Eudora is a city in Douglas County,

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 ...

, United States, along the

and Wakarusa rivers. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,408.

History

The Eudora area was home to various Native American tribes for thousands of years. The Kansa tribe lived in the Eudora area from the 1600s to the early 1800s. The Kansa lived along the rivers of this region in villages and practiced agriculture. A Kansa village was located at the site of modern day Eudora in the 1790s. In the 1820s the Kansa were forcibly removed from the region by the U.S. government to make room for the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

tribe. The

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

and

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, the ...

passed through the region, just a few miles south of modern Eudora. In 1854 the

Kansas–Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 () was a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, passed by the 33rd United States Congress, and signed into law b ...

was passed, creating 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 ...

and opening the region to settlement by Americans. As a result of the Kansas–Nebraska Act, Americans settlers started to encroach upon Indian lands. In 1856, three members of a German Immigrant Settlement Company (called Deutsche-Neusiedlungsverein) from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, sent out a location committee to choose a town site in the new Kansas Territory. Favoring the Eudora area, they drew up contracts with Shawnee Chief Paschal Fish, the original owner of the town site. The new town was named Eudora in honor of Chief Fish's daughter. The first post office in Eudora was established in September, 1857. Eudora was incorporated in 1859. Eudora was the site of conflict during the

Bleeding Kansas Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War, was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...

Era and the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Eudora strongly supported the Union during the Civil War, many of its men enlisted to defeat the Confederacy.

William Quantrill William Clarke Quantrill (July 31, 1837 – June 6, 1865) was a Confederate States of America, Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War. Quantrill experienced a turbulent childhood, became a schoolteacher, and joined a group ...

passed through the Eudora area in 1863 on his way to Lawrence to commit his infamous and deadly raid on the unsuspecting town. Several Eudora residents attempted to warn Lawrence of Quantrill's proximity, but two men were thrown from their horses, one of them dying as a result of his injuries. After the raid, Eudorans were quick to aid the citizens of Lawrence as they started their recovery. After the Civil War, relative stability finally arrived in the region. Eudora grew rapidly in the late 19th century. In the 1860s, a small Jewish community was based in Eudora. In the late 1800s, a sizeable African American community was based in Eudora; as much as 25% of the Eudora community was Black in 1870. Growth in Eudora leveled in the early 20th century. In recent decades, Eudora has again grown tremendously, as a result of its proximity to Lawrence and

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 t ...

and its location along Kansas Highway 10.

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 city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Demographics

Eudora is part of the

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area.

2020 census

The 2020 United States census counted 6,408 people, 2,296 households, and 1,643 families in Eudora. The population density was 2,181.8 per square mile (842.4/km). There were 2,412 housing units at an average density of 821.2 per square mile (317.1/km). The racial makeup was 87.39% (5,600)

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 ...

European American European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...

(85.35%

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

), 0.83% (53)

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 American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

, 1.42% (91) Native American or

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

, 0.5% (32) Asian, 0.09% (6)

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 ...

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

, 1.14% (73) from other races, and 8.63% (553) 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 was 6.13% (393) of the population. Of the 2,296 households, 42.3% had children under the age of 18; 53.1% were married couples living together; 22.3% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. 23.0% of households consisted of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.0 and the average family size was 3.3. The percent of those with a bachelor’s degree or higher was estimated to be 22.9% of the population. 29.3% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.5 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older, there were 105.1 males. The 2016-2020 5-year

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

estimates show that the median household income was $87,392 (with a margin of error of +/- $11,279) and the median family income was $89,072 (+/- $10,385). Males had a median income of $51,387 (+/- $6,172) versus $30,748 (+/- $5,351) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $39,568 (+/- $7,479). Approximately, 8.7% of families and 10.4% 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 16.4% of those under the age of 18 and 2.9% of those ages 65 or over.

2010 census

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 2010, there were 6,136 people, 2,210 households, and 1,600 families living in the city. 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 2,306 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.3%

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 ...

, 0.8%

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 ...

, 1.6% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 4.5% of the population. There were 2,210 households, of which 44.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% 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, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 27.6% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.25. The median age in the city was 31.8 years. 31% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 32.1% were from 25 to 44; 20.9% were from 45 to 64; and 8.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 4,307 people, 1,607 households, and 1,136 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,664 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.87%

, 0.70%

, 1.46% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.02%

, 0.67% from other races, and 1.79% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 2.39% of the population. There were 1,607 households, out of which 40.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.8% were

living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.3% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.13. In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.7% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $41,713, and the median income for a family was $50,909. Males had a median income of $37,833 versus $25,202 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 city was $18,693. About 4.3% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the

, including 5.6% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The Eudora government consists of five City Commissioners, which elects the Mayor. The City Commission meets the second and fourth Monday of each month at 7PM. * City Hall, 4 East 7th St. ;Representation * Republican

Jake LaTurner Jacob Andrew Joseph LaTurner (born February 17, 1988) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Republican Pa ...

in Kansas' 2nd Congressional District * Democrat Tom Holland in the State Senate. * Republican Lance Neelly in the State House of Representatives. * Democrat Shannon Reid in the Douglas County Commission.

Education

The community is served by Eudora USD 491 public school district.

Transportation

Eudora is directly served by three state highways, three county highways and a direct route to one national highway and to one interstate highway: * * * * * * * *

Notable people

* Chase Austin, NASCAR driver * Mitch Ballock, professional basketball player, former basketball at Creighton University * Debra Barnes, 1968

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

Hugh Beaumont Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1910 – May 14, 1982) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series ''Leave It to Beaver'', originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963, and as private detec ...

, actor * Vic Edelbrock, manufacturer, automotive engineer *

Charles Parham Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

, founder of Pentacostalism, presided over Methodist Church services from 1892 to 1894.