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Kansas Counties

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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.

Osborne County, Kansas

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

County Seat: Osborne
Year Organized: 1871
Square Miles: 882

Court House:

423 West Main Street, PO Box 160
County Courthouse
Osborne, KS 67473-2301

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named in honor of Vincent B. Osborne, Private of Company A, Second Kansas Cavalry, who lost his right leg January 17, 1865, on the steamer Anna Jacobs on the Arkansas River.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Osborne County, in the central part of the state east and west, is located in the second tier from the Nebraska line. It is bounded on the north by Smith and Jewell counties; on the east by Mitchell and Lincoln; on the south by Russell and Ellis, and on the west by Rooks county. It was named in honor of Vincent Osborne, a soldier of the Second Kansas cavalry, who was distinguished for his courage in the Civil war, and who in 1867 settled at Ellsworth, Ellsworth county.

Geography

The area of the county is 900 square miles, with an undulating surface, broken by high ridges which divide the numerous water courses. Medicine Peak, in the eastern part and Round Mound in the southwest, are the most important heights. Bottom lands average a mile in width and comprise 20 per cent. of the total area. Native timber is not abundant, but many acres of artificial forest have been planted. The two branches of the Solomon river and their tributaries form the water system. The north fork enters from Smith county and flows southeast across the northeast corner. The south fork enters in the west from Rooks county and flows east through the second tier of townships from the north. It has numerous tributaries. Limestone, sandstone, potter's clay and gypsum are found in considerable quantities.

Neighboring Counties:

Smith County (north)
Jewell County (northeast)
Mitchell County (east)
Lincoln County (southeast)
Russell County (south)
Ellis County (southwest)
Rooks County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Alton	city	Incorporated Area
- Bethany	township
- Corinth	township
- Covert	township
- Delhi	township
- Downs	city	Incorporated Area
- Grant	township
- Hancock	township
- Hawkeye	township
- Jackson	township
- Kill Creek	township
- Mount Ayr	township
- Natoma	city	Incorporated Area
- Osborne (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Penn	township
- Portis	city	Incorporated Area
- Ross	township
- Round Mound	township
- Sumner	township
- Tilden	township
- Valley	township
- Victor	township

County Resources:

Osborne County - KS-Cyclopedia - 1912

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."