Douglas County History
From the "New Centennial History of Kansas," Charles Tuttle, 1876
Douglas County was organized in 1855, and was named in
honor of the great Stephen A. Douglas, whose powers were, unfortunately, to a great extent, warped by the influences of party,
against the interests of progression. This county is one of the
most famous in the history of Kansas, because it was the scene of
the Wacarusa war, and of all the troubles that for a long term
of years occurred and reoccurred to Lawrence. The population
of the county in 1875 was 18,505, and the area is 469 square
miles. The population in 1870, in this county, reached higher
figures by 2,087 than in the year 1875. The preponderance of
males in this county is only 163. Farming only employs 47 per
cent, of the population in Douglas county, 13 per cent, being employed in trade and transportation, and 14 per cent in mines and
manufactures. Lawrence, the county seat, is 25 miles east from
Topeka, the capital of the state. The city is built on both sides
of the Kansas river, and ranks only second in the state, both as
to population and wealth. In intellectuality and public spirit
she has no superior, and the sufferings and losses endured by the
citizens of Lawrence on behalf of the state, and of humanity at
large, deserve to be commemorated in such a memoir as will endure in the history of the race. The first point settled upon by
the free state party on their arrival in the territory was certain to
monopolize, or nearly to monopolize, the special hate of the ruffians, and the onslaughts made upon the liberties of the city
were
borne or repelled, according as wisdom or necessity dictated, with
unfailing heroism. In spite of sieges and raids, from the first incursion to the Quantrell outrage, all of the same class and spirit,
Lawrence is now one of the most beautiful and enterprising cities
in the great northwest. The dam recently constructed across the
Kansas river at Lawrence gives nearly 2,000 horse power, which
will add materially to the wealth producing power of the city.
A flouring mill connected with the work in question is a great success. The other manufactures in and near the city are iron
foundries, machine shops, a woolen factory, the largest pork packing
establishment in the state, planing and flouring mills, seven wagon
and carriage factories, two agricultural implement factories, grist
mills, elevators, breweries, a tannery, a soap factory, pottery
works, furniture factories, mineral water factories, operated by
steam power, a steam foundry, and a brick manufactory. The
other manufactures in the county are dwarfed by comparison with
such enterprise, and in view of the wealth that must accrue for
such labors well directed, Lawrence can well give liberal endowments to promote liberal education and. the dissemination of
knowledge among all classes in the community. Six railroads
center in Lawrence, giving facilities for intercourse with all parts
of the world. The Kansas Pacific has here its principal station;
the Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston makes this city a
depot; the St. Louis, Lawrence and Denver, the Lawrence and
Southwestern, the Kansas Midland railroad, and the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe connects itself by means of its junction with
the Lawrence and Southwestern at Carbondale. The banking
accommodations of the city are provided by four banks, three of
which have an aggregate capital of $118,250 and the National
Bank has a capital of $100,000. The press of Lawrence is metropolitan in tone and management. The issues are
The Republican, Journal, Tribune, Standard, dailies and weeklies. The Spirit
of Kansas and the Sentinel, weeklies. The state university is
located here, because of the magnificent gift of $100,000 and other
sums, already named and particularized in giving a sketch of the
institution. The Roman Catholics have parochial schools in this
city. There are seventeen churches here, representing all the principal denominations among Christians, and an excellent public
library, available to every person desirous to procure information,
and willing to protect the excellent property placed at his disposal.
The school system of Douglas county is the same as that of
other counties in the state, but the numbers and wealth, no less
than the spirit of the people, secure the most liberal administration possible under the law. There are in the county 84
districts
and 93 school houses, valued, inclusive of furniture and apparatus, at $196,560. The Baker University, at Baldwin City, under
the supervision of the Methodist Episcopal organization, is a fine
establishment, although necessarily denominational, as is the Catholic parochial school at Eudora. There are in the county 22
church edifices, valued at $200,000, some of which are very
handsome indeed. The public libraries have an aggregate of
5,200 volumes, and 89 private collections in five townships have
2,917 volumes. The business and trades practiced in Lawrence
comprise nearly all that can be honestly pursued in any city in
the Union. In this county, as in every other, the ravages of dogs
among the sheep are expressly named as a cause of loss to a valuable industry,
and it is certain that either law or administration fails to terminate or at any rate to reduce the nuisance. The
number of acres devoted to nurseries, orchards and vineyards in
Douglas county, sums up a total of 5,682. The increase of cultivated land in the county, during the year 1874-5, amounts to
88,779 acres. Coal is supposed to underlie the whole of the
county, at a depth of from ten feet below the surface to the unknown extreme, with a thickness of vein varying from 12 to 20
inches, so far as is known, but the quality so far as the seam has
been developed is not good. Building stone has been found in
limitless supplies and admirable quality in many directions, and
recently there have been excellent developments of fire clay and
pottery clay on Mount Oread, quite near to Lawrence. The chief
railroad stations, besides Lawrence and Baldwin City, are Prairie City, De Soto, Olathe, Carbondale, Topeka,
Lecompton and Eudora.
The principal streams are the Kansas river and the Wakarusa, which are fed by numerous small streams. The county
is well supplied with springs, and well water can as a rule be obtained of excellent quality at about 25 feet from the surface.
About one-fifth of Douglas county is bottom land with an average breadth of one mile. Forest covers about six per cent, of the
soil only and the country is undulating generally. The locust
plague struck some parts of Douglas county very heavily and out
of its population of 23,262, the largest of any county, except
Leavenworth, in the state, there were 800 persons reported to be
in need of rations, but the generosity of the country was nobly
aroused on that as on many former occasions. It is manifestly
impossible in a brief and cursory sketch to do justice to a county
like Douglas, but it is something even to have perceived that
fact.
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Douglas Co. KHHP
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This website created Feb. 24, 2012 by Sheryl McClure.
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