Riley County, Kansas

Riley County (standard abbreviation: RL) is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 62,843. The largest city and is.

Among notable current and former residents of Riley County are former, General  and millionaire miner.

History
Riley County, named for general, was one of the westernmost of the 33 original counties established by the Kansas Territorial Legislature in August. For organizational purposes, Riley County initially had attached to it and all land west of Riley County, stretching most of the way across  into present-day.

The first of Kansas Territory was located in the boundaries of Riley County, in the former town of. The site now falls within the boundaries of, a post.

Manhattan was selected as county seat in contentious fashion. In late, an election was held to select the county seat, with prevailing. However, Manhattanites suspected, and were eventually able to prove that a number of votes were illegally cast. Sheriff was forced to secure the county's books and records for Manhattan, and Manhattan was finally officially declared the county seat in. On, , the "Irving, Kansas Tornado" began in Riley county. This measured F4 on the  and had a damage path 800 yd wide and 100 mi long. Eighteen people were killed and sixty were injured.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,611 (622 ). 1,579 km² (610 sq mi) of it is land and 32 km² (13 sq mi) of it (2.02%) is water.

Geographic features
The eastern border of the county follows the former course of the. The river was dammed in the and  was created as a result. The county falls within the region of the state.

Adjacent counties

 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 62,843 people, 22,137 households, and 12,263 families residing in the county. The was 40/km² (103/sq mi). There were 23,397 housing units at an average density of 15/km² (38/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 84.78%, 6.88% or , 0.63% , 3.22% , 0.17% , 1.89% from , and 2.43% from two or more races. 4.57% of the population were or  of any race.



There were 22,137 households out of which 27.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.20% were living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.60% were non-families. 27.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county the population was spread out with 18.80% under the age of 18, 34.50% from 18 to 24, 25.90% from 25 to 44, 13.30% from 45 to 64, and 7.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 114.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $32,042, and the median income for a family was $46,489. Males had a median income of $26,856 versus $23,835 for females. The for the county was $16,349. About 8.50% of families and 20.60% of the population were below the, including 11.20% of those under age 18 and 6.70% of those age 65 or over.

Incorporated cities
Name and population (2004 estimate):
 * , 47,916 (county seat)
 * , 1,544
 * , 760
 * , 384
 * , 149

Unincorporated places

 * Ashland
 * Bala
 * Keats
 * Rocky Ford
 * Zeandale

Fort Riley
Located north of the junction of the and  rivers in, the  Military Reservation covers 100656 acre in Geary and Riley counties. The fort has a daytime population of nearly 25,000 and includes two s:

Townships
Riley County is divided into fourteen. The city of is considered governmentally independent and is excluded from the census figures for the townships. In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size.

Colleges and universities

 * Manhattan Christian College
 * Manhattan Christian College

Unified school districts

 * Riley County USD 378
 * Manhattan USD 383
 * Blue Valley USD 384