Atchison County Courthouse

Atchison County

County Seat: Atchison
Founded: 1855
Population:
· 16,774 (2000)
· 16,932 (1990)
· 28,606 (1900)
Area: 431 Square Miles
Standard Abbreviation: AT

History

Organized in 1855. County seat Atchison. Named for David H. Atchison, a U.S. Senator from Missouri, and President of the United States Senate at the date of the passage of the Act for the organization of the Territory of Kansas. He was a Pro-Slavery Democrat, and zealous partisan leader in the discussions and movements affecting the interests of slavery and its attempted establishment in the new state to be created.

Map and text from History of Kansas, Noble Prentis, (Winfield: E.P. Greer. 1899)

William G. Cutler's History of Kansas, first published in 1883, tells about early Atchison County.
The Special Collections of the Ablah Library at WSU contain historical images of Effingham & Muscotah.

Cities, Towns, & Villages of Atchison County

                           2000
    Town                Population  ZIP         Year  Elevation
    =================   ==========  =========   ====  =========
    Arrington                                            950
    Atchison                10,232  66002       1854     950
    Cummings                        66016                992
    Dalbey                                               782
    Effingham                  588  66023               1138
    Farmington                                          1027
    Good Intent                                         1037
    Hawthorne                                           1000
    Huron                       87  66041               1160
    Kennekuk                                            1105
    Lancaster                  291  66041               1150
    Larkinburg                                           969
    Monrovia                                            1037
    Muscotah                   200  66058                964
    Oak Mills                                            850
    Parnell                                             1034
    Port Williams                                        788
    Potter                          66077                950
    Saint Pats                                          1070
    Shannon                                             1100

Census Bureau Profile & Map

Attractions

Amelia Earhart's childhood home sits on a beautiful site overlooking the Missouri River in Atchison.
The Mt. St. Scholastica School (for girls) is an imposing place also overlooking the Missouri.
Atchison may have the nicest post office in the country. It's in a nineteenth-century stone palace downtown.
Atchison's old Santa Fe station is now a tourist information center and museum. There's a large collection of rolling stock on display

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by howell@kotn.org