Finney County, Kansas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Finney County
County
Finney County Courthouse in Garden City (2015)
Location within the U.S. state of Kansas
Kansas's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Kansas
Founded	February 22, 1883
Named for	David W. Finney
Seat	Garden City
Largest city	Garden City
Area
• Total	1,303 sq mi (3,370 km2)
• Land	1,302 sq mi (3,370 km2)
• Water	0.7 sq mi (2 km2)  0.05%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	38,470
• Density	29.5/sq mi (11.4/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st

Finney County is a county in the state of Kansas. It's like a special area within the state. The main city and where the county government is located is Garden City. In 2020, about 38,470 people lived here. The county was named after David Wesley Finney, who was the Lieutenant Governor of Kansas from 1881 to 1885. In 2020, more than half of the people in Finney County were Hispanic. This makes it one of the few counties in Kansas with a Hispanic majority.

History

How Finney County Started

Finney County was first set up in 1867. It was named after Lieutenant Governor David Finney. The first white settlers came to the area in 1878. They built their homes near the Arkansas River.

Around 1880, Finney County was actually two different counties. They were called Buffalo County and Sequoyah County. Sequoyah County was named after Sequoyah, a Cherokee Indian. He created the Cherokee alphabet. Later, these two counties joined together. They were renamed Finney County to honor David Finney. The county grew to its current size in 1893. This happened when Garfield County became part of it.

Growing Up in Finney County

The town of Garden City began in 1879. It was started by a cattle company. They used it as a place to ship cattle. These cattle were driven along the Jones & Plummer Trail. Garden City grew quickly when railroads arrived in 1888. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroads helped it become a busy hub.

In its early days, Garden City was a lively frontier town. It had places for gambling and dancing. But it soon became a big farming center. It was important for southwest Kansas.

Other towns like Holcomb, Kalvesta, and Pierceville also started in the 1880s. Finney County became a rich area for growing wheat and raising cattle. The number of people living in the county grew a lot. It went from only 537 people in 1880 to over 5,000 by 1890. Many new settlers moved in.

In 1893, the old Garfield County joined Finney County. It became known as Garfield Township. Garfield County had been created in 1887. But it had trouble getting enough people and money. By 1910, Finney County had over 10,000 people. Farming became very important in the area.

Geography

Where is Finney County?

Finney County is a large area of land. It covers about 1,303 square miles. Most of this is land, about 1,302 square miles. Only a tiny bit, 0.7 square miles, is water. This means water makes up only 0.05% of the county. Finney County is the second-largest county in Kansas by size.

Neighboring Counties

Finney County shares its borders with several other counties:

Who Lives Here?

This is a Population pyramid. It shows how many people of different ages lived in Finney County in 2000.

Finney County is part of the Garden City, KS Micropolitan Statistical Area. This means it's a smaller city area that is important for its region.

Population Changes Over Time

The number of people living in Finney County has changed a lot over the years.

People of Finney County

In 2010, there were 36,776 people living in Finney County. There were 12,359 households. A household is a group of people living in the same home. About 8,903 of these were families.

The people living in the county came from many different backgrounds. About 77% were White. About 2.3% were Black or African American. About 0.9% were Native American. About 3.4% were Asian. A small number were Pacific Islander. About 13.6% were from other races. And 2.9% were from two or more races. A large group, 46.7%, were Hispanic or Latino.

Learning in Finney County

Finney County has two main school districts. These districts manage the public schools in the area.

Unified School Districts

• Holcomb USD 363
• Garden City USD 457

Places to Live

This map from 2005 shows the different parts of Finney County.

Finney County has several cities and smaller communities. Some places are called "unincorporated communities." This means they don't have their own local government like a city does. Some communities are also called "Census-Designated Places" (CDP). This means the U.S. Census Bureau counts them as a specific place.

Main Cities

These are the biggest cities in Finney County:

Smaller Towns

These are smaller communities in Finney County:

Old Towns

These are places that used to be towns but are now "ghost towns." This means no one lives there anymore.

• Eminence
• Ravanna

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Finney para niños