Wyandotte County, Kansas

Wyandotte County (; county code WY) is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. In 2010 census, 157,505 people lived there. This would make it the county with the fourth-most number of people Kansas. Its county seat is Kansas City. Kansas City is also the biggest city in Wyandotte County. It has a unified government.  Wyandotte County west of Kansas City, Missouri.

History

The Wyandot
The county is named after the Wyandot (also known as Wyandott or Wyandotte) Native Americans. They were called the Huron by the French in Canada, but they called themselves Wendat.  They were distantly related to the Iroquois. They had hoped to stop white Americans from moving into their territory. They also hoped to make the Ohio River the border between the United States and Canada.

Other historical facts
The county was organized in 1859.  Tenskwatawa (Tecumseh's brother), "the Prophet", fought at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. He was buried at Shawnee Native American historical site Whitefeather Spring. The Kansas City Smelting and Refining Company employed over 250 men during the 1880s.

The Delaware Crossing (or "Military Crossing"; sometimes "the Secondine") was where the old Indian trail met the waters of the Kaw River. Circa 1831, Moses Grinter (one of the earliest permanent white settlers in the area) created the Grinter Ferry on the Kansas River here. His house was known as the Grinter Place. The ferry was used by people (such as traders, freighters, and soldiers) traveling between Fort Leavenworth and Fort Scott on the military road. Others would cross this area on their way to Santa Fe.

Geography
The U.S. Census Bureau says that the county has a total area of . Of that,  is land and  (2.9%) is water. It is the smallest county by area in Kansas.

People

Wyandotte County is included in the Kansas City, MO-KS Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Government

Presidential elections

Unlike almost every other county in Kansas, Wyandotte County has been solidly Democratic ever since the New Deal. The only Democrat to lose Wyandotte County since 1932 has been George McGovern in 1972. Wyandotte was the only county in Kansas to vote for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, Adlai Stevenson II in both 1952 and 1956, Hubert Humphrey in 1968, Jimmy Carter in 1980, and Walter Mondale in 1984.

Economy
Village West, has helped the economy in KCK and Wyandotte County grow. At Village West, there are companies like Hollywood Casino, Legends Outlets Kansas City, Schlitterbahn Vacation Village, Cabela's, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Great Wolf Lodge, T-Bones Stadium (home to the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association) and Children's Mercy Park (home of Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer).

Education

Colleges and universities
Public
 Kansas City Kansas Community College
 University of Kansas Medical Center
Private
 Donnelly College

School Districts
 Turner USD 202
 Piper USD 203
 Bonner Springs USD 204
 Kansas City USD 500

Private schools
Primary
 Resurrection Grade School (formerly St. Peter's Cathedral Grade School)
 St. Patrick's Grade School
 Christ the King Grade School
Secondary
 Bishop Ward High School

Other schools
 Kansas State School for the Blind (KSSB)

Communities

Incorporated cities
 Kansas City
 Bonner Springs (partly in Leavenworth and Johnson counties)
 Edwardsville
 Lake Quivira (partly in Johnson County)

References

Notes

More reading
 Historic Preservation .  Kansas City, Kansas, Urban Planning & Land Use
 Sween, Argentine Pictures . Interactive Genealogy.  Pictorial History of Wyandotte County, KS.
 Historical Wyandotte County . Kansas Heritage, Kansas Community Network.
 Views of the Past .  Kansas City, Kansas Bicentennial Commission.
 Sween, Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. Virtual Bonner Springs, KS.
 
 Tuttle and Pike's Atlas of Kansas City, Kansas; Tuttle & Pike; 13 pages; 1907.
 Complete Set of Surveys and Plats or Properties in Wyandotte County and Kansas City Kansas; G.M. Hopkins & Co; 51 pages; 1887.

Other websites

County
 
 Wyandotte County - Directory of Public Officials
Other
 Kansas City / Wyandotte County Convention and Visitors Bureau
 Wyandotte County Economic Development Council
Historical
 Wyandotte County Kansas History and Heritage Project
Maps
 Wyandotte County Maps: Current, Historic, KDOT
 Kansas Highway Maps: Current, Historic, KDOT
 Kansas Railroad Maps: Current, 1996, 1915, KDOT and Kansas Historical Society

Kansas counties
1859 establishments in Kansas Territory