Comanche County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located in the U.S. state of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

and most populous city is Coldwater. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 1,689. The county was named after the Comanche tribe.

History

In 1867, Comanche County was established and named for the Comanche tribe. The first American settlers arrived in 1873. Initially, the land was dominated by cattlemen who took advantage of the open range, many of whom organized a cattle company known as the "Comanche Pool." A large number of homesteaders arrived to claim and farm the land in 1884, and by 1885 most of the desirable homesteads had been claimed and the fencing in of the open range had ended the dominance of the cattlemen. The town of Coldwater was founded in 1884 by a group from

Harper, Kansas Harper is a city in Harper County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,313. History Harper was founded in 1877 by a colony from Iowa. The city of Harper, like Harper County ...

, who saw potential in the northern part of Comanche County. The county organized in 1885 with Coldwater serving as the county seat. The arrival of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in 1887 boosted prosperity population growth by improving transportation in the county. The opening of the Indian Territory to homesteading led to a temporary depopulation, however, and the dry years from 1891 to 1897 brought economic hardship, reducing the population significantly. The first decades of the 20th century brought economic and population recovery, but the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and subsequent rural flight in the 20th and 21st centuries have significantly impacted the county's fortunes.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Kiowa County (north) * Barber County (east) * Woods County,

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

(south) * Harper County,

(southwest) * Clark County (west)

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,967 people, 872 households, and 540 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

was . There were 1,088 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.97%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.05%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.25% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.20%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.61% from other races, and 0.86% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.78% of the population. There were 872

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s, out of which 24.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.40% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.00% were non-families. Of all households 35.90% were made up of individuals, and 21.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.81. In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.10% under the age of 18, 4.50% from 18 to 24, 21.00% from 25 to 44, 26.50% from 45 to 64, and 25.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 93.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $29,415, and the median income for a family was $36,790. Males had a median income of $24,844 versus $18,221 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $17,037. About 8.50% of families and 10.20% 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 ...

, including 9.70% of those under age 18 and 7.70% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Presidential elections

Laws

The Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 to allow the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with the approval of voters, either with or without a minimum of 30% of sales coming from food. Comanche County is one of 35 counties in the state that allows for the sale of liquor by the drink without the minimum food sales stipulation.

Education

Unified school districts

* Comanche County USD 300

Communities

List of townships / incorporated cities / unincorporated communities / extinct former communities within Comanche County.

Cities

* Coldwater (county seat) * Protection * Wilmore

Unincorporated community

Buttermilk Buttermilk is a fermented dairy drink. Traditionally, it was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. As most modern butter in Western countries is not made with cultured cream but uncultured sweet cream, most mode ...

Townships

Comanche County is divided into four 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.

References

;Notes

External links

; County *
Comanche County - Directory of Public Officials
; Maps * Comanche County Maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT * Kansas Highway Maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT * Kansas Railroad Maps
Current19961915
KDOT and Kansas Historical Society {{Authority control 1867 establishments in Kansas Kansas placenames of Native American origin Kansas counties Populated places established in 1867