Mullinville, Kansas Sculptures by Kathy Alexander.
Kiowa County Location.
Towns & Places
Greensburg – County Seat
Haviland
Mullinville
Kiowa State Fishing Lake
Kiowa County, Kansas, by L.H. Everts & Co., 1887.
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Kiowa County, Kansas, is in the southwestern part of the state. Its county seat and largest city is Greensburg. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,460. The county covers 723 square miles, of which 723 square miles is land and 0.2 square miles is water. The county was named after the Kiowa tribe.
Kiowa County is the second county North of Oklahoma and the sixth East of Colorado. It is bounded on the North by Edwards County; on the East by Pratt and Barber; on the South by Comanche, and on the West by Ford and Clark.
The county was first created by the 1867 act that created 26 western counties.
Kiowa County’s surface is a rolling prairie, slightly higher in the center. The southern half lies in the Medicine Lodge River Valley, and the northern half slopes in a succession of gentle foothills toward the Arkansas River Valley. Rattlesnake Creek, the principal stream, enters in the West and flows northeast into Edwards County. It has several tributaries in the northern and central parts. Medicine Lodge River originates in the South and flows Southeast into Barber County. Well water was found at an average depth of 50 feet, and good building stone was abundant.
In 1875, the county was extinguished and the territory divided between Edwards and Comanche Counties.
Sandhills Ranch in Kiowa County, Kansas.
Greensburg, the county seat, was not founded until early in 1885. In less than a month, it had 1,000 inhabitants and several two-story brick and stone buildings.
In 1886, Kiowa County was restored and organized. The boundaries were defined as follows: “Commencing at the intersection of the West line of range 20 West with the North line of town 27; then South along range line to its intersection with the North line of township 31; then East along township line to where it intersects with the West line of range 15 West; then North along range line to where it intersects with the North line of township 27; then West to the place of beginning.”
Until its organization, Kiowa was attached to Comanche County for judicial purposes. Governor John Martin appointed C.W. Olmstead census taker in February 1886. His March 19 return showed a population of 2,704, of whom 549 were householders, and $236,622 worth of taxable property, exclusive of railroads. In proclaiming organization on March 23, the governor named Greensburg as the county seat and appointed the following officers: Clerk, M. A. Nelson; commissioners, H.H. Patten, Jacob Dawson and C.P. Fullington.
The county is divided into 12 townships: Brenham, Butler, Center, Garfield, Glick, Kiowa, Lincoln, Martin, Reeder, Union, Ursula, Valley, and Wellsford. The post offices are Greensburg, Belvidere, Haviland, Mullinville, and Wellsford.
In 1886, three railroads made propositions to the people of the county—the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad, and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. The proposition to issue bonds for the first failed, and that company changed its route. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific subsequently built a line from Hutchinson which came through this county, and later the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe built a line across the Southeast corner.
On about May 1, 1887, the county purchased land for a courthouse in Greensburg.
Big Well in Greensburg, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
The Greensburg Well, one of the world’s largest hand-dug wells, was built in 1887-1888. The well is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The first courthouse, built in 1888, was a building rented from H.C. Copper at Main Street and Florida Street.
In 1892, the second courthouse was the Bank of Greensburg Building, a three-story brick structure rented from C.W. Myers at the same corner. The court met in the Opera House when required.
In 1899, the town purchased the courthouse building for $2,300.
In 1910, Kiowa County was in the famous Winter wheat section. That year’s wheat crop sold for $1,674,553; corn, the next in importance, was worth $447,464; milo maize, $120,000; and animals sold for slaughter, $300,000. The total value of farm products was $2,740,959. The assessed valuation of property was $15,484,314. That year, the population peaked at 6,174 compared to 2,267 in 1900, a gain of nearly 300%. Average wealth per capita was $2,346, more than $700 above the state average. In the following decades, Kiowa County’s population gradually declined.
Kiowa County Courthouse in Greensburg, Kansas.
The Kiowa County Courthouse was built in Greensburg in 1913 and 1914 for $43,567. William Earl Hulse & Company of Hutchinson, Kansas, designed the Neo-Classical-style building, and the St. Joseph Construction Company of Hutchinson built it.
Located at 211 Florida Avenue and South Oak Street, the building faces North and is a two-story red-colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Greensburg. The building has a raised stone basement and a recessed center section with a porch supported by eight tall columns that rise to the wide header below the roofline. Inside, the County District Courtroom is on the South side of the second story. The building houses the County District Court of the 16th Judicial District, which includes Clark County, Comanche County, Ford County, Gray County, Kiowa County, and Meade County.
The first oil well in Kiowa County was drilled in 1917.
Mabel Chase ran for county sheriff after her husband’s term was term-limited and became the state’s first female sheriff. Her husband provided the family’s armored 1926 Hudson Super Six, and she was the first sheriff in Kansas to receive a Thompson submachine gun. Chase conducted raids on local stills.
Greensburg, Kansas tornado damage, by FEMA, 2007.
On the evening of May 4, 2007, an EF5 tornado severely damaged Greensburg. It killed 11 and destroyed 95% of the community. The courthouse was repaired and remodeled in 2009. The architect was McCluggage Van Sickle & Perry, and the contractor was Coonrod & Associates Construction Company, Inc.
Kiowa County has many iron-rich meteorites in its soil because of the Brenham meteor fall over 10,000 years ago.
Highway 400/Highway 54 connects three small towns, Greensburg, Haviland, and Mullinville, with just about 10 miles between towns. While each has its own local characteristics, all three towns share one county-wide public high school.
Kiowa County Schools include the Kiowa County USD 422 in Greensburg and Haviland USD 474. Barclay College is also in Haviland.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated September 2026.
Also See:
Barclay College in Haviland, Kansas by Kathy Alexander.
Sources:
American Courthouses
Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol. I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Live Kiowa County
Wikipedia