Douglas County, Kansas

Douglas County, Kansas
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Douglas County, Kansas
Map
Location in the state of Kansas
Kansas's location in the U.S.
Statistics
Founded	August 25, 1855
Seat	Lawrence
Area - Total - Land - Water	474 sq mi (1,229 km²) 457 sq mi (1,183 km²) 18 sq mi (46 km²), 3.71%
Population^Est. - (2007) - Density	113,488 248.3/sq mi (95.9/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website: www.douglas-county.com
Named for: Stephen A. Douglas

Douglas County (county code DG) is located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. The county's population—one of the fastest-growing in the state of Kansas—was estimated to be 113,488 in the year 2007, making it the fifth-largest in the state.^[1] Its county seat and most populous city is Lawrence,^[2] and the entire county is included in the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

1 History
2 Government
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 Cities and towns
- 5.1 Incorporated cities
- 5.2 Unincorporated places
6 Education
- 6.1 Unified school districts
- 6.2 Universities and Colleges
7 Environmental Record
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

History

Douglas County was opened for settlement on May 15, 1854 and was named for Stephen A. Douglas, a Senator from Illinois. The county was practically at the center of the Bleeding Kansas years as leaders in Lecompton, the territorial capital, wanted Kansas to be a slave state and leaders in Lawrence wanted Kansas to be a free state. Because of this, multiple events took place including the draft of the Lecompton Constitution, admitting Kansas as a slave state; the Sacking of Lawrence and the Battle of Black Jack.

Government

The Douglas County Courthouse

Douglas County is currently served by county commissioners Charles Jones, Bob Johnson and Jere McElhaney. State Representatives are Tom Holland, Anthony Brown, Barbara Ballard, Tom Sloan, Paul Davis, Ann Mah and Joe Humerickhouse. Roger Pine, Marci Francisco and Anthony Hensley represent Douglas County in the Kansas Senate.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 474 square miles (1,229 km²), of which 457 square miles (1,183 km²) is land and 18 square miles (46 km²), or 3.71%, is water.^[3] Much of its northern boundary is defined by the Kansas River which flows through Lawrence and provides hydropower at the Bowersock Dam.

Townships

Douglas County is divided into nine townships. The city of Lawrence is considered governmentally independent and is 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
Clinton	14325		531	7 (17)	80 (31)	26 (10)	24.41%	38°54′18″N, 95°24′20″W
Eudora	21700	Eudora	5,571	43 (113)	128 (49)	2 (1)	1.57%	38°55′42″N, 95°6′15″W
Grant	27650		442	10 (27)	43 (16)	0 (0)	0.74%	39°0′8″N, 95°13′19″W
Kanwaka	36075		1,317	12 (30)	114 (44)	8 (3)	6.69%	38°57′37″N, 95°23′16″W
Lecompton	39175	Lecompton	1,761	20 (51)	90 (35)	2 (1)	2.45%	39°2′31″N, 95°24′27″W
Marion	44700		836	5 (12)	185 (72)	1 (0)	0.52%	38°49′4″N, 95°24′35″W
Palmyra	54225	Baldwin City	5,760	27 (70)	212 (82)	2 (1)	0.79%	38°47′0″N, 95°10′40″W
Wakarusa	74400		2,237	19 (49)	119 (46)	2 (1)	1.81%	38°55′49″N, 95°14′43″W
Willow Springs	79500		1,409	10 (26)	141 (54)	1 (0)	0.54%	38°47′23″N, 95°18′17″W
Sources: "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files". U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division.

Historic Townships

The county originally had only four townships. Lecompton comprised the area of Lecompton, Kanwaka and Clinton townships; Washington took the place of Marion and Willow Springs townships; Wakarusa comprised both Wakarusa and Eudora townships and Calhoun was the original name of Palmyra township. Grant township was annexed from Jefferson County in 1874.

Map of Douglas County, 1889. From History of Kansas.

Adjacent counties

Jefferson County (north)
Leavenworth County (northeast)
Johnson County (east)
Miami County (southeast)
Franklin County (south)
Osage County (southwest)
Shawnee County (northwest)

Major highways

Interstate 70, as part of the Kansas Turnpike, runs east to west just north of Lawrence.
U.S. Highway 59 runs north to south through the middle of the county and the middle of Lawrence.
U.S. Highway 40 virtually follows the Oregon Trail heading west out of Lawrence.
U.S. Highway 56 runs east to west in the southern half of the county, going through Baldwin City and skirts the Santa Fe Trail.
K-10 runs from the I-70 Lecompton Exchange along the south and west border of Lawrence to US-59 then north until 23rd Street where it heads east out of town into Johnson County.
Other major highways include: US-24 which is in Grant township leading from Leavenworth to Jefferson County; K-32 starts just outside of Lawrence and leads into Leavenworth County and K-33 is in extreme southeast Douglas County and leads into Franklin County.

Parks and Events

Clinton Lake, completed in 1980, offers boating, fishing and other water sports and various parks surrounding the lake provides camping and trails for mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding. The Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival is held there annually in June.

Lone Star Lake is a small country lake to the southwest of Lawrence offers fishing, boating and camping. Just northwest of Baldwin City is Douglas State Fishing Lake which provides hunting, fishing and limited camping. Other parks around the county include Black Jack Park which includes the Ivan Boyd Prairie Preserve and Robert Hall Pearson Memorial Park, Broken Arrow Park in Lawrence and Wells Overlook Park just south of Lawrence.

Other events in the county include the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City every third full weekend in October. Lecompton's Territorial Days take place every year in June and Lawrence has many parades throughout the year including Christmas and St. Patrick's Day.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	8,637	—
1870	20,592	138.4%
1880	21,700	5.4%
1890	23,961	10.4%
1900	25,096	4.7%
1910	24,724	−1.5%
1920	23,998	−2.9%
1930	25,143	4.8%
1940	25,171	0.1%
1950	34,086	35.4%
1960	43,720	28.3%
1970	57,932	32.5%
1980	67,640	16.8%
1990	81,798	20.9%
2000	99,962	22.2%

Douglas County's population was estimated to be 112,123 in the year 2006, an increase of 11,984, or +12.0%, over the previous six years;^[4] it has the second fastest growing and fifth largest population in the state (Johnson County has the fastest growing and largest population).

As of the U.S. Census in 2000,^[3] there were 99,962 people, 38,486 households, and 21,167 families residing in the county. The population density was 219 people per square mile (84/km²). There were 40,250 housing units at an average density of 88 per square mile (34/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 86.09% White, 4.24% Black or African American, 2.56% Native American, 3.12% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.20% from other races, and 2.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.27% of the population.

Population pyramid

There were 38,486 households out of which 27.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.10% were married couples living together, 8.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.00% were non-families. 28.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.40% under the age of 18, 26.40% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 16.90% from 45 to 64, and 7.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 98.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,547, and the median income for a family was $53,991. Males had a median income of $35,577 versus $27,225 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,952. About 6.20% of families and 15.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.00% of those under age 18 and 7.30% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Map of Douglas County (map legend)

Incorporated cities

Name and population (2004 estimate):

Lawrence, 81,873 (county seat)
Eudora, 5,119
Baldwin City, 3,664
Lecompton, 599

Unincorporated places

Big Springs
Clearfield
Clinton
Globe
Grover
Hesper
Kanwaka
Lake View
Lone Star
Midland
Pleasant Grove
Sibleyville
Stull
Vinland
Worden

Education

Unified school districts

Douglas County is served by seven school districts.

Lawrence USD 497 serves Lawrence and the Clinton Lake area.
Baldwin City USD 348 serves Baldwin City and most of southern Douglas County.
Perry-Lecompton USD 343 serves Lecompton and most of northwest Douglas County.
Eudora USD 491 serves Eudora and the northeast part of the county.
Santa Fe Trail USD 434 covers the southwest part of the county.
Wellsville USD 289 covers extreme southeast Douglas County.
Shawnee Heights USD 450 services the extreme western part of the county.

Universities and Colleges

The University of Kansas's main campus is located in Lawrence as is Haskell Indian Nations University. Baker University, the state's oldest college, is located in Baldwin City.

Environmental Record

In Douglas County in north eastern Kansas, there is a slight pollution problem. In two thousand and two, Douglas County ranked in the top twentieth percent of most polluted county in America. The amount of toxin pollution is due to mainly the city of Lawrence where there is the Lawrence Energy Plant and the Nitrogen Plant for Farmers INDS. Inc., who also pollutes the air more than any other plant in Lawrence. Douglas County also ranks very high in the water pollution area. The other major air polluters in Douglas County are Western Resources, and the FMC Corporation. Douglas County was in the top 20% of all counties for Air Pollution in nineteen ninety nine. This was much worse than Douglas County’s neighboring county of Johnson County which has reached the top 10% of the worst counties for air pollution in 1999. However, Johnson County ranked in the top 20% cleanest of toxin pollution in 2004. [2]Water Pollution is a problem as well. In 2002 the city began using a boat to test river water in the Kansas River [3]. Lawrence, like many cities, has a problem with people dumping and using improper methods of disposal of liquids [4].

References

^ [1], United States Census Bureau
^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ ^a ^b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ "Population Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. Annual estimates of the population to 2006-07-01. Released 2007-03-22. Six year change is from 2000-07-01 to 2006-07-01.

External links

Official sites

Additional information

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Douglas County, Kansas

County seat: Lawrence

Cities	Baldwin City \| Eudora \| Lawrence \| Lecompton

Townships	Clinton \| Eudora \| Grant \| Kanwaka \| Lecompton \| Marion \| Palmyra \| Wakarusa \| Willow Springs

Unincorporated communities	Big Springs \| Clinton \| Prairie City \| Stull \| Twin Mound \| Vinland