Haskell County, Kansas

Haskell County (county code HS) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 4,256.[1] Its county seat and most populous city is Sublette.[2]

Haskell County
County
Haskell County Court House in Sublette
Location within the U.S. state of Kansas
Kansas's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 37°34′00″N 100°52′01″W
Country United States
State Kansas
FoundedMarch 23, 1887
Named forDudley Haskell
SeatSublette
Largest citySublette
Area
 • Total578 sq mi (1,500 km2)
 • Land578 sq mi (1,500 km2)
 • Water0.4 sq mi (1 km2)  0.06%%
Population
 • Estimate 
(2018)
3,997
 • Density7.4/sq mi (2.9/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district1st
WebsiteHaskellCounty.org

History

Haskell County was founded in 1887.[3] It was named for Dudley C. Haskell, a former member of Congress.[3]

Origin of the Spanish flu pandemic

John M. Barry, Distinguished Visiting Scholar, the Center for Bioenvironmental Research of Tulane and Xavier Universities, New Orleans, Louisiana, concluded that Haskell County was the location of the first outbreak of the 1918 flu pandemic (nicknamed "Spanish flu"), which killed between 21 and 100 million people.[4][5] Dr. Loring Miner, a Haskell County doctor, warned the editors of Public Health Reports of the U.S. Public Health Service about the new and more deadly variant of the virus. It produced the common influenza symptoms with a new intensity: "violent headache and body aches, high fever, non-productive cough. . . . This was violent, rapid in its progress through the body, and sometimes lethal. This influenza killed. Soon dozens of patients—the strongest, the healthiest, the most robust people in the county—were being struck down as suddenly as if they had been shot." [6] Barry writes that in the first six months of 1918, Miner's warning of "the influenza of a severe type" was the only reference in that journal to influenza anywhere in the world.[7]

Haskell County, Kansas, is the first recorded instance anywhere in the world of an outbreak of influenza so unusual that a physician warned public health officials. It remains the first recorded instance suggesting that a new virus was adapting, violently, to man.

If the virus did not originate in Haskell, there is no good explanation for how it arrived there. There were no other known outbreaks anywhere in the United States from which someone could have carried the disease to Haskell and no suggestions of influenza outbreaks in either newspapers or reflected in vital statistics anywhere else in the region. And unlike the 1916 outbreak in France, one can trace with perfect definiteness the route of the virus from Haskell to the outside world.[4]

Miner's report was not published until April 1918 and it failed to collect the attention it needed. It was not until after 2000 that historians' research revealed the origin of one of the deadliest epidemics in human history.

Historians have generally reported that the path of the disease from Haskell to the world occurred when newly inducted soldiers from the county traveled 200 miles from the county to Camp Funston (now Fort Riley) and were then deployed to Europe at the beginning of United States involvement in World War I.[4]

Surviving the Dust Bowl

The railroad and the development of oil and gas fields in the 1930s, and the locating of many deep wells for irrigation significantly improved the economy of the area helping overcome the "dust bowl" of that period.[8] Haskell County was one of the hardest hit counties in the Midwest during the drought of 1930–1937.

The first rodeo and fair was held in Sublette in 1916 and the fair continues at the same location. The first school district was founded in Santa Fe in 1887. Amanda I. Watkins, who owned a considerable amount of land in the county, was named "World Wheat Queen" in 1926.[8]

Geography
Satellite image of circular crop fields in Haskell County in late June 2001.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 578 square miles (1,500 km2), of which 578 square miles (1,500 km2) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) (0.06%) is water.[9]

Haskell County is the flattest county in Kansas.[10]

Adjacent counties

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
18901,077—
1900457−57.6%
1910993117.3%
19201,45546.5%
19302,80592.8%
19402,088−25.6%
19502,60624.8%
19602,99014.7%
19703,67222.8%
19803,8143.9%
19903,8861.9%
20004,30710.8%
20104,256−1.2%
2018 (est.)3,997[11]−6.1%
U.S. Decennial Census[12]
1790-1960[13] 1900-1990[14]
1990-2000[15] 2010-2016[1]
Population pyramid

As of the U.S. Census in 2000,[16] there were 4,307 people, 1,481 households, and 1,153 families residing in the county. The population density was 8 people per square mile (3/km2). There were 1,639 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile (1/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 85.07% White, 0.63% Asian, 0.58% Native American, 0.19% Black or African American, 11.45% from other races, and 2.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.57% of the population.

There were 1,481 households, out of which 43.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.40% were married couples living together, 5.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.10% were non-families. 20.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family size was 3.35.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 32.90% under the age of 18, 9.10% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 19.50% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 103.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,634, and the median income for a family was $43,354. Males had a median income of $31,296 versus $22,857 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,349. About 8.00% of families and 11.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.40% of those under age 18 and 9.40% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Presidential elections

As do most counties in rural western Kansas, Haskell County leans heavily Republican. However, in 2016, the Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, got a higher share of the county's vote than Barack Obama did in 2012. The last time Haskell County was carried by a Democratic presidential nominee was 1964, when Lyndon B. Johnson won the county as part of his nationwide landslide victory.

Presidential election results
Presidential election results[17]
Year Republican Democratic Third Parties
2016 76.8% 1,040 18.1% 245 5.1% 69
2012 83.0% 1,159 15.4% 215 1.6% 22
2008 81.3% 1,277 17.7% 278 1.0% 15
2004 84.8% 1,356 14.2% 227 1.0% 16
2000 81.9% 1,323 16.3% 263 1.9% 30
1996 73.6% 1,143 19.6% 304 6.9% 107
1992 56.0% 1,023 18.4% 336 25.6% 467
1988 67.4% 964 29.9% 427 2.7% 39
1984 79.3% 1,152 19.5% 283 1.2% 17
1980 67.7% 1,014 25.0% 374 7.4% 111
1976 52.0% 761 46.2% 676 1.8% 27
1972 71.6% 1,036 26.5% 383 2.0% 29
1968 54.2% 762 33.8% 476 12.0% 169
1964 40.5% 570 58.2% 820 1.4% 19
1960 64.2% 853 35.5% 471 0.3% 4
1956 70.5% 829 29.0% 341 0.5% 6
1952 74.3% 870 24.2% 283 1.5% 18
1948 54.7% 592 43.0% 466 2.3% 25
1944 59.9% 520 39.4% 342 0.7% 6
1940 58.5% 607 40.9% 425 0.6% 6
1936 41.4% 442 58.6% 626 0.1% 1
1932 40.5% 456 56.8% 639 2.8% 31
1928 73.4% 646 25.2% 222 1.4% 12
1924 65.1% 493 22.1% 167 12.8% 97
1920 69.6% 444 23.5% 150 6.9% 44
1916 36.2% 248 51.0% 349 12.9% 88
1912 25.4% 61 41.7% 100 32.9% 79
1908 48.7% 172 39.4% 139 11.9% 42
1904 69.8% 120 26.7% 46 3.5% 6
1900 64.2% 79 35.8% 44 0.0% 0
1896 58.7% 81 39.1% 54 2.2% 3
1892 61.5% 177 38.5% 111
1888 55.0% 291 37.2% 197 7.8% 41

Laws

Although the Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 to allow the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with the approval of voters, Haskell County has remained a prohibition, or "dry", county.[18]

Education

Unified school districts

Communities
2005 KDOT Map of Haskell County (map legend)

Cities

Unincorporated community
  • Tice

Townships

Haskell County is divided into three townships. None of the cities within the county are considered governmentally independent, and all figures for the townships include those of the cities. In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size.

TownshipFIPSPopulation
center		 PopulationPopulation
density
/km2 (/sq mi)		 Land area
km2 (sq mi)		Water area
km2 (sq mi)		Water % Geographic coordinates
Dudley188251,8144 (9)499 (193)0 (0)0.03%37°30′40″N 101°0′28″W
Haskell306251,9714 (10)498 (192)0 (0)0.07%37°32′25″N 100°51′43″W
Lockport416755221 (3)498 (192)0 (0)0.09%37°34′19″N 100°43′11″W
Sources: "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files". U.S. Census Bureau, Geography Division. Archived from the original on 2002-08-02.

See also

References
  1. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 6, 2011. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  3. Blackmar, Frank Wilson (1912). Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc. Standard Publishing Company. p. 826.
  4. Barry, John M (20 January 2004). "The site of origin of the 1918 influenza pandemic and its public health implications". Journal of Translational Medicine. 2 (1): 3. doi:10.1186/1479-5876-2-3. ISSN 1479-5876. PMC 340389. PMID 14733617.
  5. The 1918 Spanish Flu-A Conspiracy of Silence on YouTube
  6. John M. Barry, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History (New York: Penguin Books, c2004, 2005) p. 93.
  7. , John M. Barry, The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History (New York: Penguin Books, c2004, 2005) pp. 94-95.
  8. Haskell County, Kansas, Kansapedia. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  9. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
  10. Brackman, Barbara (1997). Kansas Trivia. Thomas Nelson Inc. p. 12. ISBN 9781418553814.
  11. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  12. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  13. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  14. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  15. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  16. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  17. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections".
  18. "Map of Wet and Dry Counties". Alcoholic Beverage Control, Kansas Department of Revenue. November 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2007-01-21.

Further reading
See also: List of books about State of Kansas (which includes historical information about its counties and cities too)
County
Maps

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