Prowers 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 In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,999. The

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 ...

is Lamar. The county is named in honor of John Wesley Prowers, a leading pioneer in the lower Arkansas River valley region.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Kiowa County (north) *

Greeley County, Kansas Greeley County is a U.S. county, county located in western Kansas, in the Central United States. Its county seat and largest city is Tribune, Kansas, Tribune. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,284, making i ...

(northeast) *

Hamilton County, Kansas Hamilton County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Syracuse, Kansas, Syracuse. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county population was 2,518. ...

(east) * Stanton County, Kansas (southeast/Central Time border) * Baca County (south) * Bent County (west)

Major highways

U.S. Highway 50 * US 287

U.S. Highway 287 * US 385

U.S. Highway 385 * US 400

U.S. Highway 400 * Colorado 89

State Highway 89 * Colorado 196

State Highway 196

Trails and byways

* American Discovery Trail * Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway

Antipode

Prowers County is home of the Antipode of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

island of

Île Amsterdam (), also known as Amsterdam Island or New Amsterdam (), is an island of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the southern Indian Ocean that together with neighbouring Île Saint-Paul to the south forms one of the five districts of the t ...

and that island's settlement, La Roche Godon, making it one of the few places in the continental United States with a non-oceanic antipode. The center of Ile Amsterdam is at 37.8332° S, 77.5505° E; the antipode, 37.8332° N and 102.4495° W is about 10 miles southeast of Lamar.

Demographics

At the 2010 census there were 12,551 people, 4,935 households, and 3,351 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 5,942 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 81.0% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 0.9% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 14.7% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. 35.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 4,935 households 49.5% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were non-families. 28.3% of households were one person and 11.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.04. The age distribution was 27.1% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 26.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% 65 or older. The median age was 36.7 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males. The median household income was $33,969 and the median family income was $47,052. Males working full-time and year-round had a median income of $32,359 versus $28,727 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,429. About 18.7% of families and 22.1% 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 30.8% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Like all of the High Plains, Prowers County is majority Republican. It has not been carried by a Democratic presidential nominee since

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

in 1976. In 2024,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

received the highest percentage of the vote for any Republican in county history.

Education

Prowers County is served by four public school districts: *Granada School District No. RE-1 *Lamar School District No. RE-2 *Holly School District No. RE-3 *Wiley School District The county is also the home of Lamar Community College, which serves roughly 700 students annually.

Health care

Prowers Medical Center in Lamar, a critical access hospital with 25 beds and a level IV trauma center, serves the county.

Communities

City

* Lamar

Towns

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

* Hartman *

Holly ''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

* Wiley

Unincorporated Community

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

* Carlton * Koen

Historic sites

* Santa Fe National Historic Trail * Amache National Historic Site * Lamar station

Gallery

Image:ATSF locomotive, Lamar, CO IMG_5749.JPG, Former Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad locomotive on display in Lamar Image:Horses grazing east of Holly, CO IMG_5804.JPG,

Horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s grazing east of

in Prowers County Image:Cornfields in Prowers County, CO IMG_5771.JPG,

Corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

fields flourish after a heavy rain in Prowers County, August 1, 2010 File:Map of states and counties affected by the Dust Bowl, sourced from US federal government dept. (NRCS SSRA-RAD).svg, Area affected by 1930s

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of natural factors (severe drought) and hum ...

References

Notes

External links

Prowers County Government websiteColorado Historical Society
{{coord, 37.96, -102.40, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-CO_source:UScensus1990 Colorado counties 1889 establishments in Colorado Eastern Plains Populated places established in 1889