Allen County History
"A New Centennial History of Kansas"
Charles Tuttle, 1876
Allen County was organized in the first year after the passing of the organic act through congress in 1854, consequently its
history commences with 1855. The governor of Ohio has the
honor of being perpetuated, if not immortalized, by his name,
being given to this county because he favored the doctrine of
popular sovereignty as applied to Kansas. The county contains
504 square miles, and in 1875 had a population of 6,638, having
decreased, in five years, 384, after increasing in the preceding ten
years, 3,940. The sexes are evenly balanced in Allen county
which is in that respect a fair reflex of the world, as there are
3,419 males to 3,219 females. Every state has contributed to the
population of this county, and so have most of the countries of
Europe. Manufactures and mining contribute to the employment
of the population, to a small extent, but over 67 per cent are engaged in agriculture. Iola is the county seat, 79 miles from Topeka, to the south. The general surface is level, with bottom
lands averaging about one and a half miles in breadth and comprising one-tenth of the county. There is a fair average of timber land, but 94 per cent, of Allen county is prairie. The principal streams are the Neosho, Little Osage and Marmaton. The
chief creeks are Indian, Martins, Deer, Elk and Elm. The Neosho and Marmaton run from northwest to southeast, the Osage
from southwest to northeast. Springs and well water are moderately plentiful. Coal has been found in the county in veins
about three feet below the surface. There is good building stone,
red sandstone and blue and red limestone abound. The county
is traversed by two lines of railroad, the Leavenworth, Lawrence
and Galveston, and the Missouri, Kansas and Texas. Iola, the
capital, is 78 miles south of Lawrence, by the L. L. & G. R. R.
The village has a bank, three churches, and some manufactories
of furniture and other goods, that give a fair average of employment, for which the Neosho river gives water power. There is in
Iola an artesian well which affords mineral water much valued in
some diseases, and an inflammable gas which would supply a
large town with fuel and illumination if properly utilized. The
village has a postoffice, which accommodates the township and a
population of 1,759 persons. There is a good weekly paper, the
Neosho Valley Register. The agricultural resources of the county assist to build up the capital, and there are good prospects for
the village and district, although there has been temporarily a
falling off in population. The distress in Allen county, after the
locust visitation, was not excessive; about 300 persons were represented as in need of rations and 800 women and children as in
need of clothing. Humboldt is another very considerable village
in Allen county, on the Neosho river and on the L. L. & G. R. R.,
as well as on the M. K. & T. R. R., 80 miles south of Lawrence.
The Neosho is here crossed by a bridge. The village has a population of 1,200, and the township of 2,000. There is a weekly
paper and a monthly periodical published in the village, and a
coal mine near the village which has also several fine business
houses, a bank, a cigar factory and other industries of some
importance, including two steam flouring mills and a steam furniture factory. There are also in the county, at Geneva, a steam
saw and grist mill; at Osage and at Deer Creek similar mills run
by steam power. The county has 57 school districts and 55
school houses, the number of churches of the various denominations is equally liberal, but unfortunately there are no returns as
to libraries and it seems probable that there are none in the county available for public use. Dairy products have exhibited a
marked increase in butter and cheese since 1870, and sheep farming would be largely followed but for the ravages of dogs, which
are far more destructive to flocks than even the wolves are.
Farms are well managed in Allen county, and the vineyards,
orchards and nurseries here attract and deserve much attention
for the skill with which they are managed.
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Allen Co. KHHP
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This website created Nov. 28, 2011 by Sheryl McClure.
� 2011 Kansas History and Heritage Project
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