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Trego, Unified Govt. of Wyandotte/K.C.,
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Kansas Counties
 Click Image to Enlarge Kansas CountiesKansas has 105 counties, the sixth-highest total of any state. No Kansas county has two words in its name. Wyandotte County and the city of Kansas City operate as a unified government, and Greeley County and the city of Tribune are in the process of converting to a similar system. |
Bourbon County, KansasBourbon County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
Etymology - Origin of County NameReceived its name from Bourbon County, Ky., the latter having been one of the nine counties organized in 1785 by the Virginia legislature, before Kentucky became an independent state. It was so called as a compliment to the Bourbon dynasty of France, a prince of that family (then on the throne) having rendered the American colonies important aid in men and money in their great struggle for independence. Colonel Samuel A. Williams, a native of Bourbon county, Ky., was a member of the House from Fort Scott in 1855, and it was at his request that the county was so named. He was mustered in as Captain of Company I, Second Kansas Cavalry, November 22, 1861, and resigned March 28, 1862. He died at his old home, Fort Scott, in August, 1873. Demographics:County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts County HistoryBourbon County, on the Missouri border and in the third tier north of Oklahoma, is one of the 33 counties created by the first territorial legislature, with the following boundaries, "Beginning at the southeast corner of Linn county; thence south 30 miles; thence west 24 miles; thence north 30
miles; thence east 24 miles to the place of beginning." In 1867 the boundaries were defined as follows: "Beginning at the southeast corner of Linn county; thence south on the east line of the State of Kansas to the southeast corner of section 24, township 27, range 25; thence west to the southwest
corner of section 23, township 27, range 21; thence north to the southwest corner of Linn county; thence east to the place of beginning." By this second act, the extent of the county from north to south was reduced to 25 miles, and increased from east to west a little more than 25 miles, which gives
it an area of 637 square miles. GeographyThe general surface of the country is undulating, the highest hills being found in the northwest portion, where they rise to about 200 feet above the Marmaton river. The valleys of the streams average about a mile in width and these bottom lands comprise about one-third of the area. Timber belts
varying in width are found along the streams and contain hackberry, hickory, oak, pecan and walnut. On the uplands and in some of the lower lands, hickory, maple, poplar and willow have been planted. The main water-courses are the Little Osage, which flows east a few miles south of the northern
boundary, and the Marmaton, which flows from west to east through the central portion of the county. The Little Osage has several tributaries flowing into it from both north and south, the main stream being Limestone creek in the northwest part of the county. The main creeks flowing into the
Marmaton from the north are Turkey and Mill creeks, and from the south Yellow Paint creek, which also has several small tributaries. Drywood creek flows across the southeast corner. Neighboring Counties:
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County Resources
The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define
the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local.
And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions,
reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history. Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally." |
