Cottonwood Falls, Kansas

**Cottonwood Falls** is the biggest city of Chase County, Kansas. It is also the county seat of Chase County. In 2020, 851 people lived there.

## History

The first settlement in the Cottonwood Falls area was in 1854. An Indian trader named Seth Hayes created a cattle ranch on the Cottonwood River. In 1859, the area around the town was organized as Chase County. Cottonwood Falls was chosen to be the temporary county seat. Other early people came in Cottonwood and nearby land from 1856 to 1858.

The first post office in Cottonwood Falls was created in 1858.  In 1873, the city's French Renaissance style Chase County courthouse was built. Around the same time, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway reached Cottonwood Falls area. Through the late 19th century and early 20th century the area around the city was mostly farms and cattle ranches.

## Geography

Cottonwood Falls is at  (38.368211, -96.542755). It is in the Flint Hills of the Great Plains. The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . Of that,  is land and  is water.

### Climate

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

## People

Cottonwood Falls is part of the Emporia Micropolitan Statistical Area.

### 2020 census

The 2020 census says that there were 851 people, 318 households, and 179 families living in Cottonwood Falls. Of the households, 74.2% owned their home and 25.8% rented their home.

The median age was 41.9 years. Of the people, 77.3% were White, 1.9% were Black, 0.9% were Asian, 0.2% were Native American, 0.2% were Pacific Islanders, 14.9% were from some other race, and 4.5% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.7% of the people.

### 2010 census

The 2010 census says that there were 903 people, 342 households, and 205 families living in Cottonwood Falls.

## Education

Cottonwood Falls is part of Unified School District 284.

### Transportation

K-177 highway goes north-south through the city.
Chase County Airport, FAA:9K0, is south-east of 8th St and Airport Rd.

## Things to see

Cottonwood Falls has five things on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
- Cartter Building (NRHP).
- Chase County Courthouse (NRHP). It is the oldest courthouse in continual use in the state of Kansas and one of the oldest in continual use West of the Mississippi.
- Chase County National Bank (NRHP).
- Cottonwood River Bridge (NRHP).
- Samuel N Wood House (NRHP).
- Kansas Historical Marker - _A Landmark Of Distinction_, located in courthouse square.
- Chase Lake Falls

## Famous people

- John Campbell III, U.S. Representative from California, accountant, automobile dealer.
- Dudley Doolittle (1881-1957), U.S. Representative from Kansas, lawyer, banker.
- Harley Martin (1880-1951), Wisconsin state legislator and farmer
- William Morgan (1866-1932), newspaper publisher and editor, author, lieutenant governor of Kansas 1915-19
- Samuel Wood (December 30, 1825 – June 23, 1891), was an American attorney and Kansas politician.

## Related pages

- Great Flood of 1951

## Other websites

- City
- City of Cottonwood Falls
- Cottonwood Falls - Directory of Public Officials
- Chase County Chamber of Commerce
- Schools
- USD 284, school district for all of Chase County.
- USD 284 School District Boundary Map , KDOT
- Historical
- Rockne Memorial , Knute Rockne crash site.
- Poster from Chase County Agricultural Fair from October 7-9, 1891
- Lodging
- Grand Central Hotel
- Maps
- Cottonwood Falls City Map , KDOT
- Topo Map of Cottonwood Falls / Bazaar area, USGS
- Chase County Maps: Current , Historic , KDOT

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Cottonwood Falls, Kansas
- **settlement type**: City and County seat
- **image skyline**: ChaseCounty(KS)Courthouse.JPG
- **image caption**: Chase County Courthouse (Kansas), Chase County Courthouse designed by Kansas State Capitol architect John G. Haskell
- **image map**: Chase_County_Kansas_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Cottonwood_Falls_Highlighted.svg
- **map caption**: Location within Chase County, Kansas, Chase County and Kansas
- **image map1**: Map of Chase Co, Ks, USA.png
- **map caption1**: Kansas Department of Transportation, KDOT map of Chase County, Kansas, Chase 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**: Chase County, Kansas, Chase
- **subdivision type3**: List of townships in Kansas, Township
- **subdivision name3**: Falls Township, Chase County, Kansas, Falls
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1859
- **established title1**: Platted
- **established title2**: Municipal corporation, Incorporated
- **established date2**: 1872
- **named for**: Falls on Cottonwood River (Kansas), Cottonwood River
- **government type**: Mayor–council government, Mayor–Council
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **area total sq mi**: 0.65
- **area land sq mi**: 0.64
- **area water sq mi**: 0.01
- **area total km2**: 1.68
- **area land km2**: 1.67
- **area water km2**: 0.02
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **elevation ft**: 1207
- **population as of**: 2020 United States census, 2020
- **population total**: 851
- **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**: 66845
- **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**: 20-15900
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS ID
- **blank1 info**: 477262