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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.

Ellis County, Kansas

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

County Seat: Hays
Year Organized: 1867
Square Miles: 900

Court House:

1204 Fort Street
County Courthouse
Hays, KS 67601-3873

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The county is named for Lieutenant George Ellis, of the Twelfth Kansas Infantry, who fought Quantrill's raiders in 1863 at Lawrence, Kansas and who was killed April 30, 1864, during the Civil War in a battle at Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Ellis County, located in the third tier of counties south of the State of Nebraska and the sixth east of Colorado, was created by the act of Feb. 26, 1867, with the following boundaries: "Commencing where the east line of range 16 west intersects the second standard parallel, thence south to the third standard parallel, thence west to the east line of range 21 west, thence north to the second standard parallel, thence east to the place of beginning."

The boundaries as thus established are the same as at the present time, giving the county an area of 900 square miles. Popularly speaking, it is bounded on the north by Rooks county; on the east by Russell; on the south by Rush, and on the west by Trego. It was named for Lieut. George Ellis of Company I, Twelfth Kansas infantry, who was killed at the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, Ark., April 30, 1864.

Geography

The surface of the county is practically the same as that of all western Kansas—one broad stretch of prairie, with but little natural timber growth, though some artificial groves have been planted, and there are about 25,000 bearing fruit trees in the county. Across the northern portion the Saline river flows in an easterly direction, and the southern part is watered by the Smoky Hill river and its tributaries, the largest of which is Big creek. Along some of the streams there is a natural growth of maple, cottonwood, black walnut, ash, box-elder and hackberry, but these belts do not average more than 200 feet in width. Magnesian limestone is plentiful; limestone of a finer quality is found along the Smoky Hill river; clay suitable for brick making is abundant near Hays; gypsum is known to exist in some localities, and there are a few salt marshes in the county.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Big Creek	township
- Buckeye	township
- Catherine	township
- Ellis	city	Incorporated Area
- Freedom	township
- Hays (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Herzog	township
- Lookout	township
- Schoenchen	city	Incorporated Area
- Victoria	city	Incorporated Area
- Walker	township
- Wheatland	township

County Resources:

Ellis County - KS-Cyclopedia - 1912

Ellis County, Kansas

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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