Kansas Counties » Greeley - Hodgeman
Greeley County
- County Seat: Tribune
- Coundy Code: GL
- Established: March 20 1873
- Organized: July 9, 1888
- Region in Kansas: West Central
Origin on name: Horace Greeley of Chappaqua, New York, founder and publisher of the New York Tribune, who fought for Kansas' entry into the Union as a free state.
Did you know?
- Greeley County is the least populated county with only 1,247 residents as of the 2010 census.
- In January 2009 Greeley County and the city of Tribune unified to form the Unified Government of Greeley County, one of two unified governments in Kansas (see Wyandotte County). The resulting government consists of a five-member commission with two members elected by city residents, two elected by rural residents and one elected at-large.
- Greeley County is one of four Kansas counties that are in the mountain time zone.
- The city of Tribune is named after the New York Tribune newspaper.
- The Old Greeley County Courthouse, built in 1889, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Greenwood County
- County Seat: Eureka
- County Code: GW
- Established: August 25, 1855
- Organized: March 14, 1862
- Region in Kansas: Southeast
Origin on name: Alfred B. Greenwood, commissioner of Indian affairs who negotiated treaties on behalf of the United States with Indian tribes in southern Kansas.
Did you know?
- Greenwood County was one of the 33 original Kansas Territory counties created by the first act to establish counties passed by the First Territorial Legislature of 1855, but because of an oversight and reorganization of county lines, Greenwood County was not officially organized until 1862.
- Eureka is said to have received its name when town founder Edwin Tucker called out "eureka" when he saw the site where the town would be. "Eureka" is Greek for "I have found it."
- Fall River State Park, a 980-acre park on the southern banks of Fall River Lake is a unique blend of forested flood plains, blackjack savannahs, and tallgrass prairie. Fall River Lake was second in a series of reservoirs in Kansas built by the Army Corps of Engineers.
- More than 7,000 feral horses run free over 60,000 acres of land on ranches in southwestern Greenwood County and Butler County. The Bureau of Land Management moved the horses to Kansas from areas in the western half of the United States more than 10 years ago because there was not enough grassland and water available.
Hamilton County
- County Seat: Syracuse
- County Code: HM
- Established: March 20, 1873
- Organized: January 29, 1886
- Region in Kansas: Southwest
Origin of name: General Alexander Hamilton, first secretary of the treasury, who was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804.
Did you know?
- Hamilton County is one of four Kansas counties that are in the mountain time zone.
- Both Zebulon Pike's (1806) and Stephen Long's (1820) expeditions to the west passed through the county.
- In the 1983 movie National Lampoon's Vacation, starring Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold, the Griswolds visit their cousin Eddie and his family who live on a farm outside of Coolidge.
Notable Residents:
Harper County
- County Seat: Anthony
- County Code: HP
- Established: February 26, 1867
- Organized: August 20, 1873
- Region in Kansas: South Central
Origin of name: Marion Harper, a 1st sergeant of Company E, 2nd Regiment Kansas Cavalry, who was mortally wounded December 29, 1863, at Waldron, Arkansas.
Did you know?
- Harper County was first organized in August 1873, but was determined fraudulent by the attorney general as there was no population and the county was disorganized. The story is told that early settlers near Bluff Creek counted buffalo bones to represent families, and petitioned for Bluff City to be the temporary county seat on that basis. Harper County was reorganized in August 1878.
- The community of Anthony pulled together following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to create a memorial for the victims. Using steel from the World Trade Center towers, limestone from the Pentagon, and soil and ashes from the Pennsylvania crash site, the community created a tribute to the heroes of 9/11. In 2006 the Kansas Legislature designated this memorial as the official 9/11 memorial for the state of Kansas.
- Freeport is known as the smallest incorporated city in Kansas, with a population of 5 as of the 2010 census.
- Anthony Downs, outside of Anthony, is one of only two horse racing tracks in Kansas.
-
Nathaniel Grigsby, a childhood friend of Abraham Lincoln and frequent visitor to the White House, was buried in
Attica. Grigsby's famous political warning can be seen on the restored face of the gravestone:
"Through this inscription I wish to enter my dying protest against what is called the Democratic party. I have watched it closely since the days of Jackson and know that all the misfortunes of our nation have come to it through this so called party. Therefore, beware of this party of treason." - Harper County is experiencing an economic boom as oil companies are trying to tap into the oil-rich Mississippi Limestone formation for shale rock drilling. Plus, BP Wind Energy has built the state's largest wind farm, spanning 66,000 acres of land in Harper, Barber, Kingman and Sumner counties, which will generate enough electricity to power 125,000 homes.
Photo courtesy of Debbie Mangen
Harvey County
- County Seat: Newton
- County Code: HV
- Established: March 7, 1872
- Organized: April 10, 1872
- Region in Kansas: South Central
Origin of name: James M. Harvey, a captain of Company G, 10th Regiment Kansas Infantry, fifth governor of Kansas from 1869 to 1873, and a U.S. senator.
Did you know?
- Bethel College, in North Newton, is the oldest Mennonite college in the nation. It was established in 1887.
- In the 1870s Newton was known as "the wickedest town in the West," primarily due to the gunfight at Hide Park, and was a major railhead for shipping cattle driven from Texas on the Chisholm Trail.
- In 1874 Mennonite immigrants began farming in the region and imported winter wheat seed that was previously successful in Russia. This importation contributed to making Kansas the "bread basket" of the world. The Horizon Milling facility in Newton largely handles hard red winter wheat from the region and mills 850,000 pounds of flour a day, equal to about 1.5 million loaves of bread a day.
- Halstead has been holding its Old Settlers Festival for more than 125 years. The festival is held to recognize and give thanks for the community heritage.
- Elizabeth P. Hoisington, born in Newton, was one of the first women to receive the ranking of general in the U.S. Army.
- Halstead is home to the Kansas Learning Center for Health, which is dedicated to educating children about their bodies and good health. The featured attraction is Valeda, the transparent talking woman.
- Harvey County lies at the crossroads of the continental United States. U.S. Highway 81 (which stretches from Winnipeg, Canada, to Mexico City, Mexico) passes through Harvey County as Main Street in Newton. U.S. Highway 50 runs past the White House in Washington, D.C., through Harvey County, and continues on to Sacramento, California.
- The award-winning movie Picnic was primarily filmed in Halstead.
Notable Residents:
Elizabeth P. Hoisington, Bill Lienhard, Harold Manning, Thomas E. McCall, Adolph Rupp, Milburn Stone
Photo courtesy of Jon Harder
Haskell County
- County Seat: Sublette
- County Code: HS
- Established: March 23, 1887
- Organized: July 1, 1887
- Region in Kansas: Southwest
Origin of name: Dudley C. Haskell, a U.S. representative from Lawrence who died while in office on December 16, 1883.
Did you know?
- The area occupied by Haskell County was originally established as Arapahoe County in 1873, was merged into Finney County in 1883, then was established as Haskell County in 1887.
- The original county seat was a town called Santa Fe, but in 1912 the Santa Fe Railroad was built through Haskell County bypassing Santa Fe by seven miles. Newly formed towns Sublette and Satanta were soon thriving along the new rail line and the county seat was eventually moved to Sublette in 1920.
- Satanta is named after the Kiowa Chief Satanta, who was well known as the orator of the plains because he spoke four American Indian languages as well as Spanish. He was the Kiowa's representative at the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty in 1867.
- Haskell County was where the first cases of Spanish influenza were reported in 1918.
- Four miles south of Satanta near the boundary with Seward County, U.S. Highway 56 crosses the normally dry bed of the Cimarron River. The bridge is 1,395 feet long and is described as the longest bridge over a dry river.
Notable Residents:
Jack Christiansen, Otto Schnellbacher, Gary Spani
Photo courtesy of the Kansas Historical Society
Hodgeman County
- County Seat: Jetmore
- County Code: HG
- Established: February 26, 1867
- Organized: March 29, 1879
- Region in Kansas: Southwest
Origin of name: Amos Hodgman, a captain of Company H, 7th Kansas Cavalry, who died October 16, 1863, of wounds received in action at Wyatt, Mississippi, on October 10, 1863.
Did you know?
- In 1867 35 new counties were established by the Kansas Legislature, one of which was Hageman. The counties were to be organized when they achieved the requisite population.
- An 1868 statute restated all county boundaries, and made some minor changes. The name of Hageman County was changed to Hodgman County (in honor of Amos Hodgman).
- Most likely by accident, a statute of 1873 inserted an "e" in the county's name. Thus, Hodgeman became the legal spelling of the county name.
- The town of Jetmore was originally named Buckner. It took its current name in honor of Abraham Buckles Jetmore, a lawyer from Topeka who was instrumental in securing a railroad line through the town and in arranging for it to become the county seat.
- Horsethief Reservoir near Jetmore is one of Kansas' newest lakes and is one of the largest bodies of water in southwest Kansas. The lake covers 450 acres and the dam is more than 7,200 feet long. The dam was built by the Pawnee Watershed District, which is one of the largest watershed districts in the U.S. covering 1.5 million acres in nine counties in Kansas.
- Hodgeman County holds the annual Sawlog 'n' Strings Bluegrass Festival each August in a densely wooded area near Jetmore. Besides the usual bluegrass workshops, there are also classes provided for learning how to play the saw.