Jackson County, Kansas

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

County Seat: Holton
Year Organized: 1857
Square Miles: 658

Court House:

400 New York
County Courthouse
Holton, KS 66436-1787

Named: Originally Calhoun, in honor of John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, changed in 1859 to Jackson after Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States.

State & County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Jackson County, one of the counties formed by the first territorial legislature in 1855, is located in the second tier south from Nebraska, and the second west from Missouri. It is bounded on the west by Pottawatomie county, on the south by Wabaunsee and Shawnee, on the east by Jefferson and Atchison, and on the north by Nemaha and Brown. It is 1,172 feet above the level of the sea.

The boundaries defined by the legislature of 1855 contained 1,140 square miles. The county was first called Calhoun (q. v.) in honor of John C. Calhoun. The county was surveyed in the same year and a place 7 miles from Topeka near the old Calhoun Bluffs was made the first county seat. New boundary lines were defined in 1857, when the actual organization of the county took place, and the present boundary lines were established by the legislature in 1858, when the county seat was located permanently at Holton.

The name of the county was changed from Calhoun to Jackson by Golden Silvers, who was the representative in the legislature in 1858. The county officials did not recognize the new name until a year later. In 1858 a vote was taken to choose a new county seat and Holton received 79 votes over all other contestants. The county voted 51 to 12 for a free-state constitution.

Geography

The surface of the county is undulating plains. The largest stream is the Big Soldier, which flows from north to south through the western part of the county and empties into the Kansas river. Other streams are Cross creek, Little Soldier, North and South Cedar creeks, Straight, Elk, Spring, Bills and Muddy creeks.

Neighboring Counties:

Brown County (northeast)
Atchison County (east)
Jefferson County (southeast)
Shawnee County (south)
Pottawatomie County (west)
Nemaha County (northwest)

Cities:

- Adrian	township
- Banner	township
- Circleville	city	Incorporated Area
- Delia	city	Incorporated Area
- Denison	city	Incorporated Area
- Douglas	township
- Grant	township
- Holton (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Hoyt	city	Incorporated Area
- Jefferson	township
- Mayetta	city	Incorporated Area
- Netawaka	city	Incorporated Area
- Soldier	city	Incorporated Area
- Straight Creek	township
- Whiting	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Jackson County - KS-Cyclopedia - 1912

County Resource Guide

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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