Stevens County, Kansas

Stevens County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Hugoton. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 5,250. The county is named for Thaddeus Stevens, a Reconstruction era Pennsylvania politician.

History
In 1886, Stevens County was established.

The first settlers came from McPherson, Kansas in 1885, originally naming their town Hugo after Victor Hugo, before changing it to Hugoton. Other early towns included Lafayette, founded by Quakers in 1886, and Moscow, established in 1887.

In the late 1880s and early 1890s, a violent "county seat war" raged between Hugoton, which had been designated the temporary county seat, and Woodsdale. Incidents included arrests, kidnappings, and killings. The conflict culminated in the July 25, 1888, murder of Sheriff Cross of Woodsdale and three of his men in the Hay Meadow Massacre by Sam Robinson of Hugoton and his supporters. Robinson fled and was never tried for the murders. The issue was eventually resolved in 1887 when Hugoton became the permanent county seat, though tensions remained high for several years after.

Natural gas was discovered in Stevens County in 1927, leading to the development of the Hugoton Natural Gas Area and transforming Hugoton into a major center of the natural gas industry.

In the 1930s, the prosperity of the area was severely affected by its location within the Dust Bowl. This catastrophe intensified the economic impact of the Great Depression in the region.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 727 sqmi, of which 727 sqmi is land and 0.2 sqmi (0.02%) is water.

Major highways

 * K-25.svg Kansas Highway 25
 * K-51.svg Kansas Highway 51
 * US 56.svg U.S. Highway 56

Adjacent counties

 * Grant County (north)
 * Haskell County (northeast)
 * Seward County (east)
 * Texas County, Oklahoma (south)
 * Morton County (west)
 * Stanton County (northwest)

National protected area

 * Cimarron National Grassland (part)

Demographics


As of the census of 2000, there were 5,463 people, 1,988 households, and 1,457 families residing in the county. The population density was 8 /mi2. There were 2,265 housing units at an average density of 3 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 83.01% White, 0.93% Black or African American, 0.93% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 13.25% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races. 21.73% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,988 households, out of which 38.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.10% were married couples living together, 7.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.70% were non-families. 24.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 31.20% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 19.40% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 95.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,830, and the median income for a family was $49,063. Males had a median income of $36,525 versus $22,803 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,814. About 8.30% of families and 10.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.10% of those under age 18 and 4.70% of those age 65 or over.

County
Stevens County is governed by the Stevens County Commissioners. The current members are Joe D. Thompson, Tron Stegman, and Pat Hall.

Presidential elections
Stevens County is overwhelmingly Republican. It has not been won by a Democrat at Presidential level since Lyndon Johnson won by fourteen votes in 1964. In fact, the last Democrat to crack thirty percent of the county's vote was Jimmy Carter in 1976, and since Carter only Michael Dukakis during the drought and farm crisis-influenced 1988 election has received so much as twenty percent.

Laws
The Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 to allow the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with the approval of voters, either with or without a minimum of 30% of sales coming from food. Stevens County is one of 35 counties in the state that allows for the sale of liquor by the drink without the minimum food sales stipulation.

Unified school districts

 * Moscow USD 209
 * Hugoton USD 210

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

Cities

 * Hugoton (county seat)
 * Moscow

Ghost towns

 * Feterita
 * Woodsdale

Townships
Stevens County is divided into six townships. None of the cities within the county are considered governmentally independent, and all figures for the townships include those of the cities. 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.