Leoti, Kansas

Leoti, pronounced "Lee-OH-Tah." is a city in Wichita County, Kansas, United States. It is also the county seat of Wichita County. In 2020, 1,475 people lived there.

 History 
Leoti was created in 1885. It was created by a group of men from Garden City, Kansas. In 1887, it was involved in the bloodiest county seat fight in the history of the American West. The shooting was on February 27, 1887. Men—some would say hired gunmen—from Leoti, went to the nearby, rival town of Coronado. The gunmen left several people dead and wounded.

There are disagreements about where the name "Leoti" came from: one tradition says the name is an Indian term for "prairie flower"; another says the town was named for settler Leoti Kibbee; a third says it was named for Leoti Gray, the daughter of a town creator. 

Geography
Leoti is at  (38.483388, -101.357648). The United States Census Bureau says that the city has a total area of . All of it is land.

Weather
The Köppen Climate Classification system says that Leoti has a semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

People

2020 census
The 2020 census says that there were 1,475 people, 589 households, and 375 families living in Leoti. Of the households, 72.2% owned their home and 27.8% rented their home.

The median age was 36.9 years. Of the people, 64.3% were White, 1.2% were Native American, 0.1% were Black, 0.1% were Pacific Islanders, 17.2% were from some other race, and 17.0% were two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39.7% of the people.

2010 census
The 2010 census says that there were 1,534 people, 607 households, and 419 families living in Leoti.

Education
Leoti is served by USD 467 Wichita County Schools. The Wichita County High School mascot is Wichita County Indians.

Before school unification, Leoti High School also used the Indians mascot."Leoti 46 Lacrosse 44", Great Bend Tribune, 4 December 1966, p.5.

Famous people
Ben Diggins, baseball player.
Steve Tasker, American football player (retired), sportscaster.

References

Other websites

City
 City of Leoti
 Leoti - Directory of Public Officials
County
 Wichita County 
 Wichita County Museum
Schools
 Wichita County High School
Maps
 Leoti City Map , KDOT

Category:Cities in Kansas
Category:County seats in Kansas
Category:1885 establishments in Kansas