Blue Rapids, Kansas

**Blue Rapids** is a city in Marshall County, Kansas, United States.  In 2020, 928 people lived there.

## History

The first try to create a town below the junction of the rivers was in 1857. It failed. No tried to make a city until 1869–1870. A group of about 50 families from Genesee County, New York came. They bought land and water power rights, and they started building a community. The Blue Rapids Town Company was created. By 1870, 250 people lived there. In 1872, Blue Rapids was incorporated.

In 1870, a stone dam and an iron bridge was built on the Big Blue River. A hydroelectric power plant was added. It would provide power for manufacturing and for the town. The power plant was destroyed by a flood in 1903. In the late 19th century and early 20th century there were four gypsum mines in the area. Around 1910, more than 1,750 people lived in Blue Rapids. The public library was built in 1875. It is the oldest library west of the Mississippi that is still being used in the same building.

Blue Rapids was where the pancreatic cancer drug Streptozotocin was created. The bacterium from which the drug is taken was found in the late 1950s. It was found in a soil sample taken from "an uncultivated sandy soil in a grassland region" at Blue Rapids.

Blue Rapids says it is the smallest town in the U.S. to have hosted a national league baseball game. On October 24, 1913, more than 3,000 people watched the Chicago White Sox and New York Giants play a world tour exhibition game on the local ball field.  that is still in use today.

In 2001, Blue Rapids became the place of a new NOAA Weather Radio transmitter, KZZ67. It would provide weather and emergency information from the National Weather Service in Topeka, Kansas to people living in north-central and northeast Kansas.

## Geography

Blue Rapids is in northeast Kansas. It is near the junction of the Little Blue and Big Blue rivers, at .  Its elevation is  above sea level. It is on highway US-77/K-9. Blue Rapids is  east of Waterville,  south of the county seat Marysville,  west of Frankfort, and  north of Manhattan.  The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . Of that,  is land and  is water.

Georgia-Pacific has a gypsum mine near Blue Rapids.

### 2020 census

The 2020 census says that there were 928 people, 376 households, and 243 families living in Blue Rapids. Of the households, 80.6% owned their home and 19.4% rented their home.

The median age was 43.6 years. Of the people, 95.4% were White, 0.2% were Native American, 1.1% were from some other race, and 3.3% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.6% of the people.

### 2010 census

The 2010 census says that there were 1,019 people, 415 households, and 263 families living in Blue Rapids.

## Education

Blue Rapids is a part of USD 498 Valley Heights. Valley Heights Jr/Sr High School is halfway between the towns of Blue Rapids and Waterville. The Valley Heights mascot is Mustangs.

## Other websites

- City
- City of Blue Rapids
- Blue Rapids – Directory of Public Officials
- Schools
- USD 498, local school district
- History
- History and images
- Maps
- Blue Rapids City Map, KDOT

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Blue Rapids, Kansas
- **settlement type**: City
- **image skyline**: US77LeftKS9aheadSignsRoad-BlueRapids (28267189253).jpg
- **image caption**: (February 2014)
- **image map**: Marshall_County_Kansas_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Blue_Rapids_Highlighted.svg
- **map caption**: Location within Marshall County, Kansas, Marshall County and Kansas
- **image map1**: Map of Marshall Co, Ks, USA.png
- **map caption1**: Kansas Department of Transportation, KDOT map of Marshall County, Kansas, Marshall County (:File:Kansas official transportation map legend.png, legend)
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision type1**: State
- **subdivision name1**: Kansas
- **subdivision type2**: List of counties in Kansas, County
- **subdivision name2**: Marshall County, Kansas, Marshall
- **subdivision type3**: List of townships in Kansas, Township
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1869
- **established title1**: Platted
- **established title2**: Municipal corporation, Incorporated
- **established date2**: March 20, 1872
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **area total sq mi**: 2.01
- **area land sq mi**: 1.99
- **area water sq mi**: 0.02
- **area total km2**: 5.19
- **area land km2**: 5.14
- **area water km2**: 0.05
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **elevation ft**: 1158
- **population as of**: 2020 United States census, 2020
- **population total**: 928
- **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**: 66411
- **area code type**: North American Numbering Plan, Area code
- **area code**: Area code 785, 785
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standards, FIPS code
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS ID
- **blank1 info**: 2394205