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Kansas Counties

Kansas 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.

 

 

 
 

Clay County, Kansas

Clay County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

 

County Seat: Clay Center
Year Organized: 1866
Square Miles: 632
Court House:

P.O. Box 98
County Courthouse
Clay Center, KS 67432-0098

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named in honor of the distinguished Kentucky statesman, Henry Clay, who was chosen United States Senator in 1806. He afterward served in both houses, and was in public life most of the time during a period of forty-six years. He was minister to England and France, and candidate for President in opposition to Polk. He died in Washington in 1852.

 

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

 

History

Clay County, in the northeastern part of the state, is in the second tier of counties south of Nebraska, and its eastern boundary is about 100 miles west of the Missouri river. It is bounded on the north by Washington county; east by Geary and Riley; south by Dickinson, and west by Ottawa and Cloud, and has an area of 660 square miles. By an act of the first territorial legislature in 1855, the territory embraced within the present limits of Clay county was attached to Riley county for all revenue and judicial purposes. Subsequently Clay was attached to Geary county. In 1857 Clay was created and named in honor of the great compromise statesman, Henry Clay.

Geography

The surface of the county is rolling except in the north part of Oakland and the southern part of Five Creeks townships, which are high and rocky. The river and creek bottoms vary from half a mile to a mile in width and comprise about one-twelfth of the area. Timber belts are common along the streams and consist of cottonwood, red and white elm, oak, hackberry and locust. Sandstone and magnesian limestone are abundant, clay for brick and pottery is plentiful and red ochre and gypsum are also found. Agriculture is the principal occupation. Corn, winter wheat and oats are the chief crops, while in 1907 there were 150,000 bearing fruit trees, peach and apple being the leading varieties. The county stands well to the front in stock raising and dairy products.

Neighboring Counties:
  • North: Washington County
  • East: Riley County
  • Southeast: Geary County
  • South: Dickinson County
  • Southwest: Ottawa County
  • Northwest: Cloud County
Cities and Towns:
- Athelstane township  
- Clay Center (County Seat) city Incorporated Area
- Exeter township  
- Five Creeks township  
- Gill township  
- Goshen township  
- Grant township  
- Green city Incorporated Area
- Hayes township  
- Longford city Incorporated Area
- Morganville city Incorporated Area
- Oak Hill city Incorporated Area
- Oakland township  
- Republican township  
- Sherman township  
- Union township  
- Wakefield city Incorporated Area
County Resources:

Clay County - KS-Cyclopedia - 1912
 

 

 

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our 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."

 

 

 

 

 
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