Gray County, Kansas

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

County Seat: Cimarron
Year Organized: 1887
Square Miles: 868

Court House:

P.O. Box 487
County Courthouse
Cimarron, KS 67835-0487

Named: Named in honor of Alfred Gray, late Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture.

State & County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Gray County, located in the southwestern part of the state, is the second county north from the Oklahoma line, and the fourth east from Colorado. It is bounded on the north by Finney county, on the east by Hodgeman and Ford counties, on the south by Meade, and on the west by Haskell and Finney. Practically the same territory that now constitutes it was described by the legislature of 1879 as Foote county. In 1881 an act was passed creating and bounding Gray county as follows: "Commencing at a point where the east line of range 27 west crosses the south line of township 21 south; thence west on said south line of said township to where said line crosses the west line of range 30 west; thence south on said west line of range 30 west to the south line of township 28 south; thence east on said south line of township 28 south to the east line of range 27 west; thence north on said east line of range 27 west to the place of beginning."

In 1887 it was bounded as follows: "Commencing at the intersection of the east line of range 27 west with the north line of township 24 south; thence south along range line to its intersection with the north line of township 30 south; thence west along township line to where it intersects the east line of range 31 west; thence north along range line to its intersection with the north line of township 24 south; thence east to the place of beginning."

Geography

The surface of the county is rolling prairie. The Arkansas river crosses it in a southeasterly direction, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe R. R. follows the north bank of the river passing through Wettick, Cimarron, Ingalls and Charleston.

Description

The Arkansas River has carved a huge valley across the county. Inside this valley, the landscape is rugged, but by going north or south you climb out onto flat plains. The river bed is sandy and lined with cottonwoods, but it is often dry. It's hard now to imagine building an irrigation canal from it, but the river was much larger a century ago.

Neighboring Counties:

Finney County (north)
Hodgeman County (northeast)
Ford County (east)
Meade County (south)
Haskell County (west)

Cities:

- Cimarron (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Copeland	city	Incorporated Area
- East Hess	township
- Ensign	city	Incorporated Area
- Foote	township
- Ingalls	city	Incorporated Area
- Montezuma	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Gray 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."

Penn Foster High School

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