In 2021, the school board decided to change from Native American themed mascots for the sports tea ...

Communities

Cities

(county seat) * Effingham *

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...

* Lancaster * Muscotah

Unincorporated communities

* Arrington * Cummings *Curlew *

Eden Eden may refer to: * Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis Places and jurisdictions Canada * Eden, Ontario * Eden High School Middle East * Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric * Camp Eden, Iraq O ...

Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia *Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States * Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California * Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia ...

* Good Intent *Hawthorn * Kennekuk * Larkinburg * Monrovia *Mount Pleasant *Oak Mills *Pardee * Parnell *Port William *

Potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...

*St. Pats * Shannon *Sumner

Townships

Atchison County is divided into eight townships. The city of

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.

References

1855 establishments in Kansas Territory Kansas counties on the Missouri River