Bird City, Kansas

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For the Louisiana wildfowl refuge, see Bird City (wildfowl refuge).

Coordinates: 39°45′3″N 101°32′1″W / 39.75083, -101.53361
Bird City, Kansas
Location of Bird City, Kansas
Country	United States
State	Kansas
County	Cheyenne
Area
- Total	2.2 sq mi (5.8 km²)
- Land	2.2 sq mi (5.8 km²)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)
Elevation	3,461 ft (1,055 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	482
- Density	216.1/sq mi (83.4/km²)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	67731
Area code(s)	785
FIPS code	20-06825^[1]
GNIS feature ID	0470980^[2]

Bird City is a city in Cheyenne County, Kansas, United States. The population was 482 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Bird City is located at 39°45′3″N, 101°32′1″W (39.750950, -101.533480)^[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.8 km²), all of it land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 482 people, 232 households, and 128 families residing in the city. The population density was 216.1 people per square mile (83.5/km²). There were 285 housing units at an average density of 127.8/sq mi (49.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.17% White, 0.21% Native American, 0.21% from other races, and 0.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.90% of the population.

There were 232 households out of which 22.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.4% were non-families. 43.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 28.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 3.7% from 18 to 24, 19.7% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 33.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,714, and the median income for a family was $32,589. Males had a median income of $24,531 versus $17,500 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,680. About 15.0% of families and 17.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.9% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

The fertile land of northwest Kansas was once covered with buffalo grass, which was ideal grazing ground for large herds of bison.

In the 1880s cattlemen formed large cattle companies and used the land for grazing large herds. One of the largest cattle companies was the Northwestern Land Cattle Company. Partners of the Northwestern Land Cattle Company, realizing the need for a town, formed the Northwestern Town Site Company and purchased 160 acres of land in the center of Section 36.

Since Benjamin Bird was the president of the newly formed company and a well-respected person in the community, the town Bird City was named. Although the community was named after him, Benjamin Bird was not born, did not die, and never resided here. Several avenues in the town were named honoring other members of the Northwestern Town Site Company, including Ketcham, Pen, Demick, Cave, Rich and Burr.