Erie, Kansas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Erie is a city in Neosho County, Kansas, United States. The population was 1,211 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Neosho County^GR6.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Erie is located at 37°34′7″N, 95°14′33″W (37.568548, -95.242562)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.3 km² (0.9 mi²), all land.

[edit] History

Originally a town called Erie, now referred to as "Old Erie," and "Beantown, U.S.A," was started two miles northwest of the present town site, and two miles southeast another town that was named Crawfordsville. The proprietors of both towns made a compromise to abandon both towns and start a new one. They selected the present townsite for the new location. This was in 1866. In November of 1866 the Erie Town Company was formed consisting of D.W Bray, Luther Packet, Peter Walters and J. F. Hemilwright. Each member of this company donated forty acres of land to form Erie. The following were then admitted into the membership: A. H. Roe, J. A. Wells, John C. Carpenter, L. R. Nugent, A. F. Neeley, C. B. Kennedy, Stephen Beck, H. H. Roe, Joel Barnhart, J. L. Dennison, S. L. Coulter and T. T. Gilbert. Erie began to prosper. The first log home was built in 1866 by the widow Spivey. The first store went up in 1867 by Drs. Kennedy & Neely and John C. Carpenter. It is still standing on the corner of 4th and Main. The first livery stable and family dwelling was built that same year by V. Stillwell. The first hotel was completed Dec. 31, 1867 by J. A. Wells. John Graham opened a blacksmith's shop in 1868 and Carpenter & Porter opened a law office the same year. The town of Erie was organized by a decree of the Probate Court, Dec. 25, 1869 with J. A. Wells, G. W. Dale, John McCullough, Isaac M. Fletcher and Douglas Putnam as trustees. On Dec. 30 the trustees met and declared the town a city of the third class. J. A. Wells was elected Mayor of the City

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,211 people, 492 households, and 318 families residing in the city. The population density was 525.4/km² (1,361.2/mi²). There were 545 housing units at an average density of 236.4/km² (612.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.11% White, 0.17% African American, 0.91% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.74% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.82% of the population.

There were 492 households out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.3% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,568, and the median income for a family was $39,048. Males had a median income of $27,137 versus $18,672 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,019. About 9.1% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 18.7% of those age 65 or over.