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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.

 

 

 
 

Franklin County, Kansas

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

 

County Seat: Ottawa
Year Organized: 1857
Square Miles: 577
Court House:

315 S Main
County Clerk's Office
Ottawa, KS 66067-2331

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named in honor of the illustrious Benjamin Franklin.

 

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

 

History

Franklin County, located in the eastern part of the state, was one of the original 33 counties created by the first territorial legislature in 1855. It was named Franklin in honor to Benjamin Franklin. At the present time the county is bounded on the north by Douglas county, on the east by Miami, on the south by Anderson, and on the west by Osage and Coffey counties. It has an area of 576 square miles, and had a population of 20,884 in 1910. The county is divided into sixteen townships, as follows: Appanoose, Centropolis, Cutler, Franklin, Greenwood, Harrison, Hayes, Homewood, Lincoln, Ohio, Ottawa, Peoria, Pomona, Pottawatomie, Richmond and Williamsburg.

Geography

The surface of Franklin county is mostly undulating prairie. The "bottom" lands along the creeks and Marais des Cygnes river average from one to two miles in width and comprise nearly one-fifth of the area. Timber belts confined to the streams average from one-half to one mile in width and contain trees of the following varieties: walnut, oak, cottonwood, elm, hickory, willow, locust, ash, soft maple, mulberry and hackberry. Winter wheat, Irish potatoes, and flax are important crops but corn is the leading cereal. Much effort is given to the production of live-stock and also to the growing of fruit trees, there being 150,000 bearing fruit trees in 1907. Limestone and sandstone are abundant, marble and potter's clay are found near Ottawa, coal is mined in several localities, and oil and gas have been found in the southern portion of the county.

The principal stream is the Marais des Cygnes (Marsh of Swans) which enters the county from the west and flows through it into Miami county. Pottawatomie creek is second in size. It enters near the southeast corner and flows northeastward into Miami county.

Neighboring Counties:
  • Douglas County (north)
  • Johnson County (northeast)
  • Miami County (east)
  • Linn County (southeast)
  • Anderson County (south)
  • Coffey County (southwest)
  • Osage County (west)
Cities and Towns:
- Appanoose township  
- Centropolis township  
- Cutler township  
- Greenwood township  
- Harrison township  
- Hayes township  
- Homewood township  
- Lane city Incorporated Area
- Ohio township  
- Ottawa (County Seat) city Incorporated Area
- Peoria township  
- Pomona city Incorporated Area
- Pottawatomie township  
- Princeton city Incorporated Area
- Rantoul city Incorporated Area
- Richmond city Incorporated Area
- Wellsville city Incorporated Area
- Williamsburg city Incorporated Area
County Resources:

Franklin 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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