Girard, Kansas

**Girard** is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States. It is also the county seat of Crawford County. In 2020, 2,496 people lived there.

## History

Girard was created in the spring of 1868. It was named after the town of Girard, Pennsylvania, the old home of Charles Strong. It was built around a railroad line of the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad. They built it there to try to gain an advantage over its rival, Crawfordsville.

The first post office in Girard was created in September 1868.

The first celebration in Girard happened on July 4, 1868, marking Sunday school and Independence Day. Under a law passed in March 1871, Girard became a third class city. In early April the first city officers were elected. The last meeting of the trustees was held April 5, and the first meeting of the new Council was held on April 7.

In May 2003, four people were killed and over a dozen injured by the biggest tornado in Crawford County. At least ten people died in southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri. The Girard tornado was first rated as an F4, but is a strong candidate for an upgrade to F5 status.

## Geography

Girard is at  (37.508855, -94.84552). The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . Of that,  is land and  is water.

### 2020 census

The 2020 census says that there were 2,496 people, 1,008 households, and 661 families living in Girard. Of the households, 64.9% owned their home and 35.1% rented their home.

The median age was 40.4 years. Of the people, 88.9% were White, 1.9% were Black, 1.0% were Native American, 0.4% were Asian, 0.5% were from some other race, and 7.2% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.6% of the people.

### 2010 census

The 2010 census says that there were 2,789 people, 1,080 households, and 710 families living in Girard.

## Media

_Hometown Girard_ is the local newspaper. It started on February 15, 2013. It is published every two weeks.

## Famous people

- Percy Daniels, Populist lieutenant governor of Kansas 1892-94
- Dennis Franchione, college football coach
- Jane Grant, journalist who co-founded _The New Yorker_
- Dennis Hayden, actor, producer
- Charles Holland, Los Angeles, California, City Council member, 1929–31
- Ron Kramer, football player
- Ruth Stout, author
- Julius Wayland, Socialist propagandist

## Other websites

- City
- City of Girard
- Girard - Directory of Public Officials
- Newspaper
- Hometown Girard, local newspaper
- Schools
- USD 248, local school district
- Historical
- History of Girard
- _“Carnegie Libraries: The Future Made Bright”_, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
- Girard Public Library
- Maps
- Girard City Map , KDOT

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Girard, Kansas
- **settlement type**: City and County seat
- **image skyline**: Crawford County Courthouse, Kansas 9-2-2012.JPG
- **image caption**: Crawford County Courthouse (2012)
- **image map**: Crawford_County_Kansas_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Girard_Highlighted.svg
- **map caption**: Location within Crawford County, Kansas, Crawford County and Kansas
- **image map1**: Map of Crawford Co, Ks, USA.png
- **map caption1**: Kansas Department of Transportation, KDOT map of Crawford County, Kansas, Crawford 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**: Crawford County, Kansas, Crawford
- **subdivision type3**: List of townships in Kansas, Township
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1868
- **established title1**: Platted
- **established title2**: Municipal corporation, Incorporated
- **established date2**: 1869
- **named for**: Girard, Pennsylvania
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **area total sq mi**: 2.37
- **area land sq mi**: 2.33
- **area water sq mi**: 0.04
- **area total km2**: 6.14
- **area land km2**: 6.05
- **area water km2**: 0.10
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **elevation ft**: 991
- **population as of**: 2020 United States census, 2020
- **population total**: 2496
- **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**: 66743
- **area code type**: North American Numbering Plan, Area code
- **area code**: Area code 620, 620
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standard, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 20-26300
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS ID
- **blank1 info**: 485582