Pratt 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 largest city is Pratt. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 9,157. The county was named for Caleb Pratt, a U.S. soldier who died in the Battle of Wilson's Creek during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

and who had previously been involved in Bleeding Kansas. The county consists overwhelmingly of prairie and contains few watercourses; the most important of these is the Ninnescah River. Farming continues to be important to the county, which is among the state’s leading winter wheat producers.

History

Pratt County was established in 1867. The county's first attempt at organization, termed the "fraudulent organization," occurred in 1873. A group from Hutchinson traveled through various counties, organizing them as they went. However, since there were no genuine settlers in Pratt County at the time, this organization required the submission of false statements to the governor. This fraudulent attempt was not recognized, and the Pratt County was legitimately organized in 1879. The county's first bona fide settler, A. J. Johnson, arrived in the fall of 1873 near Springvale in the southwest corner, where he cultivated the county's first crops. The county saw significant settlement in 1877, primarily from Iowa, and further in 1878 from all sections of the United States, keeping land office officials busy with pre-emption claims. Despite a prosperous period for crops in 1879 and 1880, many settlers departed in subsequent years, while others arrived in large numbers, especially in 1882. During the county's early years, owing to the scarcity of lumber, many constructed sod houses or dugouts. The special election of September 2, 1879, focused on the choice of a county seat, was disputed due to irregularities. After a lawsuit second election was scheduled for August 19, 1880. In the lead-up to that election, a proponent of Saratoga named W. F. Gibbons made a deal with W. H. Weidner from Medicine Lodge, agreeing to pay him $40 to bring about fifteen cowboys into Pratt County thirty days before the election to vote for Saratoga. Each cowboy was promised $5, free whisky, and a free dance at Saratoga on the night of the election. Weidner located the cowboys and provided Gibbons with a list of names as agreed, receiving $25 as part payment. However, due to a contract dispute, all the cowboys left Pratt County before the election, causing Saratoga to lose their intended votes. Iuka was ultimately declared the county seat with a significant majority. Efforts to relocate the county seat to Pratt commenced in 1885 and succeeded in 1888 over the objections of Saratoga. An 1888 blizzard killed over 80% of the county's cattle, causing widespread hardship. In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway extended its main line from Herington to Pratt. This main line connected Herington, Ramona,

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Durham, Waldeck, Canton, Galva, McPherson, Groveland, Inman, Medora, Hutchinson, Whiteside, Partridge, Arlington, Langdon, Turon, Preston, Natrona and Pratt. In 1888, this main line was extended to Liberal. Later, this line was extended to Tucumcari, New Mexico and

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

. This line is called the "Golden State Limited". During World War II, Pratt Army Airfield trained, processed, and housed B-29s and their crews before they were sent to war.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.09%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Stafford County (north) * Reno County (northeast) * Kingman County (east) * Barber County (south) * Kiowa County (west) * Edwards County (northwest)

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 9,647 people, 3,963 households, and 2,639 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 4,633 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.28%

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 ...

, 0.98%

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 ...

, 0.35% Native American, 0.55% Asian, 0.03%

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 ...

, 1.73% from other races, and 1.07% from two or more races. 3.09% of the population were

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. There were 3,963 households, out of which 30.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.70% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.40% were non-families. 30.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.60% 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 2.93. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.50% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 24.00% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 19.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,529, and the median income for a family was $43,156. Males had a median income of $31,138 versus $20,679 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 $17,906. About 6.70% of families and 9.40% 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 11.50% of those under age 18 and 8.90% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Presidential elections

Laws

Following amendment to the Kansas Constitution in 1986, Pratt County remained a prohibition, or "dry", county until 2000, when voters approved the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with a 30 percent food sales requirement.

Education

Colleges

* Pratt Community College

Unified school districts

* Pratt USD 382 * Skyline USD 438

Communities

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

Cities

* Byers * Coats * Cullison * Iuka * Pratt (county seat) * Preston * Sawyer

Unincorporated communities

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

* Croft * Hopewell * Natrona

Townships

Pratt County is divided into seven townships. The city of Pratt 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

;Notes

External links

;County *
Pratt County - Directory of Public Officials
;Maps * Pratt County Maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT * Kansas Highway Maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT * Kansas Railroad Maps
Current19961915
KDOT and Kansas Historical Society {{Coord, 37, 39, N, 98, 44, W, type:adm2nd_region:US-KS, display=title Kansas counties 1867 establishments in Kansas Populated places established in 1867