Galena, Kansas
Galena is a city in Cherokee County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,085. History. Although the railroad was built through the territory of Galena in 1871, the community did not start until the discovery of lead there in the spring of 1877. The first post office was established in 1877. The city was originally platted by the "Galena Mining and Smelting Company" and was to be known as Cornwall. The city was actually known as Short Creek when first established because of a nearby creek and was known as Bonanza briefly  before taking the present name of Galena in 1877, which is named after the lead ore galena found in the area. The city was part of the tri state mining area and had over 30,000 inhabitants. After the mines closed in the 1970s, population decreased. The Jayhawk Ordnance Works northwest of Galena, built during World War II, was a large ordnance plant producing ammonium nitrate. After the war it was privatized by its operator Kenneth Aldred Spencer and at one point was the world's largest producer of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in the world. It would form the basis for  the Spencer Chemical Company's fortune which would eventually be funneled into numerous philanthropies throughout Missouri and Kansas. The Spencer family had been in the area because of their ownership of the Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company mining operation. The plant is still in operation as the Jayhawk Fine Chemicals Corporation. Geography. Galena is located at (37.074459, -94.635549). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. Galena is the eastern end of the segment of U.S. Route 66 that passes through Kansas. Demographics. The town's population has  dropped by 70% since 1900. 2010 census. As of the census of 2010, there were 3,085 people, 1,198 households, and 792 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,429 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.0% White, 0.4% African American, 3.0% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 1.3% from other races, and 4.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.6% of the population. There were 1,198 households, of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.2% were married couples  living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.9% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.04. The median age in the city was 39.1 years. 25.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.7% were from 25 to 44; 27.2% were from 45 to 64 ; and 15.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.3% male and 50.7% female. Superfund site. In 1983 as a result of historic practices involved in the mining and smelting of toxic metals, including the deposition of lead, zinc, antimony and cadmium, the Cherokee County Superfund site was listed on the EPA's National Priorities List (NPL). These sites include the most serious abandoned hazardous waste sites in the United States and represent the priority list for remedial action under the Superfund program. The site consists of approximately 115 square miles, divided into  seven subsites including Galena. The Cherokee County site encompasses the Kansas portion of the Tri-State district, the latter including Northeastern Oklahoma and Southwestern Missouri. Acidic waters in mine shafts throughout the site, chat piles, tailings impoundments, and surface waters both in mine pits and streams draining the site contain substantial concentrations of these toxic wastes. Education. The community is served by Galena USD 499 public school district. Galena is home to Galena High School. In 1916 the Kansas Supreme Court heard a case where the school superintendent separated the African American ("colored") children and had them taught together from  various grades by an African American teacher. The court rejected the district's decision making and requires students of different backgrounds be taught together.