Sedgwick County, Kansas

Sedgwick County, Kansas
Old Sedgwick County Courthouse in Wichita

Location in the state of Kansas

Kansas's location in the U.S.
Founded February 26, 1867
Named for John Sedgwick
Seat Wichita
Largest city Wichita
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

1,009.41 sq mi (2,614 km²)
999.38 sq mi (2,588 km²)
10.03 sq mi (26 km²), 0.99%
Population
 - (2010)
 - Density

498,365
476.5/sq mi (183.9/km²)
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website www.SedgwickCounty.org

Sedgwick County (standard abbreviation: SG) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 498,365 for the 2010 census.[1] The largest city and county seat is Wichita. The county was named after General John Sedgwick. Sedgwick County is part of the Wichita metropolitan area.

Contents

History

19th century

Sedgwick County was founded in 1867, and named after John Sedgwick, who was a Major General in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a branch line north-south from Herington to Caldwell.[2] This branch line connected Herington, Lost Springs, Lincolnville, Antelope, Marion, Aulne, Peabody, Elbing, Whitewater, Furley, Kechi, Wichita, Peck, Corbin, Wellington, Caldwell. By 1893, this branch line was incrementally built to Fort Worth, Texas. This line is called the "OKT". The Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway was foreclosed in 1891 and was taken over by Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway, which shut down in 1980 and reorganized as Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas Railroad, merged in 1988 with Missouri Pacific Railroad, and finally merged in 1997 with Union Pacific Railroad. Most locals still refer to this railroad as the "Rock Island".

20th century

Sedgwick County was the setting for the murders committed by the BTK strangler from 1974 until 1991. Dennis Rader, an employee of the Sedgwick County city of Park City was arrested in early 2005 after he began sending incriminating letters taunting the police in 2004. He had not been heard from since 1979. Ken Landwehr of the Wichita Police Department led the task force which captured Rader, setting a new standard of serial crime detection in the process, which is still studied by police departments across the world. Rader is currently serving 10 life sentences at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in El Dorado.

Law and government

Sedgwick County was a prohibition, or "dry", county until the Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 and voters approved the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with a 30% food sales requirement. The food sales requirement was removed with voter approval in 1988.[3]

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 1,009.41 square miles (2,614.4 km2), of which 999.38 square miles (2,588.4 km2) (or 99.01%) is land and 10.03 square miles (26.0 km2) (or 0.99%) is water.[4]

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1900 44,037
1910 73,095 66.0%
1920 92,234 26.2%
1930 136,330 47.8%
1940 143,311 5.1%
1950 222,290 55.1%
1960 343,231 54.4%
1970 350,694 2.2%
1980 366,531 4.5%
1990 403,662 10.1%
2000 452,869 12.2%
2010 498,365 10.0%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 452,869 people, 176,444 households, and 117,688 families residing in the county. The population density was 453 people per square mile (175/km²). There were 191,133 housing units at an average density of 191 per square mile (74/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.38% White, 9.13% Black or African American, 1.11% Native American, 3.34% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 4.17% from other races, and 2.81% from two or more races. 8.04% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 176,444 households out of which 34.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.70% were married couples living together, 10.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.30% were non-families. 28.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.20% under the age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 30.30% from 25 to 44, 20.60% from 45 to 64, and 11.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 97.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,485, and the median income for a family was $51,645. Males had a median income of $37,770 versus $26,153 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,907. About 7.00% of families and 9.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.90% of those under age 18 and 7.00% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Incorporated cities

Name and population (2004 estimate):

Unincorporated places

Ghost towns

Townships

Sedgwick County is divided into twenty-seven townships. The cities of Bel Aire and Wichita are considered governmentally independent and are excluded from the census figures for the townships. In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size.

Sources: 2000 U.S. Gazetteer from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Township FIPS Population
center
Population Population
density
/km² (/sq mi)
Land area
km² (sq mi)
Water area
km² (sq mi)
Water % Geographic coordinates
Afton 00425 1,290 14 (37) 91 (35) 2 (1) 1.73%
Attica 03125 Goddard 4,959 62 (161) 80 (31) 0 (0) 0.23%
Delano 17375 196 25 (64) 8 (3) 1 (0) 13.81%
Eagle 19250 Bentley 1,069 12 (30) 92 (36) 1 (1) 1.44%
Erie 21550 106 1 (3) 94 (36) 0 (0) 0.03%
Garden Plain 25400 Garden Plain 1,780 19 (50) 92 (36) 0 (0) 0.15%
Grand River 27300 607 7 (17) 91 (35) 2 (1) 2.20%
Grant 28125 Valley Center (part) 3,710 40 (104) 93 (36) 0 (0) 0.47%
Greeley 28400 Mount Hope 1,094 12 (31) 93 (36) 1 (1) 1.43%
Gypsum 29300 5,822 64 (164) 92 (35) 0 (0) 0.51%
Illinois 33775 1,620 18 (45) 93 (36) 0 (0) 0.12%
Kechi 36250 Park City 8,041 143 (370) 56 (22) 0 (0) 0.23%
Lincoln 41150 473 5 (13) 91 (35) 0 (0) 0.12%
Minneha 47125 Eastborough 5,084 117 (304) 43 (17) 1 (0) 1.49%
Morton 48550 Cheney 2,380 26 (67) 91 (35) 1 (0) 1.14%
Ninnescah 50725 Clearwater 2,913 31 (81) 93 (36) 0 (0) 0.47%
Ohio 52450 1,146 12 (32) 94 (36) 0 (0) 0.14%
Park 54425 Maize 4,128 51 (131) 82 (32) 2 (1) 2.04%
Payne 55075 1,119 14 (36) 80 (31) 0 (0) 0.21%
Riverside 60125 Haysville (part) Derby (part) Oaklawn-Sunview CDP 15,694 333 (862) 47 (18) 1 (0) 1.98%
Rockford 60675 Derby (part) 20,019 198 (514) 101 (39) 1 (0) 0.99%
Salem 62675 Haysville (part) 8,411 102 (263) 83 (32) 1 (0) 0.95%
Sherman 65100 Andale 1,362 14 (37) 96 (37) 0 (0) 0.22%
Union 72375 Colwich 2,156 23 (60) 93 (36) 0 (0) 0.23%
Valley Center 73275 Valley Center (part) 3,642 39 (100) 94 (36) 0 (0) 0.16%
Viola 74050 Viola 547 6 (15) 93 (36) 1 (0) 0.98%
Waco 74300 3,381 45 (117) 75 (29) 0 (0) 0.12%

Education

Unified school districts

Infrastructure

Transportation

Airports

The following public-use airports are located in Sedgwick County:

Points of interest

See also

Information on this and other counties in Kansas

Other information for Kansas

References

  1. ^ "2010 County Population and Housing Occupancy Status". U.S. Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL2.ST05&prodType=table. Retrieved March 5, 2011. 
  2. ^ Rock Island Rail History
  3. ^ "Map of Wet and Dry Counties". Alcoholic Beverage Control, Kansas Department of Revenue. November 2006. http://www.ksrevenue.org/abcwetdrymap.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-28. 
  4. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
  5. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  6. ^ http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=115:3:103222460506338::NO:3:P3_FID,P3_TITLE:473853%2CTrails%20View

Further reading

Wichita
Sedgwick County
Kansas

External links

Kansas portal
County
Historical
Other
Maps