Barton County, Kansas

Barton County
	Barton County, Kansas
	Map
	; Location in the state of Kansas
	; Kansas's location in the U.S.
	Statistics
Founded	February 26, 1867
Seat	Great Bend
Largest City	Great Bend
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 901 sq mi (2,334 km²); 895 sq mi (2,318 km²); 5.2 sq mi (13 km²), 0.6%
Population; - Density	; ;
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
	Named for: Clara Barton

Barton County (standard abbreviation: BT) is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. In 2020, 25,493 people lived there.^[1] Its county seat is Great Bend. Great Bend is also the biggest city in Barton County.^[2] The county is named after Clara Barton. She was responsible for creating the American Red Cross.^[3]

History

In 1867, Barton County was created. It was named after Clara Barton. It is the only Kansas county named after a woman.^[4]

Geography

Barton County was drawn in the shape of a 30-by-30-mile (48 by 48 km) square.^[5] The U.S. Census Bureau says that the county has a total area of 901 square miles (2,330 km²). Of that, 895 square miles (2,320 km²) is land and 5.2 square miles (13 km²) (0.6%) is water.^[6] The geographic center of Kansas is in Barton County.

Major highways

Sources: National Atlas,^[7] U.S. Census Bureau^[8]

People

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1880	10,318	—
1890	13,172	27.7%
1900	13,784	4.6%
1910	17,876	29.7%
1920	18,422	3.1%
1930	19,776	7.3%
1940	25,010	26.5%
1950	29,909	19.6%
1960	32,368	8.2%
1970	30,663	−5.3%
1980	31,343	2.2%
1990	29,382	−6.3%
2000	28,205	−4.0%
2010	27,674	−1.9%
U.S. Decennial Census^[9] 1790-1960^[10] 1900-1990^[11] 1990-2000^[12] 2010-2020^[1]

Population pyramid

The Great Bend Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Barton County.

Government

Presidential elections

Prior to 1940, Barton County was a Democratic-leaning swing county in presidential elections, being a national bellwether from 1912 to 1936. From 1940 on, it has become a Republican Party stronghold, with the solitary Democratic Party presidential candidate to carry it since then being Lyndon B. Johnson in his national landslide of 1964.

Presidential election results

**Presidential election results**^[13]
Year	Republican	Democratic	Third Parties
2024	77.3% 8,205	20.8% 2,207	1.9% 205
2020	77.2% 8,608	21.0% 2,340	1.8% 202
2016	76.3% 7,888	17.8% 1,839	5.9% 612
2012	76.1% 7,874	22.2% 2,297	1.6% 170
2008	70.6% 7,802	27.4% 3,027	2.1% 228
2004	74.0% 8,666	24.6% 2,874	1.4% 166
2000	66.7% 7,302	29.6% 3,238	3.8% 415
1996	64.9% 7,855	25.8% 3,121	9.3% 1,123
1992	37.7% 5,113	28.3% 3,846	34.0% 4,623
1988	59.2% 7,741	38.4% 5,024	2.4% 310
1984	75.6% 10,232	23.0% 3,111	1.4% 195
1980	66.0% 9,147	26.4% 3,663	7.5% 1,042
1976	55.6% 7,311	41.8% 5,497	2.5% 334
1972	68.9% 8,479	28.3% 3,481	2.9% 352
1968	54.9% 6,700	36.6% 4,464	8.6% 1,044
1964	39.5% 4,826	60.1% 7,340	0.5% 55
1960	55.6% 7,599	44.2% 6,036	0.2% 30
1956	66.2% 8,644	33.5% 4,378	0.3% 41
1952	70.4% 9,380	28.9% 3,847	0.7% 92
1948	53.4% 6,191	45.8% 5,307	0.9% 102
1944	59.4% 5,547	40.3% 3,761	0.4% 37
1940	54.4% 6,011	45.1% 4,982	0.5% 50
1936	37.1% 3,534	62.8% 5,978	0.1% 5
1932	40.9% 3,365	58.0% 4,776	1.2% 97
1928	63.9% 4,966	35.8% 2,777	0.3% 24
1924	56.5% 4,109	22.1% 1,605	21.5% 1,560
1920	68.8% 3,993	29.1% 1,688	2.2% 125
1916	44.5% 2,891	50.6% 3,292	4.9% 319
1912	17.0% 692	50.9% 2,069	32.1% 1,308
1908	44.8% 1,729	52.0% 2,004	3.2% 124
1904	58.2% 1,939	37.1% 1,235	4.7% 158
1900	46.5% 1,564	52.6% 1,772	0.9% 30
1896	42.6% 1,215	56.6% 1,616	0.8% 24
1892	43.1% 1,381		56.9% 1,823
1888	49.2% 1,353	44.6% 1,228	6.2% 171

Education

Unified school districts

The five school districts are part of the special education area of Barton County called Barton County Special Services.

Community colleges

Barton Community College

Communities

2005 KDOT Map of Barton County (map legend)

Cities