Decatur County, Kansas

Decatur County is a county located in Northwest Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Oberlin. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,764. The county was named in honor of Stephen Decatur, Jr., a commodore in the United States Navy who served during both Barbary Wars in North Africa, the Quasi-War with France, and the War of 1812 with Britain.

19th century
In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state.

Decatur County was established by an act of the state legislature on 1873-03-20, which defined the original borders of the county as: The county had been surveyed the previous year, and its first settlers had been arriving since then.

Independent county government was established on 1879-12-11, by proclamation of Governor John A. Martin in response to a petition. Martin originally proclaimed Oberlin as the county seat, as an initial temporary arrangement. It was chosen as the permanent seat by an election on 1880-02-03.

The county is named for the Navy war hero Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr., who served during the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War and the War of 1812.

In 1878, the Sappa Creek valley in Decatur county was the scene of the last raid by Native Americans (Indians) in Kansas. In the Northern Cheyenne Exodus after the Battle of Punished Woman's Fork, a band of Cheyenne needing horses and provisions raged through the valley, killing more than 30 civilians and raping several woman. Several Cheyenne elderly, women, and children were also killed in the region by soldiers and civilians. In Oberlin, the Decatur County Last Indian Raid Museum commemorates the Cheyenne raid.

The county's first newspaper was the Oberlin Herald, established on 1879-06-12 by Humphrey &amp; Counter. Later Oberlin newspapers included the Oberlin Eye and the Oberlin Opinion. The Norcatur Register was published in Norcatur, and there were two more newspapers in Dresden and Jennings as of 1909.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 894 sqmi, of which 894 sqmi is land and 0.6 sqmi (0.07%) is water.

Geology and hydrolology
The county is crossed by Beaver Creek and Long Branch Creek in the north, by Sappa Creek in the middle, and by Prairie Dog Creek and South Fork Solomon River in the south. Sappa has two forks, north and south, and Prairie Dog's principal branch is Tom Cat.

Adjacent counties

 * Red Willow County, Nebraska (north)
 * Furnas County, Nebraska (northeast)
 * Norton County (east)
 * Sheridan County (south)
 * Thomas County (southwest)
 * Rawlins County (west)

Demographics


In 1879 the population was just over 1,500. By 1886 there were 6,300 people in the county, up from 4,067 in 1885. By the 1910 Census this had risen to 8.976.

As of the 2000 census, there were 3,472 people, 1,494 households, and 981 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 /mi2. There were 1,821 housing units at an average density of 2 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 97.87% White, 0.52% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 0.37% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.98% of the population.

There were 1,494 households, out of which 25.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.00% were married couples living together, 5.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.30% were non-families. 32.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.60% under the age of 18, 4.70% from 18 to 24, 22.90% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 26.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 97.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,257, and the median income for a family was $34,982. Males had a median income of $25,139 versus $17,368 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,348. About 8.00% of families and 11.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.20% of those under age 18 and 6.30% of those age 65 or over.

Government
Decatur county is heavily Republican. The last time a democratic candidate carried the county was in 1936 by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Laws
Following amendment to the Kansas Constitution in 1986, the county remained a prohibition, or "dry", county until 2002, when voters approved the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with a 30% food sales requirement.

Education
There were 101 school districts in the county in 1909.

Unified school districts

 * Oberlin USD 294

Communities
List of townships / incorporated cities / unincorporated communities / extinct former communities within Decatur County.

Cities
‡ means a community has portions in an adjacent county.


 * Clayton‡
 * Dresden
 * Jennings
 * Norcatur
 * Oberlin (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

 * Allison
 * Cedar Bluffs
 * Kanona
 * Leoville
 * Lyle
 * Traer

Ghost towns

 * Bassetville
 * Decatur
 * Hawkeye
 * Hooker
 * Jackson
 * Lund
 * Sheffield
 * Shibboleth
 * Stephen
 * Vallonia

Post offices
The first post office in the county was Sappa, established in April 1874 by postmaster J. A. Rodehaver. It was located where Oberlin now is. In 1886 there were seventeen post offices in the county: Allison, Altory, Bassettville, Cedar Bluffs, Decatur, Hawkeye, Hooker, Jackson, Jenings, Lyle, Oberlin, Norcatur, Sheffield, Shibboleth, Stephen, Traer, and Vallonia.

Townships
Decatur County is divided into twenty-five townships. The city of Oberlin 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.

This list has remained the same since 1910. In 1886 there had been just eleven: Bassettville, Beaver, Center, Custer. Garfield, Grant, Jennings, Logan, Oberlin, Olive, and Prairie Dog. Originally in 1879, the county commissioners established just six townships: Grant, Beaver, Bassettville, Oberlin, Prairie Dog, and Jennings.