Grant County, Kansas Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Grant County
County
Grant County Courthouse in Ulysses (2015)
Location within the U.S. state of Kansas
Kansas's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Kansas
Founded	March 20, 1873
Named for	Ulysses S. Grant
Seat	Ulysses
Largest city	Ulysses
Area
• Total	575 sq mi (1,490 km²)
• Land	575 sq mi (1,490 km²)
• Water	0.3 sq mi (0.8 km²) 0.06%%
Population (2020)
• Total	7,352
• Estimate (2023)	7,147
• Density	12.8/sq mi (4.9/km²)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st

Grant County is a county in the state of Kansas. It is named after Ulysses S. Grant, who was the 18th President of the United States.

The main city and county seat (the place where the county government is) is Ulysses. This city is also named after President Grant. In 2020, about 7,352 people lived in Grant County.

History of Grant County
Geography of Grant County
- Main Roads
- Neighboring Counties
Population and People
Education
Communities in Grant County
See also

History of Grant County

Grant County has an interesting history, with its borders changing several times.

How Grant County Started

In 1873, a large part of western Kansas was divided into 25 new counties. Grant County was one of these. It was named after Ulysses S. Grant, who was the president at that time. The first survey to mark the county's boundaries happened in the summer of 1874.

Changes to the County Borders

In 1883, some counties in Kansas, including Grant County, disappeared. Grant County was split up. Its western part became part of Hamilton County. The eastern part joined the newly created Finney County.

But Grant County didn't stay gone for long! On June 9, 1888, it was officially re-established. It got its original borders back. The first leaders of the "new" Grant County started their jobs on June 18, 1888.

Legend: Green Lines = present highways, Purple circles = springs, at least in wet years, Blue = creeks, major ravines, & river basins, Gold dot triangles = Indian camps, burial sites, Red 1 = Military Redoubt, Red 2 = "Old" Ulysses. Red 3 = Surprise-Tilden, Red 4 = Cincinnati-Appomattox, Red 5 = Lawson, Red 6 = Waterford, Red 7 = Zionville, Red 8 = Golden, Red 9 = Spanish sword found, Red 10 = Shockeyville, Red 11 = "New" Ulysses

Choosing the County Seat

In October 1888, the people of Grant County voted to choose their county seat. The town of Ulysses won by a lot of votes.

Town Name	Vote count
Ulysses	578
Appomattox	268
Shockeyville	41
Golswn	31
Spurgeon	2

The Dust Bowl Years

In the 1930s, Grant County was hit hard by the Dust Bowl. This was a time when severe dust storms damaged farms across the Great Plains. This natural disaster made the Great Depression even worse for the people living there.

Early Settlements in Grant County

Before Ulysses became the main city, there were other small communities. Some of these early settlements included:

"Old" Ulysses (which later moved to "New" Ulysses in 1909)
Surprise-Tilden
Cincinnati-Appomattox
Shockey (also called Shockeyville)
Golden
Zionville
Lawson
Waterford
Gognac
Spurgeon

Geography of Grant County

Grant County is mostly land. It covers about 575 square miles (1,490 square kilometers). Only a tiny bit, about 0.3 square miles (0.78 square kilometers), is water.

Main Roads

Two important highways run through Grant County:

U.S. Highway 160
Kansas Highway 25

Neighboring Counties

Grant County shares its borders with several other counties:

To the north: Kearny County
To the northeast: Finney County
To the east: Haskell County
To the south: Stevens County
To the west: Stanton County
To the northwest: Hamilton County

Population and People

This chart shows the age groups of people in Grant County based on the 2000 census.

The population of Grant County has changed over the years. Here's how many people lived there at different times:

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1890	1,308	—
1900	422	−67.7%
1910	1,087	157.6%
1920	1,087	0.0%
1930	3,092	184.5%
1940	1,946	−37.1%
1950	4,638	138.3%
1960	5,269	13.6%
1970	5,961	13.1%
1980	6,977	17.0%
1990	7,159	2.6%
2000	7,909	10.5%
2010	7,829	−1.0%
2020	7,352	−6.1%
2023 (est.)	7,147	−8.7%
U.S. Decennial Census

In 2000, there were about 7,909 people living in Grant County. Many families lived there, and about 43.6% of households had children under 18. The average household had about 2.86 people.

The median age in the county in 2000 was 31 years old. This means half the people were younger than 31, and half were older. About 32.8% of the population was under 18.

Education

Grant County has one main school district:

Ulysses USD 214

Communities in Grant County

Map of Grant County, Kansas (2005)

Grant County has one main city and a few smaller communities. It is also divided into three areas called townships.

City

Ulysses (This is the county seat and the only incorporated city.)

Unincorporated Communities

These are smaller places that are not officially cities:

Townships

Area affected by the 1930s Dust Bowl

Grant County is divided into three townships. The population numbers for these townships include the people living in any cities or communities within them.

Township	Population center	Population	Land area km² (sq mi)
Lincoln	Ulysses	7,058	372 (144)
Sherman		498	559 (216)
Sullivan		353	558 (215)

Grant County, Kansas facts for kids

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