Reno County, Kansas


Reno County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 64,511. The largest city and county seat is Hutchinson.

History

Early history

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.

19th century

In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping title to about 7,500 square miles. 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 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1867, Reno County was established.
In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway extended its main line from Herington to Pratt. This main line connected Herington, Ramona, Tampa, Durham, Waldeck, Canton, Galva, McPherson, Groveland, Inman, Medora, Hutchinson, Whiteside, Partridge, Arlington, Langdon, Turon, Preston, Natrona, Pratt. In 1888, this main line was extended to Liberal. Later, this line was extended to Tucumcari, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. This line is called the "Golden State Limited".

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is the third-largest county by area in Kansas.

Adjacent counties

The Hutchinson Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Reno County.
As of the census of 2000, there were 64,790 people, 25,498 households, and 17,313 families residing in the county. The population density was 52 people per square mile. There were 27,625 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 91.56% White, 2.88% Black or African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.69% from other races, and 1.81% from two or more races. 5.65% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 25,498 households out of which 30.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.90% were married couples living together, 8.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.10% were non-families. 27.90% 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 2.41 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the county, the population was spread out with 24.50% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from 45 to 64, and 16.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 100.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.00 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $35,510, and the median income for a family was $42,643. Males had a median income of $31,495 versus $21,329 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,520. About 8.10% of families and 10.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.90% of those under age 18 and 8.50% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Reno County is strongly Republican. The last time a Democratic candidate won the county was in 1976 when Jimmy Carter did so. However, 1988 was somewhat close as Michael Dukakis lost the county by only 5 percentage points due to a persistent drought and farm crisis.

Presidential elections

Laws

Reno 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 2004.

Education

Unified school districts

Cities

Reno County is divided into thirty-one townships. The cities of Hutchinson and Nickerson 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 included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size.
TownshipFIPSPopulation
center		PopulationPopulation
density
/km² 		Land area
km² 		Water area
km² 		Water %Geographic coordinates
Albion00875Pretty Prairie8379 97 0 0.02%
Arlington02350Arlington6217 94 0 0.03%
Bell05350871 98 0 0.11%
Castleton110002562 140 0 0.01%
Center12050Partridge6727 94 0 0.17%
Clay136003,30238 88 1 0.58%
Enterprise214751391 93 0 0.06%
Grant280251,30711 114 1 1.25%
Grove29025641 93 0 0.06%
Haven30750Haven1,59211 143 1 0.41%
Hayes310001061 186 0 0.06%
Huntsville335501181 93 0 0.11%
Langdon38525Langdon1602 94 0 0.16%
Lincoln410507038 93 0 0.07%
Little River41550Buhler1,88120 93 1 0.57%
Loda417001191 98 0 0.27%
Medford454501442 83 0 0.18%
Medora456001,59421 77 0 0%
Miami46125Turon5215 98 0 0.15%
Ninnescah507002263 79 27 25.53%
Plevna56750Plevna2353 94 0 0.04%
Reno58975South Hutchinson4,49650 90 2 1.65%
Roscoe611501081 98 0 0%
Salt Creek628504833 139 1 0.39%
Sumner692005475 106 7 6.13%
Sylvia69825Sylvia3934 93 0 0.34%
Troy716001121 94 0 0.16%
Valley730758876 143 1 0.90%
Walnut751001141 94 0 0%
Westminster77175Abbyville2433 94 0 0%
Yoder807757428 96 1 1.03%