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Sedgwick County, Kansas

County in Kansas, United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sedgwick County, Kansasmap
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Not to be confused with Sedgwick, Kansas.

Sedgwick County is located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Wichita,[3] the most populous city in the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 523,824,[1] making it the second-most populous county in Kansas. The county was named after John Sedgwick, the highest ranking Union general killed during the American Civil War.

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History

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1915 railroad map of Sedgwick County

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. In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France.

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 1848, after the Mexican–American War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with Spain brought into the United States all or part of land for ten future states, including southwest Kansas. In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, and in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state.

19th century

See also: History of Wichita, Kansas

Sedgwick County was founded in 1867, and named after John Sedgwick, who was a major general in the Union Army during the Civil War.[4]

In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a branch line north–south from Herington to Caldwell.[5] This branch line connected Herington, Lost Springs, Lincolnville, Antelope, Marion, Aulne, Peabody, Elbing, Whitewater, Furley, Kechi, Wichita, Peck, Corbin, Wellington and 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] 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 serving 10 life sentences at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in El Dorado.[citation needed]

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Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,009 square miles (2,610 km2), of which 998 square miles (2,580 km2) is land and 12 square miles (31 km2) (1.2%) is water.[6]

Adjacent counties

Demographics

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Population pyramid based on 2000 census age data
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Sedgwick County is part of the Wichita, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area.

As of the census of 2000, there were 452,869 people, 176,444 households, and 117,688 families residing in the county. The population density was 453 inhabitants 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.

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Economy

Sedgwick County is the birthplace of famous restaurants such as White Castle and Pizza Hut.[12] It is also the aviation headquarters of well-known Cessna and Learjet.[13]

Government

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Elections

Presidential election results
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Sedgwick County is fairly conservative for an urban county. It has only gone Democratic in a presidential election once since 1944. Democratic strength is concentrated in Wichita, while the suburban areas are strongly Republican. However, the county often backs Democrats for the governorship - most recently Laura Kelly in 2022. This makes it a bellwether in local Kansas elections, with the statewide winner almost always winning the county. The last Democratic Senate candidate to win the county was Bill Roy in 1974, while Kansas as a whole has not been represented by a Democrat in the Senate since 1938. In the U.S. House of Representatives, Sedgwick County is represented by Republican Ron Estes. He won the county with a 20.6% margin in 2024.

Laws

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 percent food sales requirement. The food sales requirement was removed with voter approval in 1988.[14]

Despite its conservative reputation, Sedgwick County voted "No" on the 2022 Kansas abortion referendum, an anti-abortion ballot measure, by 58% to 42% despite backing Donald Trump with 54% of the vote to Joe Biden's 43% in the 2020 presidential election.[15]

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Transportation

Airports

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

The following are closed airports:

Education

Colleges and universities

Unified school districts

School districts include:[16]

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Libraries

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Libraries were a priority for the early settlers of Wichita. In 1873, the Wichita Library Association was granted with the “purpose of establishing and maintaining a public library and reading room and for the diffusion of knowledge and the promotion of intellectual improvement in the city of Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas."[17] Despite a plan set forth, this library and the following attempt at establishing one in 1874 never came to pass. Shortly later, another library association was formed by the same name of Wichita Library Association with a required membership fee of three dollars. Women in the community organized events to raise funds. However, this library struggled as well and stopped functioning in 1885. It wasn’t until the city hall was built that the development of a library began to take shape.

“In making their plans for housing the books, the board, then located in the Sedgwick block, petitioned and obtained permission from the city council to occupy rooms on the first floor of the city hall,"[17] and so it was this decision that proved successful in paving the way for future libraries in Wichita.

It was at this time that philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, was providing funds for libraries in many states to be built. In fact, Andrew Carnegie funded fifty-eight libraries in Kansas.[18] So, it is not surprising that in 1911, the city clerk wrote Andrew Carnegie for donations for a public library, which led to an offer of $75,000 for a building. The Wichita Carnegie Library building opened to the public on May 14, 1915, and under the administration of Mr. Julius Lucht “the library was organized into its present departmental state, with a greatly augmented budget, staff and book collection.".[17] The Wichita Carnegie Library was the main library for the city until 1967."[18]  

Today, Sedgwick County has eight Wichita Public Libraries: Advanced Learning Library, Friends Used Bookstore, Alford Branch, Angelou N.E. Branch, Evergreen Branch, Rockwell Branch, Walters Branch, and Westlink Branch.

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Points of interest

Communities

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2005 map of Sedgwick County[19] (map legend)
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1915-1918 railroad map of Sedgwick County

List of townships / incorporated cities / unincorporated communities / extinct former communities within Sedgwick County.[19]

Cities

‡ means a community has portions in an adjacent county.

Unincorporated communities

† means a community is designated a Census-Designated Place (CDP) by the United States Census Bureau.

Ghost towns

  • Davidson
  • Hatfield
  • Huckle
  • Jamesburg
  • Marshall
  • Oatville
  • Wichita Heights

Townships

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Map of townships in Sedgwick County

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. The county used to have one more township, Wichita Township, but it no longer exists.[21]

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See also

Community information for Kansas

References

Further reading

External links

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