WaKeeney, Kansas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WaKeeney is a town in Trego County, Kansas, United States. The population was 1,924 at the 2000 census. It has been the county seat of Trego County^GR6 since its founding in 1879 along the Kansas Pacific Railway line. The site of the city of WaKeeney was selected in 1877 and surveyed in 1878 by Warren, Keeney & Co., run by Albert Warren and James Keeney, for whom the town is named.

Its public sobriquets are "The Queen City of the High Plains" and "The Christmas City of the High Plains".

1 Architecture
2 Holiday display
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 External links

[edit] Architecture

The train depot, built in 1879 with Saline River and Big Creek limestone, was the first major building in the town. It was inaugurated on July 4th of that year, with officials from Warren, Keeney and the Kansas governor in attendance. Union Pacific later acquired the depot and used it until the 1930s.

The Opera House was the next major building, completed in 1884 with ceiling murals, a Rochester electric brass chandelier, and seating for 400. It was destroyed by fire the following year.

The Trego County Courthouse, constructed of Trego County hard stone and Manhattan stone, was designed by Topeka architect George R. Ropes in the Queen Anne style, with a 100-ft cupola and European tin roof which lasted until 1952. The courthouse is still in use, although the basement jail, with unusual flat bars, was closed in 1976. The building appeared in several scenes in "Paper Moon" in June, 1974.

[edit] Holiday display

Since 1950, WaKeeney has hosted an ornate civic Christmas lighting display, which now includes over 6000 lights and a 35-foot manmade Christmas tree in the center of town. The tree is ceremonially lit the Saturday night after Thanksgiving through New Years.

[edit] Geography

WaKeeney is located at 39°1′28″N, 99°52′55″W (39.024467, -99.881972)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.4 km² (1.7 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,924 people, 882 households, and 539 families residing in the city. The population density was 434.4/km² (1,124.8/mi²). There were 1,023 housing units at an average density of 231.0/km² (598.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.14% White, 0.05% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.57% of the population.

There were 882 households out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% were non-families. 36.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.80.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 26.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 83.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,945, and the median income for a family was $40,547. Males had a median income of $26,292 versus $16,435 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,596. About 6.3% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.3% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.