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Douglas County

County

Douglas County Courthouse in Lawrence

Logo

Location within the U.S. state of Kansas

Kansas's location within the U.S.

Country

United States

State

Kansas

Founded

August 25, 1855

Largest city

Lawrence

Area

• Total

475 sq mi (1,230 km²)

• Land

456 sq mi (1,180 km²)

• Water

19 sq mi (50 km²) 4.0%%

Population

(2020)

• Total

118,785

• Estimate

(2021)

119,363

• Density

260.5/sq mi (100.6/km²)

Time zone

UTC−6 (Central)

• Summer (DST)

UTC−5 (CDT)

Area code

785

Congressional districts

1st, 2nd

Douglas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 118,785, making it the fifth-most populous county in Kansas. The county was named after Stephen Douglas, a U.S. Senator from Illinois and advocate for the popular sovereignty choice in the Kansas slavery debate.

History

Early history

For 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 via the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, although the former country kept 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.

19th century

In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1855, Douglas County was established. Douglas County was opened for settlement on May 15, 1854, and was named for Stephen A. Douglas, a senator from Illinois. The county was practically at the center of the Bleeding Kansas years as leaders in Lecompton (the territorial capital) wanted Kansas to be a slave state, whereas leaders in Lawrence wanted Kansas to be a free state. The pro- and anti-slavery settlers held great animosity towards one another, leading to many events, such as the drafting of the Lecompton Constitution (which would have admitted Kansas into the Union as a slave state), the Wakarusa War (1855), the Sack of Lawrence (1856), Battle of Black Jack (1856), and the Lawrence Massacre (1863).

The first railroad in Douglas County, the Kansas Pacific, was built through that territory in 1864.

Geography

Lone Star Lake, which is in southwestern Douglas County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 475 square miles (1,230 km²), of which 456 square miles (1,180 km²) is land and 19 square miles (49 km²) (4.0%) is water. It is the fifth-smallest county in Kansas by land area. Much of its northern boundary is defined by the Kansas River, which flows through Lawrence and provides hydropower at the Bowersock Dam.

Lakes

Adjacent counties

Jefferson County (north)
Leavenworth County (northeast)
Johnson County (east)
Miami County (southeast)
Franklin County (south)
Osage County (southwest)
Shawnee County (northwest)

Demographics

Population pyramid based on 2000 census age data

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	8,637	—
1870	20,592	138.4%
1880	21,700	5.4%
1890	23,961	10.4%
1900	25,096	4.7%
1910	24,724	−1.5%
1920	23,998	−2.9%
1930	25,143	4.8%
1940	25,171	0.1%
1950	34,086	35.4%
1960	43,720	28.3%
1970	57,932	32.5%
1980	67,640	16.8%
1990	81,798	20.9%
2000	99,962	22.2%
2010	110,826	10.9%
2020	118,785	7.2%
2023 (est.)	120,553	8.8%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790-1960 1900-1990 1990-2000 2010-2020

Douglas County comprises the Lawrence, KS Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS Combined Statistical Area.

As of the census of 2000, there were 99,962 people, 38,486 households, and 21,167 families residing in the county. The population density was 219 people per square mile (85 people/km²). There were 40,250 housing units at an average density of 88 per square mile (34/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 86.1% White, 4.2% Black or African American, 2.6% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.3% of the population.

There were 38,486 households, out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.0% were non-families. 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 20.4% under the age of 18, 26.4% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 16.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 98.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,547, and the median income for a family was $53,991. Males had a median income of $35,577 versus $27,225 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,952. About 6.2% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.0% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Scenic view of Rural Douglas County

Universities

Baker University, the state's oldest university, is located in Baldwin City.
Haskell Indian Nations University is located in Lawrence.
University of Kansas (KU) main campus is located in Lawrence.

Unified school districts

Douglas County is served by seven school districts.

Lawrence USD 497 - serves Lawrence, the Clinton Lake area, and parts of rural Douglas County that surround Lawrence.
Baldwin City USD 348 - serves Baldwin City and most of southern Douglas County.
Eudora USD 491 - serves Eudora and the northeast part of the county.

School district office in neighboring county

Perry-Lecompton USD 343 serves Lecompton and most of northwest Douglas County.
Shawnee Heights USD 450 - services the extreme western part of the county including Big Springs.
Santa Fe Trail USD 434 - an Osage County school district that covers the far southwest part of the county.
Wellsville USD 289 - covers extreme southeast Douglas County.

Parks

Clinton Lake, completed in 1980, offers boating, fishing and other water sports and various parks surrounding the lake provides camping and trails for mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding.

Lone Star Lake is a small country lake to the southwest of Lawrence offers fishing, boating and camping. Just northeast of Baldwin City is Douglas State Fishing Lake which provides hunting, fishing and limited camping. Other parks around the county include Black Jack Park which includes the Ivan Boyd Prairie Preserve and Robert Hall Pearson Memorial Park, Broken Arrow Park in Lawrence and Wells Overlook Park just south of Lawrence.

Events

Major events in the county include the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City every third full weekend in October. Lecompton's Territorial Days take place every year in June and Lawrence has many parades throughout the year including Christmas and St. Patrick's Day.

Transportation

Major highways

I-70 / Kansas Turnpike, runs east to west just north of Lawrence.
US-59 runs north to south through the middle of the county and the middle of Lawrence.
US-40 virtually follows the Oregon Trail heading west out of Lawrence.
US-56 runs east to west in the southern half of the county, going through Baldwin City and skirts the Santa Fe Trail.
K-10 runs from the I-70 Lecompton Exchange along the south and west border of Lawrence to US-59 then north until 23rd Street where it heads east out of town into Johnson County.

Other major highways include:

US-24 which is in Grant township leading from Leavenworth to Jefferson County.
K-32 starts just outside Lawrence and leads into Leavenworth County.
K-33 is in extreme southeast Douglas County and leads into Franklin County.

County Highways

Douglas County also maintains an extensive network of county highways to serve the rural areas of the county. None of these county highways is in the Lawrence city limits.

Communities

2005 map of Douglas County (map legend)

List of townships / incorporated cities / unincorporated communities / extinct former communities within Douglas County.

Cities

Unincorporated communities

Ghost towns

Townships

Douglas County is divided into nine townships. The city of Lawrence is considered governmentally independent and is excluded from the census figures for the townships. In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) of significant size included in that township's population total.

Township	FIPS	Population center	Population	Population density /km² (/sq mi)	Land area km² (sq mi)	Water area km² (sq mi)	Water %	Geographic coordinates
Clinton	14325		531	7 (17)	80 (31)	26 (10)	24.41%	38°54′18″N 95°24′20″W / 38.90500°N 95.40556°W / 38.90500; -95.40556
Eudora	21700	Eudora	5,571	43 (113)	128 (49)	2 (1)	1.57%	38°55′42″N 95°6′15″W / 38.92833°N 95.10417°W / 38.92833; -95.10417
Grant	27650		442	10 (27)	43 (16)	0 (0)	0.74%	39°0′8″N 95°13′19″W / 39.00222°N 95.22194°W / 39.00222; -95.22194
Kanwaka	36075		1,317	12 (30)	114 (44)	8 (3)	6.69%	38°57′37″N 95°23′16″W / 38.96028°N 95.38778°W / 38.96028; -95.38778
Lecompton	39175	Lecompton	1,761	20 (51)	90 (35)	2 (1)	2.45%	39°2′31″N 95°24′27″W / 39.04194°N 95.40750°W / 39.04194; -95.40750
Marion	44700		836	5 (12)	185 (72)	1 (0)	0.52%	38°49′4″N 95°24′35″W / 38.81778°N 95.40972°W / 38.81778; -95.40972
Palmyra	54225	Baldwin City	5,760	27 (70)	212 (82)	2 (1)	0.79%	38°47′0″N 95°10′40″W / 38.78333°N 95.17778°W / 38.78333; -95.17778
Wakarusa	74400		2,237	19 (49)	119 (46)	2 (1)	1.81%	38°55′49″N 95°14′43″W / 38.93028°N 95.24528°W / 38.93028; -95.24528
Willow Springs	79500		1,409	10 (26)	141 (54)	1 (0)	0.54%	38°47′23″N 95°18′17″W / 38.78972°N 95.30472°W / 38.78972; -95.30472
Sources:

Map of Douglas County, 1889, from History of Kansas.

Historic townships

The county originally had only four townships. Lecompton comprised the area of Lecompton, Kanwaka, and Clinton townships; Washington took the place of Marion and Willow Springs townships; Wakarusa comprised both Wakarusa and Eudora townships; and Calhoun was the original name of Palmyra township. Grant township was annexed from Jefferson County in 1874.

Notable people

Isaac F. Hughes, Douglas County commissioner and City Council member in both Lawrence, Kansas, and Los Angeles, California.