Paola, Kansas

**Paola**  is a city in Miami County, Kansas, United States. It is also the county seat. In 2020, 5,768 people lived there.

## History

At the start of the 19th century, the area was mostly controlled by the Osage people.

Settlement of the area happened when Kaskaskia, Peoria, Wea, and Piankeshaw tribes were forced to move to the area between 1827 and 1832. These created the Confederated Allied Tribe. It was led by Baptiste Peoria, who was of both French and Indian ethnicity. They called their settlement **Peoria Village**.

In 1912, James Patterson moved to Paola. He did this to create his winter headquarters for his traveling circus. It was called the Patterson Circus. The circus continued until 1927. A wall mural about it is at 106 W. Peoria. The Patterson's home is still in Paola on the 600 block of north Mulberry. It is the only remaining building from the circus winter headquarters.

## Geography

Paola is at  (38.573599, -94.873456). The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . Of that,  is land and  is water.

### Climate

Paola has hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.  The Köppen Climate Classification system says that Paola has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

### 2020 census

In 2020, there were 5,768 people, 2,396 households, and 1,440 families living in Paola. Of the households, 60.3% owned their home and 39.7% rented their home.

The median age was 40.5 years. Of the people, 88.2% were White, 2.3% were Black, 0.5% were Native American, 0.4% were Asian, 0.1% were Pacific Islanders, 1.1% were from some other race, and 7.5% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.7% of the people.

### 2010 census

In 2010, there were 5,602 people, 2,173 households, and 1,407 families living in Paola.

## Education

- USD 368 offers education to children in grades K-12 with some education opportunities for adults as well.
    - Cottonwood Elementary (grades K-2)
    - Sunflower Elementary (grades 3-5)
    - Hillsdale Elementary (grades K-5) (closed)
    - Paola Middle School (grades 6-8)
    - Paola High School (grades 9-12)
    - Paola Adult Education Center
- Holy Trinity Catholic School is a private school offering education for grades kindergarten through eight.
- Fort Scott Community College is a community college with a satellite campus in Paola.

## Other websites

- City
- City of Paola
- Paola - Directory of Public Officials
- Paola Chamber of Commerce
- Schools
- USD 368, local school district
- Videos
- Paola Today, youtube.com
- History of Paola, youtube.com
- Maps
- Paola City Map , KDOT

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Paola, Kansas
- **settlement type**: City and County seat
- **image skyline**: Downtown paola kansas2 2009.jpg
- **image caption**: Downtown Paola (2009)
- **image map**: Miami_County_Kansas_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Paola_Highlighted.svg
- **map caption**: Location within Miami County, Kansas, Miami County and Kansas
- **image map1**: Map of Miami Co, Ks, USA.png
- **map caption1**: Kansas Department of Transportation, KDOT map of Miami County, Kansas, Miami County (:File:Kansas official transportation map legend.png, legend)
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision type1**: U.S. state, State
- **subdivision name1**: Kansas
- **subdivision type2**: List of counties in Kansas, County
- **subdivision name2**: Miami County, Kansas, Miami
- **subdivision type3**: List of townships in Kansas, Township
- **established title**: Founded
- **established title1**: Platted
- **established title2**: Municipal corporation, Incorporated
- **established date2**: 1855
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **leader name**: Leigh House
- **area total sq mi**: 5.51
- **area land sq mi**: 5.09
- **area water sq mi**: 0.42
- **area total km2**: 14.28
- **area land km2**: 13.19
- **area water km2**: 1.09
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **elevation ft**: 906
- **population as of**: 2020 United States census, 2020
- **population total**: 5768
- **population density sq mi**: auto
- **population density km2**: auto
- **timezone**: Central Time Zone, CST
- **utc offset**: -6
- **timezone dst**: CDT
- **utc offset dst**: -5
- **postal code type**: ZIP code
- **postal code**: 66071
- **area code type**: North American Numbering Plan, Area code
- **area code**: Area code 913, 913
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standard, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 20-54250
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS ID
- **blank1 info**: 485640