Place:Riley, Kansas, United States

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NameRiley
Alt namesRileysource: Getty Vocabulary Program
RLsource: Wikipedia
TypeCounty
Coordinates39.333°N 96.7°W
Located inKansas, United States     (1855 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Riley County (standard abbreviation: RL) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,959. The largest city and county seat is Manhattan.

Riley County is home to two of Kansas's largest employers: Fort Riley and Kansas State University.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Riley County, named for Mexican–American War general Bennet Riley, was on the western edge of the 33 original counties established by the Kansas Territorial Legislature in August 1855. For organizational purposes, Riley County initially had attached to it Geary County and all land west of Riley County, across Kansas Territory into present-day Colorado.

The first Territorial Capital of Kansas Territory was located in the boundaries of Riley County, in the former town of Pawnee. The site now falls within the boundaries of Fort Riley, a U.S. Army post.

Manhattan was selected as county seat in contentious fashion. In late 1857, an election was held to select the county seat, with Ogden prevailing. However, Manhattanites suspected election fraud, and were eventually able to prove that a number of votes were illegally cast.[1] Sheriff David A. Butterfield was forced to secure the county's books and records for Manhattan, and Manhattan was finally officially declared the county seat in 1858.[1]

On May 30, 1879, the "Irving, Kansas Tornado" began in Riley County. This tornado is estimated to have been an F4 on the Fujita scale, with a damage path wide and long. Eighteen people were killed and sixty were injured.

Timeline

Date Event Source
1855 County formed Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1856 Marriage records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1857 Land records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1857 Probate records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1859 Court records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1860 First census Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1880 No significant boundary changes after this year Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1885 Birth records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
Census Year Population
1860 1,224
1870 5,105
1880 10,430
1890 13,183
1900 13,828
1910 15,783
1920 20,650
1930 19,882
1940 20,617
1950 33,405
1960 41,914
1970 56,788
1980 63,505
1990 67,139

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Riley County, Kansas, United States

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Riley County, Kansas. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.