Dighton is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Lane County,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 960. Dighton is named for Dick Dighton, a surveyor.

History

19th century

The

Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of t ...

of 1862 offered of land in the American West, previously owned by railroads, to homesteaders who could live on the land for five years. Drawn west by the promise of free, fertile land, pioneer settlers arrived in Kansas starting in 1869. In 1879, W.A. Watson arrived at the town site, and a post office was established. In 1885, there were three houses and seven voters in town. Lane County became a county in 1886, with Dighton as its county seat. By 1900, the population was 194, and by 1910 it had grown to 370, and the town had banks; a flour mill; a grain elevator; two newspapers; public schools; a hotel; merchants; Baptist, Catholic, and Methodist churches; telegraph service; a band and telephones. Life was difficult for the early pioneers, who built houses made of sod and found that the land was quite dry, and not as fertile as they had been led to believe. A song written by Frank Baker, the ''Lane County Bachelor'', became a popular folk song throughout the western United States.

20th century

On May 23, 1928, the

Fleagle Gang The Fleagle Gang was a group of early 20th century American bank robbers and murderers. They were found and executed or killed after robbing the First National Bank in Lamar, Colorado. Their cases were the first in which the Federal Bureau of Inves ...

arrived in Dighton after robbing the First National Bank of

Lamar, Colorado Lamar is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Prowers County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,804 at the 2010 United States Census. The city was named after Confederate ...

. Needing medical attention, they kidnapped local doctor W.W. Wineinger, and later shot him and dumped his body into a ravine. The courtroom mural, "The First House of Lane County," by Mary Alice Bosley, was featured in ''Kansas Murals: A Traveler's Guide'', by Jost and Loewenstein.

Geography

Dighton is located at (38.481506, -100.464893), at the intersection of

K-96 K96 or K-96 may refer to: *K-96 (Kansas highway) K-96 is a state highway in central and southern Kansas. Its western terminus is at the Colorado state line east of Towner, Colorado, where it continues as Colorado State Highway 96; its east ...

and K-23. According to the

United States 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 t ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2010, there were 1,038 people, 506 households, and 282 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was . There were 615 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.6%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.9% Native American, 0.3%

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 ...

, 0.3% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

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 3.1% of the population. There were 506 households, of which 22.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 44.3% were non-families. 41.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.78. The median age in the city was 46.2 years. 20.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.1% were from 25 to 44; 28.8% were from 45 to 64; and 22.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,261 people, 563 households, and 342 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 653 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.07%

, 0.16%

, 0.63% from

, and 2.14% from two or more races.

of any race were 1.90% of the population. There were 563 households, out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.3% were married couples living together, 6.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.1% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.88. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.3% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 23.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $33,500, and the median income for a family was $40,987. Males had a median income of $30,417 versus $19,464 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $19,232. About 6.5% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The community is served by Dighton USD 482 public school district, which operates two schools in Dighton, the Dighton Jr/Sr High School and the Dighton Elementary School. The Lane County Library is based in Dighton.

References

External links

City of Dighton

Dighton - Directory of Public Officials

* ttps://www.ksdot.org/Assets/wwwksdotorg/bureaus/burTransPlan/maps/city-pdf/dighton.pdf Dighton city map KDOT {{Authority control Cities in Kansas County seats in Kansas Cities in Lane County, Kansas