Kansas Counties

Kansas has 105 counties, the fifth-highest total of any state. Many counties in the eastern part of the state are named after prominent Americans from the late 18th and early to mid-19th centuries, while those in the central and western parts of the state are named after figures in the Civil War. Several counties are named for Native American tribes. The population of Kansas counties varies widely, with the smallest population being Greeley County, which has about 1,300 residents, and Johnson County, which is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan area and boasts over 600,000.

County	County Seat	Established	Origin
Allen	Iola	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Anderson	Garnett	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Atchison	Atchison	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Barber	Medicine Lodge	1867	From unorganized area.
Barton	Great Bend	1867	From unorganized area.
Bourbon	Fort Scott	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Brown	Hiawatha	1855	One of the original 36 counties (Formerly Browne County).
Butler	El Dorado	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Chase	Cottonwood Falls	1859	Formed from Butler and Morris Counties.
Chautauqua	Sedan	1875	Formed from Howard County.
Cherokee	Columbus	1855	One of the original 36 counties (Formerly McGee County).
Cheyenne	St. Francis	1873	From unorganized area.
Clark	Ashland	1885	Formed from Ford County.
Clay	Clay Center	1857	From unorganized area.
Cloud	Concordia	1866	Formed from Washington County (Formerly Shirley County).
Coffey	Burlington	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Comanche	Coldwater	1867	From unorganized area.
Cowley	Winfield	1867	Formed from Butler County.
Crawford	Girard	1867	Formed from Bourbon and Cherokee Counties.
Decatur	Oberlin	1873	From unorganized area.
Dickinson	Abilene	1857	From unorganized area.
Doniphan	Troy	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Douglas	Lawrence	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Edwards	Kinsley	1874	Formed from Kiowa County.
Elk	Howard	1875	Formed from Howard County.
Ellis	Hays	1867	From unorganized area.
Ellsworth	Ellsworth	1867	From unorganized area.
Finney	Garden City	1883	Formed from Arapahoe, Grant, Kearny, and Sequoyah Counties.
Ford	Dodge City	1867	From unorganized area.
Franklin	Ottawa	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Geary	Junction City	1855	One of the original 36 counties (Formerly Davis County).
Gove	Gove	1868	From unorganized area.
Graham	Hill City	1867	From unorganized area.
Grant	Ulysses	1887	Formed from Finney and Hamilton Counties in 1887.
Gray	Cimarron	1887	Formed from Finney and Ford Counties.
Greeley	Tribune	1873	From unorganized area.
Greenwood	Eureka	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Hamilton	Syracuse	1873	From unorganized area.
Harper	Anthony	1867	From unorganized area.
Harvey	Newton	1872	Formed from McPherson, Sedgwick, and Marion Counties.
Haskell	Sublette	1887	Formed from Finney and Ford Counties.
Hodgeman	Jetmore	1867	From unorganized area.
Jackson	Holton	1855	One of the original 36 counties (Formerly Calhoun County).
Jefferson	Oskaloosa	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Jewell	Mankato	1867	From unorganized area.
Johnson	Olathe	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Kearny	Lakin	1887	Formed from Finney and Hamilton Counties.
Kingman	Kingman	1872	Formed from Harper and Reno Counties.
Kiowa	Greensburg	1886	Formed from Comanche and Edwards Counties.
Labette	Oswego	1867	Formed from Neosho County.
Lane	Dighton	1886	From unorganized area.
Leavenworth	Leavenworth	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Lincoln	Lincoln	1867	From unorganized area.
Linn	Mound City	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Logan	Oakley	1888	Formed from Wallace County (Formerly named St. John County).
Lyon	Emporia	1855	One of the original 36 counties (Formerly Breckenridge County).
Marion	Marion	1860	From unorganized area.
Marshall	Marysville	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
McPherson	McPherson	1867	From unorganized area.
Meade	Meade	1885	Formed from Finney, Ford, and Seward Counties.
Miami	Paola	1855	One of the original 36 counties (Formerly Lykins).
Mitchell	Beloit	1867	From unorganized area.
Montgomery	Independence	1867	Formed from Wilson County.
Morris	Council Grove	1855	One of the original 36 counties (Formerly Wise County).
Morton	Elkhart	1886	Formed from Seward County.
Nemaha	Seneca	1855	One of the original 36 counties (Formerly Dorn County).
Neosho	Erie	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Ness	Ness City	1867	From unorganized area.
Norton	Norton	1867	From unorganized area (Formerly Billings County).
Osage	Lyndon	1855	One of the original 36 counties (Formerly Weller County).
Osborne	Osborne	1867	From unorganized area.
Ottawa	Minneapolis	1860	From unorganized area.
Pawnee	Larned	1867	From unorganized area.
Phillips	Phillipsburg	1867	From unorganized area.
Pottawatomie	Westmoreland	1857	Formed from Calhoun and Riley Counties.
Pratt	Pratt	1867	From unorganized area.
Rawlins	Atwood	1873	From unorganized area.
Reno	Hutchinson	1867	From unorganized area.
Republic	Belleville	1868	Formed from Washington County.
Rice	Lyons	1867	From unorganized area.
Riley	Manhattan	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Rooks	Stockton	1867	From unorganized area.
Rush	La Crosse	1867	From unorganized area.
Russell	Russell	1867	From unorganized area.
Saline	Salina	1860	From unorganized area.
Scott	Scott City	1873	From unorganized area.
Sedgwick	Wichita	1867	Formed from Butler County.
Seward	Liberal	1873	From unorganized area.
Shawnee	Topeka	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Sheridan	Hoxie	1873	From unorganized area.
Sherman	Goodland	1873	From unorganized area.
Smith	Smith Center	1867	From unorganized area.
Stafford	St. John	1867	From unorganized area.
Stanton	Johnson	1887	Formed from Hamilton County.
Stevens	Hugoton	1886	Formed from Seward County.
Sumner	Wellington	1867	Formed from Butler and Marion Counties.
Thomas	Colby	1873	From unorganized area.
Trego	WaKeeney	1867	From unorganized area.
Wabaunsee	Alma	1855	One of the original 36 counties (Formerly Richardson County).
Wallace	Sharon Springs	1868	From unorganized area.
Washington	Washington	1857	From unorganized area.
Wichita	Leoti	1873	From unorganized area.
Wilson	Fredonia	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Woodson	Yates Center	1855	One of the original 36 counties.
Wyandotte	Kansas City	1859	Formed from Leavenworth and Johnson Counties.
Extinct Counties
Arapahoe	Neither of the two Arapahoe Counties were organized.	1855 and 1873	The Kansas Territorial Legislature created Arapahoe County in 1855, named for the Arapaho tribe. It was situated immediately south of Sequoyah County and was 24 miles square, containing 576 square miles. It was attached to Marshall County for all business purposes. Arapahoe County was never organized. In early 1859, it was split into six counties — Arapahoe, Broderick, El Paso, Fremont, Montana, and Oro. When Colorado Territory was established in February 1861, these counties were absorbed into the new state. In 1873, a second county of Arapahoe was created in the southwestern part of the state out of unorganized territory. Its population in 1880 was about ten inhabitants. This county contained no streams except the Cimarron River across the extreme southwest corner. There was no post office; the nearest railway station was Pierceville in Sequoyah County. No farming was done, and the county was considered suitable for grazing only during the early part of the summer. In 1883, Arapahoe County disappeared. Its territory was included in Finney County, and in 1887, Haskell County was created from that part of Finney County.
Billings	None	1873	Billings County lasted less than one year and operated as an organized county because Norton County was organized in August 1872. Billings did not have a county seat during its period of existence. The town of Norton was elected the county seat in 1874, following the reinstatement of the name of Norton County in February 1874.
Breckenridge		1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized Breckinridge County in 1855, attaching it to Madison County for civil, criminal, and military purposes. It was named for John C. Breckinridge, a United States senator from Kentucky. In 1861, Madison County was abolished, and its northern part was given to Breckinridge County. The county was renamed Lyon County in February 1862 due to Breckinridge’s Confederate sympathies.
Buffalo	Never organized	1879	It was bounded on the north by Lane County, east by Ness and Hodgeman, south by Foote, and west by Sequoyah and Scott Counties. In 1881, the northern tier of townships was taken from Buffalo County and added to Lane County, the remainder being made a part of a new county called Gray, which was later taken to form Finney County.
Calhoun	Holton	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized Calhoun County in August 1855 and named it for John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. The county then embraced the southern part of present-day Jackson County and that part of Shawnee County lying north of the Kansas River. In 1857, the legislature added the northern part of Jackson County. The county was organized in 1857. An election to determine the location of the county seat was held in October 1858, and Holton received a majority of votes. A few days later, the county’s name was changed to Jackson.
Davis	Junction City	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized Calhoun County in August 1855 and named it for Jefferson Davis. It lost territory to Dickinson County in 1857 and Wabaunsee County in 1860; it gained territory from Dickinson in 1860 and Riley in 1873. The county’s name was changed to Geary in March 1889 because Jefferson Davis served as the Confederate States’ President.
Dorn	None	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized Calhoun County in August 1855. It was named in honor of either Earl Van Dorn, an army officer during the Mexican-American War and Indian campaigns, or, more likely, Andrew Jackson Dorn, also a Mexican-American War veteran and Indian agent for the Osage, Quapaw, and Seneca and Shawnee at the Neosho Agency from 1853 to 1861. Both men joined the Confederate Army in 1861, and the county was renamed Neosho. The county was never organized and was divided in June 1861 into the present counties of Neosho and Labette.
Foote	Changed to Gray County.	1879	Named in honor of Andrew Hull Foote, a United States naval officer during the Civil War. The boundaries embraced the present Gray County except the southern tier of Congressional Township. In 1881, the county was attached to Ford County for judicial purposes, and another act of the same session changed the name to Gray.
Garfield	Ravanna and Eminence	1887	Most of the area was in Buffalo County, which was never organized. The rest came from six congressional townships from Finney County and six from Hodgeman County.
Godfrey/Seward/Howard	None	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized Calhoun County in August 1855. In the original act, the name is spelled “Godfroy.” It was named for “Bill” Godfrey, a noted trader among the Osage Indians. It was attached to Allen County for civil and military purposes and was never organized. The name was changed to Seward County in June 1861 in honor of William H. Seward and changed again to Howard County in 1867. In 1875, it was divided into the present counties of Elk and Chautauqua.
Hunter	None	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized Hunter County in August 1855. In 1857, the county was enlarged; in 1860, Irving County was created out of the northern part of Hunter, and in 1864, Butler County was enlarged to include both Irving and Hunter, which disappeared. The more significant portion of what was once the county of Hunter is now included in Cowley County.
Kansas	None	1873	Named in memory of the Kanza Indians, it was located in the southwest corner of Kansas. In 1883, Kansas County disappeared, with Seward County taking its place. Morton County was constructed out of Seward County in 1886, once within Kansas County’s original boundaries.
Lykins	None	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized Lykins County in August 1855. It was named in honor of David Lykins, one of the county’s early settlers and a member of the territorial council. The county’s name was changed to Miami for the Miami Indians in 1861.
Madison	None	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized Madison County in August 1855. In 1861, the territory embraced by the county was divided between Breckenridge (later Lyon) and Greenwood Counties, and Madison County disappeared.
McGee	None	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized McGee County in August 1855. It was named in honor of Mabillon W. McGee, a member of the Kansas House of Representatives in 1855. The county was attached to Bourbon County for all civil and military purposes. In 1860, the name of the county was changed to Cherokee.
Otoe	None	1860	Otoe County was established in February 1860 and named for the Oto Indian tribe. On February 24, 1864, the boundaries of Butler County were enlarged to include Otoe County. Most of the territory once comprising Otoe is included in the present Butler County, with the remainder in the eastern parts of Harvey and Sedgwick Counties.
Peketon	Beach Valley	1860	Peketon County was established in February 1860. The county was never organized due to its low population, and its territory became a part of Marion County in February 1867.
Richardson	None	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized McGee County in August 1855. The territory was made a part of Wabaunsee County in 1859.
St. John	None	1881	It was created in 1881 and named for John P. St. John, then governor of the state. In February 1887, the legislature approved an act changing the name to Logan.
Sequoyah	Garden City	1873	Sequoyah County was created in 1873 by the Kansas Legislature and was attached to Ford County as a township for judicial purposes. The county was 864 square miles in area, being 24 miles from east to west and 36 miles from north to south. It was named for Sequoyah, the Cherokee Indian who invented the written language of his tribe. This was a treeless region. The Arkansas River ran south of the central portion of the county, mainly in a southeasterly direction. Sandhills are in the county’s northeast corner and toward the southeastern part. T. A. Carlon, J. R. Fulton, W. D. Fulton, C. J. Jones and John Stevens were the first settlers in the county in 1878 and 1879. The points in the county are the following railroad stations: Pierceville, Garden City, and Sherlock (Holcomb.) The territory within these boundaries now constitutes the western two-thirds of Finney County, formed in 1883.
Shirley	None	1860	Shirley County was established in 1860. Its name changed to Cloud County in 1867.
Weller	None	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized Weller County in August 1855. The name changed to Osage County in  1859 when the county was organized.
Wise	None	1855	The Kansas Territorial Legislature organized Wise County in August 1855. It was named after Henry A. Wise, governor of Virginia, who was there during the John Brown seizure of Harper’s Ferry. The name changed to Morris County in 1859.

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated December 2024.

Also See:

Cities & Towns

Everyplace in Kansas

Historic Sites

Kansas History

Sources:

Blackmar, Frank W.; Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Vol I; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912.
Cutler, William G; History of Kansas; A. T. Andreas, Chicago, IL, 1883.
Kansas History
Random Acts