Greeley County, Kansas
Greeley County is a county located in western Kansas, in the Central United States. Its county seat and largest city is Tribune.[1] As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,284,[2] making it the least populous county in Kansas. As of 2018, it is tied with Wallace County as the least densely populated county in the state.[3] The county is named after Horace Greeley,[4] editor of the New York Tribune, who encouraged western settlement with the motto "Go West, young man".[5]
History
[edit | edit source]In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, and Kansas became the 34th U.S. state in 1861. In 1873, Greeley County was established. It was the last county in the state to be organized, which finally occurred in July 1888 after a lawsuit to stop organization on the basis of insufficient population was dismissed. Tribune was named the temporary county seat, defeating Horace in an election held that November.[6]
Settlement in Greeley County was sparse until 1885, when the influx of settlers led to numerous town claims, with Horace, Tribune, and Reid among the settlements that boasted banks, newspapers, and basic amenities. The Missouri Pacific Railroad's arrival in 1887, with a depot at Tribune, facilitated further development. By 1910, the population had significantly increased, leading to the establishment of 13 school districts and a scattering of post offices including at Tribune, Horace, Hurt, Sidney, Thelma, and Youngville.[6]
Geography
[edit | edit source]According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 778 square miles (2,020 km2), all of which is land.[7] It is the largest of five United States counties and twelve (Virginia) independent cities that officially have no water area.[citation needed]
The county's landscape is predominantly prairie, with an elevation between 3,000 and 4,000 feet. White Woman Creek, the county's most notable watercourse, often runs dry.[6]
Adjacent counties
[edit | edit source]- Wallace County (north)
- Wichita County (east/Central Time border)
- Hamilton County (south)
- Prowers County, Colorado (southwest)
- Kiowa County, Colorado (west)
- Cheyenne County, Colorado (northwest)
Demographics
[edit | edit source]2020 census
[edit | edit source]As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,284. The median age was 40.3 years, 25.5% of residents were under the age of 18, and 20.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.8 males age 18 and over. 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.[8][9]
The racial makeup of the county was 83.7% White, 0.2% Black or African American, 0.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 6.5% from some other race, and 8.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 15.5% of the population.[10]
There were 531 households in the county, of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 23.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.[9]
There were 638 housing units, of which 16.8% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 72.9% were owner-occupied and 27.1% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 15.7%.[9]
2000 census
[edit | edit source]As of the census of 2000, there were 1,534 people, 602 households, and 414 families residing in the county. The population density was 2 people per square mile (0.77 people/km2). There were 712 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile (0.39/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 93.09% White, 0.26% Native American, 0.20% Black or African American, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 0.07% Asian, 5.22% from other races, and 1.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.54% of the population.
There were 602 households, out of which 34.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.10% were married couples living together, 4.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.20% were non-families. 28.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.20% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 19.90% from 45 to 64, and 17.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $34,605, and the median income for a family was $45,625. Males had a median income of $29,018 versus $18,984 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,974. About 8.20% of families and 11.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.20% of those under age 18 and 6.80% of those age 65 or over.
Government
[edit | edit source]County
[edit | edit source]As of January 1, 2009, Greeley County and the City of Tribune have operated as a unified government.[11] The resulting government consists of a five-member commission with two members elected by city residents, two by rural residents, and one at-large.[12] Similar to Wyandotte County, the only other consolidated city-county in the state, part of the county was not included: Horace decided against consolidation.[13]
Presidential elections
[edit | edit source]This county is often carried by Republican candidates, as are most rural western Kansas counties. The last time a Democratic candidate won the county was in 1976, and a Democratic candidate has only won the county three times in its history: 1932 (Franklin D. Roosevelt), 1964 (Lyndon B. Johnson), and most recently in 1976 by Jimmy Carter.
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 1888 | 422 | 59.02% | 180 | 25.17% | 113 | 15.80% |
| 1892 | 241 | 67.89% | 0 | 0.00% | 114 | 32.11% |
| 1896 | 121 | 60.80% | 76 | 38.19% | 2 | 1.01% |
| 1900 | 118 | 75.64% | 36 | 23.08% | 2 | 1.28% |
| 1904 | 149 | 85.63% | 14 | 8.05% | 11 | 6.32% |
| 1908 | 206 | 64.58% | 89 | 27.90% | 24 | 7.52% |
| 1912 | 95 | 35.58% | 33 | 12.36% | 139 | 52.06% |
| 1916 | 210 | 43.57% | 168 | 34.85% | 104 | 21.58% |
| 1920 | 273 | 69.47% | 93 | 23.66% | 27 | 6.87% |
| 1924 | 357 | 64.21% | 75 | 13.49% | 124 | 22.30% |
| 1928 | 439 | 78.25% | 121 | 21.57% | 1 | 0.18% |
| 1932 | 359 | 42.64% | 440 | 52.26% | 43 | 5.11% |
| 1936 | 396 | 50.45% | 388 | 49.43% | 1 | 0.13% |
| 1940 | 497 | 64.55% | 268 | 34.81% | 5 | 0.65% |
| 1944 | 378 | 63.00% | 215 | 35.83% | 7 | 1.17% |
| 1948 | 391 | 53.34% | 326 | 44.47% | 16 | 2.18% |
| 1952 | 725 | 79.06% | 181 | 19.74% | 11 | 1.20% |
| 1956 | 599 | 77.09% | 174 | 22.39% | 4 | 0.51% |
| 1960 | 645 | 70.57% | 262 | 28.67% | 7 | 0.77% |
| 1964 | 388 | 44.80% | 469 | 54.16% | 9 | 1.04% |
| 1968 | 465 | 59.85% | 227 | 29.21% | 85 | 10.94% |
| 1972 | 639 | 68.49% | 212 | 22.72% | 82 | 8.79% |
| 1976 | 389 | 43.42% | 479 | 53.46% | 28 | 3.13% |
| 1980 | 600 | 63.36% | 235 | 24.82% | 112 | 11.83% |
| 1984 | 699 | 73.27% | 227 | 23.79% | 28 | 2.94% |
| 1988 | 506 | 59.32% | 317 | 37.16% | 30 | 3.52% |
| 1992 | 504 | 57.73% | 191 | 21.88% | 178 | 20.39% |
| 1996 | 567 | 71.95% | 161 | 20.43% | 60 | 7.61% |
| 2000 | 628 | 78.21% | 143 | 17.81% | 32 | 3.99% |
| 2004 | 584 | 79.46% | 138 | 18.78% | 13 | 1.77% |
| 2008 | 591 | 79.33% | 151 | 20.27% | 3 | 0.40% |
| 2012 | 543 | 81.04% | 113 | 16.87% | 14 | 2.09% |
| 2016 | 534 | 82.15% | 83 | 12.77% | 33 | 5.08% |
| 2020 | 549 | 85.65% | 78 | 12.17% | 14 | 2.18% |
| 2024 | 510 | 86.00% | 75 | 12.65% | 8 | 1.35% |
| 2016 | 1 | 33.33% | 1 | 33.33% | 1 | 33.33% |
Laws
[edit | edit source]The Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 to allow the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with the approval of voters. Greeley County remained a prohibition, or "dry", county until 2008, when voters approved to allow sales of liquor by the drink.[15]
Education
[edit | edit source]Unified school districts
[edit | edit source]Communities
[edit | edit source]
List of townships / incorporated cities / unincorporated communities / extinct former communities within Greeley County.[16]
Cities
[edit | edit source]Ghost towns
[edit | edit source]Townships
[edit | edit source]Greeley County was previously divided into three townships. However, in 1992, Colony Township and Harrison Township were merged into Tribune Township, leaving only one township for the county. This was not reported to the U.S. census until 2006, thus the 2000 census did not reflect the merger, but the 2010 census did.[17]
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.
| Township | FIPS | Population center |
Population | Population density /km2 (/sq mi) |
Land area km2 (sq mi) |
Water area km2 (sq mi) |
Water % | Geographic coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colony | 14975 | 172 | 0 (0) | 919 (355) | 0 (0) | 0% | 38°28′10″N 101°55′42″W / 38.46944°N 101.92833°W | |
| Harrison | 30325 | 107 | 0 (1) | 511 (197) | 0 (0) | 0% | 38°21′25″N 101°41′14″W / 38.35694°N 101.68722°W | |
| Tribune | 71475 | Tribune | 1,255 | 2 (6) | 586 (226) | 0 (0) | 0% | 38°31′51″N 101°44′36″W / 38.53083°N 101.74333°W |
| Sources: "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files". U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division. Archived from the original on August 2, 2002. | ||||||||
In popular culture
[edit | edit source]Greeley County appears in several episodes of the television series Prison Break.[18]
See also
[edit | edit source]- Horace Greeley Museum, home in Tribune of the Greeley County Historical Society
Template:See also Kansas counties
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
- ↑ "QuickFacts; Greeley County, Kansas; Population, Census, 2020 & 2010". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ↑ "Population Density Classifications in Kansas by County" (PDF). ipsr.ku.edu. May 4, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 19, 2010.
- ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 143.
- ↑ Josiah Busnell Grinnell (1891). Men and Events of Forty Years. Boston: D. Lothrop. p. 87. ISBN 9780598638700. Retrieved February 13, 2009.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Blackmar, Frank Wilson (1912). Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. ... with a Supplementary Volume Devoted to Selected Personal History and Reminiscence. Standard publishing Company.
- ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
- ↑ "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)". United States Census Bureau. 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)". United States Census Bureau. 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ↑ "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)". United States Census Bureau. 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ↑ "Unified Greeley County, Kansas - Innovative Government - Greeley County, Kansas". greeleycounty.org. February 2012. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ↑ Greeley County residents pass unification Archived March 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Garden City Telegram, November 7, 2007. Accessed November 8, 2007.
- ↑ TRIBUNE | City and county to unify, The Kansas City Star, November 7, 2007. Accessed November 8, 2007.
- ↑ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
- ↑ "Map of Wet and Dry Counties". Alcoholic Beverage Control, Kansas Department of Revenue. November 2010. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved August 1, 2011.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "General Highway Map of Greeley County, Kansas" (PDF). Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). December 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 2, 2023.
- ↑ Kansas: 2010, Population and Housing unit Counts, pdf p. 21 (2012)
- ↑ "Prison Break". TVGuide.com. Retrieved January 10, 2025.
Further reading
[edit | edit source]External links
[edit | edit source] |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Greeley County, Kansas. |
- County
- Maps
- Greeley County Township Map - Kansas Department of Transportation
- Greeley County Road Maps - Kansas Department of Transportation
- Kansas State Highway Maps - Kansas Department of Transportation
Template:Greeley County, Kansas Template:Kansas Coordinates: 38°28′N 101°50′W / 38.467°N 101.833°W