Harper County, Kansas

Harper County
	Harper County, Kansas
	Map
	; Location in the state of Kansas
	; Kansas's location in the U.S.
	Statistics
Founded	February 26, 1867
Seat	Anthony
Largest City	Anthony
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 803 sq mi (2,080 km²); 801 sq mi (2,075 km²); 1.5 sq mi (4 km²), 0.2%
Population; - Density	; ;
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
	Named for: Marion Harper

Harper County (county code HP) is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. In 2020, 5,485 people lived there.^[1] Its county seat is Anthony. Anthony is also the biggest city in Harper County.^[2] The county was named after Sergeant Marion Harper of the 2nd Kansas Cavalry. He died of wounds suffered near Waldron, Arkansas, in December 1863.^[3]

History

19th century

In 1867, Harper County was created.

The original organization of Harper County was one of the biggest frauds in county government. In 1873, a group of three men organized Harper County. They designated the then-fake city of "Bluff City" as the county seat. The petition for organization used many names from a Cincinnati city directory to represent as residents of Harper County.^[4] In 1874, the state attorney general investigated. He didn't find any resident of the county. The "creators" of the county had sold $40,000 worth of bonds.^[5]

21st century

Due to new and high-paying jobs at oil fields and wind farms, Harper County had an economic boom. In 2012, rental housing and office space in towns such as Danville, Harper, and Anthony had become four times more expensive.^[6] However, by 2016, the oil fracking boom had ended. The economies of Harper County were hurt.^[7]

Geography

The U.S. Census Bureau says taht the county has a total area of 803 square miles (2,080 km²). Of that, 801 square miles (2,070 km²) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²) (0.2%) is water.^[8]

People

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1880	4,133	—
1890	13,266	221.0%
1900	10,310	−22.3%
1910	14,748	43.0%
1920	13,656	−7.4%
1930	12,823	−6.1%
1940	12,068	−5.9%
1950	10,263	−15.0%
1960	9,541	−7.0%
1970	7,871	−17.5%
1980	7,778	−1.2%
1990	7,124	−8.4%
2000	6,536	−8.3%
2010	6,034	−7.7%
U.S. Decennial Census^[9] 1790-1960^[10] 1900-1990^[11] 1990-2000^[12] 2010-2020^[1]

Population pyramid

Government

Presidential elections

Presidential Elections Results

**Presidential Elections Results**^[13]
Year	Republican	Democratic	Third Parties
2020	81.0% 2,168	17.2% 461	1.8% 49
2016	77.2% 1,996	15.2% 393	7.7% 198
2012	73.6% 1,759	23.0% 550	3.4% 80
2008	71.5% 1,999	26.3% 736	2.2% 61
2004	73.5% 2,154	24.8% 727	1.7% 49
2000	68.0% 2,076	28.5% 869	3.6% 110
1996	61.4% 1,941	26.5% 836	12.1% 382
1992	40.6% 1,371	25.0% 845	34.4% 1,162
1988	59.4% 1,941	37.8% 1,235	2.8% 92
1984	73.1% 2,521	25.9% 893	1.0% 35
1980	64.2% 2,254	28.2% 990	7.6% 268
1976	50.0% 1,777	47.3% 1,681	2.7% 96
1972	75.7% 2,628	21.0% 729	3.3% 114
1968	64.0% 2,351	27.6% 1,015	8.4% 308
1964	51.7% 1,969	47.6% 1,813	0.7% 28
1960	68.3% 3,158	31.1% 1,439	0.5% 25
1956	70.0% 3,111	29.5% 1,311	0.5% 23
1952	78.6% 3,575	20.4% 927	1.0% 45
1948	59.3% 2,702	38.4% 1,752	2.3% 106
1944	63.8% 2,849	35.2% 1,573	1.0% 46
1940	55.7% 3,205	43.1% 2,478	1.2% 68
1936	41.7% 2,441	57.9% 3,391	0.4% 22
1932	41.1% 2,116	55.6% 2,860	3.3% 169
1928	77.9% 3,712	21.1% 1,005	1.1% 51
1924	53.3% 2,280	30.9% 1,321	15.9% 681
1920	61.7% 2,593	35.3% 1,486	3.0% 127
1916	36.8% 1,797	54.2% 2,648	9.0% 439
1912	11.6% 365	40.6% 1,274	47.8% 1,499^[a]
1908	48.5% 1,490	45.7% 1,404	5.9% 181
1904	61.7% 1,459	25.3% 597	13.0% 308
1900	47.0% 1,190	49.8% 1,261	3.1% 79
1896	37.4% 812	61.3% 1,332	1.3% 29
1892	38.6% 1,288		61.4% 2,051
1888	48.8% 1,490	30.8% 940	20.4% 624

Education

Unified school districts

Communities

2005 KDOT Map of Harper County (map legend)

Cities