Leavenworth County, Kansas

Leavenworth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area.^[3] Its county seat and most populous city is Leavenworth.^[4] As of the 2020 census, the county population was 81,881.^[1] The county was named after Henry Leavenworth, a general in the Indian Wars who established Fort Leavenworth.

Leavenworth County
County
Leavenworth County Courthouse in Leavenworth
Location within the U.S. state of Kansas
Kansas's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 39°16′07″N 95°07′32″W
Country	United States
State	Kansas
Founded	August 25, 1855
Named after	Henry Leavenworth
Seat	Leavenworth
Largest city	Leavenworth
Area
• Total	469 sq mi (1,210 km2)
• Land	463 sq mi (1,200 km2)
• Water	6.1 sq mi (16 km2)  1.3%
Population  (2020)[1]
• Total	81,881
• Estimate  (2023)[2]	83,518
• Density	176.8/sq mi (68.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	2nd
Website	leavenworthcounty.gov

History

Early history

See also: History of Kansas

For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of North America. In 1762, after the French and Indian War, France secretly ceded New France to Spain, per the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

19th century

In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping title to about 7,500 square miles. In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre.

In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1855, Leavenworth County was established, and is among the first 33 counties, which were formed by the first territorial government. It was named, as was its county seat, after Henry Leavenworth, an officer in the War of 1812.^[5]

Leavenworth County had the first Kansas State University extension agent in the State.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 469 square miles (1,210 km²), of which 463 square miles (1,200 km²) is land and 6.1 square miles (16 km²) (1.3%) is water.^[6] It is the fifth-smallest county in Kansas by total area.

This county's watershed connects with both the Kansas River basin on the south via Stranger Creek and has a Missouri River port city to the east.^[7][8]

Adjacent counties

• Platte County, Missouri (north)
• Wyandotte County (east)
• Johnson County (southeast)
• Douglas County (southwest)
• Jefferson County (west)
• Atchison County (northwest)

Demographics

Population pyramid based on 2000 census age data

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1860	12,606		—
1870	32,444		157.4%
1880	32,355		−0.3%
1890	38,485		18.9%
1900	40,940		6.4%
1910	41,207		0.7%
1920	38,402		−6.8%
1930	42,673		11.1%
1940	41,112		−3.7%
1950	42,361		3.0%
1960	48,524		14.5%
1970	53,340		9.9%
1980	54,809		2.8%
1990	64,371		17.4%
2000	68,691		6.7%
2010	76,227		11.0%
2020	81,881		7.4%
2023 (est.)	83,518	[9]	2.0%
U.S. Decennial Census[10] 1790-1960[11] 1900-1990[12] 1990-2000[13] 2010-2020[1]

The county is a part of the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area.

As of the census of 2000, there were 68,691 people, 23,071 households, and 17,210 families residing in the county. The population density was 148 people per square mile (57 people/km²). There were 24,401 housing units at an average density of 53 per square mile (20/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.2% White, 10.4% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.8% of the population.

There were 23,071 households, out of which 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.4% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 26.7% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 33.0% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 113.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $48,114, and the median income for a family was $55,805. Males had a median income of $40,047 versus $26,029 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,292. About 4.8% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Presidential elections

United States presidential election results for Leavenworth County, Kansas

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	22,055	60.00%	13,732	37.36%	969	2.64%
2020	21,610	59.22%	13,886	38.05%	994	2.72%
2016	17,638	57.57%	10,209	33.32%	2,792	9.11%
2012	17,059	58.65%	11,357	39.05%	669	2.30%
2008	16,791	54.89%	13,255	43.33%	545	1.78%
2004	15,949	58.35%	11,039	40.39%	343	1.25%
2000	12,583	54.07%	9,733	41.82%	955	4.10%
1996	10,778	47.90%	9,098	40.44%	2,624	11.66%
1992	7,738	33.39%	8,077	34.86%	7,357	31.75%
1988	9,913	52.53%	8,797	46.62%	160	0.85%
1984	11,194	62.29%	6,604	36.75%	172	0.96%
1980	9,157	54.98%	6,354	38.15%	1,145	6.87%
1976	8,407	50.11%	8,022	47.81%	349	2.08%
1972	10,762	67.70%	4,727	29.74%	408	2.57%
1968	7,081	48.35%	5,546	37.87%	2,018	13.78%
1964	5,544	42.36%	7,479	57.14%	66	0.50%
1960	7,870	53.06%	6,926	46.70%	36	0.24%
1956	8,826	61.55%	5,480	38.22%	33	0.23%
1952	9,046	61.19%	5,698	38.54%	39	0.26%
1948	6,474	48.61%	6,740	50.61%	103	0.77%
1944	7,282	58.55%	5,097	40.98%	59	0.47%
1940	8,503	58.25%	6,053	41.46%	42	0.29%
1936	8,532	51.39%	7,996	48.17%	73	0.44%
1932	6,484	40.24%	9,507	59.00%	123	0.76%
1928	8,472	56.27%	6,539	43.43%	45	0.30%
1924	9,429	68.05%	2,982	21.52%	1,445	10.43%
1920	6,846	65.05%	3,409	32.39%	269	2.56%
1916	5,536	45.46%	6,002	49.29%	640	5.26%
1912	2,562	33.05%	3,099	39.97%	2,092	26.98%
1908	4,846	53.87%	3,818	42.44%	332	3.69%
1904	5,771	64.15%	2,775	30.85%	450	5.00%
1900	4,162	49.84%	4,109	49.20%	80	0.96%
1896	4,004	45.83%	4,665	53.39%	68	0.78%
1892	3,471	46.96%	0	0.00%	3,921	53.04%
1888	3,272	45.48%	3,516	48.87%	406	5.64%

Presidential election results

Laws

Leavenworth 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 percent food sales requirement.^[14]

The county voted "No" on the 2022 Kansas abortion referendum, an anti-abortion ballot measure, by 59% to 41% despite backing Donald Trump with 59% of the vote to Joe Biden's 38% in the 2020 presidential election.^[15]

Education

Colleges and universities

• United States Army Command and General Staff College
• University of Saint Mary
• Leavenworth Normal School (closed)

Unified school districts

School districts include:^[16]

• Basehor–Linwood USD 458^[17]
• Bonner Springs USD 204
• Easton USD 449^[18]
• Fort Leavenworth USD 207
• Jefferson County North USD 339
• Kansas City USD
• Lansing USD 469
• Lawrence USD 497
• Leavenworth USD 453
• McLouth USD 342
• Tonganoxie USD 464^[19]

Communities

2005 map of Leavenworth County^[20] (map legend)

List of townships / incorporated cities / unincorporated communities / extinct former communities within Leavenworth County.^[20]

Cities

‡ means a community has portions in an adjacent county.

• Basehor
• Bonner Springs‡
• De Soto‡
• Easton
• Lansing
• Leavenworth (county seat)
• Linwood
• Tonganoxie

Unincorporated communities

• Fairmount
• Fall Leaf
• Fort Leavenworth
• Hoge
• Jarbalo
• Kickapoo
• Lenape
• Lowemont
• Millwood
• Reno
• Springdale
• Wadsworth

Ghost town

• Delaware City

Townships

Leavenworth County is divided into ten townships. The cities of Lansing and Leavenworth 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.

Township	FIPS	Population center	Population	Population density /km2 (/sq mi)	Land area km2 (sq mi)	Water area km2 (sq mi)	Water %	Geographic coordinates
Alexandria	01100		859	7 (18)	123 (48)	1 (0)	0.62%	39°16′8″N 95°7′33″W
Delaware	17450		1,361	22 (57)	62 (24)	3 (1)	4.19%	39°14′50″N 94°52′40″W
Easton	19625		1,245	11 (30)	109 (42)	0 (0)	0.11%	39°21′57″N 95°7′27″W
Fairmount	22325	Basehor	6,266	61 (159)	102 (39)	0 (0)	0.39%	39°8′4″N 94°56′26″W
High Prairie	32125		1,768	14 (37)	124 (48)	0 (0)	0.27%	39°15′30″N 95°0′34″W
Kickapoo	36700		1,760	15 (40)	114 (44)	3 (1)	2.39%	39°20′45″N 94°59′29″W
Reno	58950		1,143	10 (27)	111 (43)	2 (1)	1.56%	39°1′8″N 95°8′8″W
Sherman	65000		2,367	22 (57)	108 (42)	3 (1)	2.44%	39°0′59″N 95°0′27″W
Stranger	68500		2,451	19 (50)	127 (49)	0 (0)	0.17%	39°8′16″N 95°2′2″W
Tonganoxie	70825	Tonganoxie (part)	4,852	35 (91)	137 (53)	1 (0)	0.66%	39°7′0″N 95°6′35″W
Sources: "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files". U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division. Archived from the original on August 2, 2002.

Notable people

See also: List of people from Leavenworth County, Kansas

• Sean Malto, professional skateboarder
• Wayne Simien, professional basketball player

See also

• Kansas portal

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Leavenworth County, Kansas
• Lenape & Christian Munsee
• Ernest Fox Nichols - Educator & MIT physicist
• Fort Leavenworth (Frontier Army Museum)
• Freedom's Frontier, NE Kansas National Heritage Area
• Kansas Sampler, shares insights on community character

Community information for Kansas

• Kansas locations by per capita income
• List of counties in Kansas
• List of townships in Kansas
• List of cities in Kansas
• List of unincorporated communities in Kansas
• List of ghost towns in Kansas