The story
History
Leavenworth, founded in 1854, was the first city incorporated in the territory of Kansas. The city developed south of Fort Leavenworth, which was established as Cantonment Leavenworth in 1827 by Colonel Henry Leavenworth. Its location on the Missouri River attracted refugee African-American slaves in the antebellum years, who were seeking freedom from the slave state of Missouri across the river. Abolition supporters helped them find refuge. In the years before the Civil War, Leavenworth was a hotbed of anti-slavery and pro-slavery agitation, often leading to open physical confrontations on the street and in public meetings.
On April 3, 1858, the "Leavenworth Constitution" for the state of Kansas was adopted here. Although the federal government never approved this early version of the state constitution, it was considered one of the most radical of the four constitutions drafted for the new territory because it recognized freed black people as citizens.
Refugee African Americans continued to settle in the city during the war. By 1865, it had attracted nearly one-fifth of the 12,000 black people in the state. In 1866, the 10th Regiment of Cavalry, an all-black unit within the U.S. Army, was stood up at Fort Leavenworth. Charles Henry Langston was an African-American leader from Ohio who worked and lived in Leavenworth and northeastern Kansas in the Reconstruction era and afterward. In Kansas, Langston worked for black suffrage and the right of African Americans to sit on juries, testify in court, and have their children educated in common schools. African Americans gained suffrage in 1870 after passage of the federal 15th constitutional amendment, and the legislature voted for their right to sit on juries in 1874.
African Americans continued to migrate to the state of Kansas after the war. There were a total of 17,108 African Americans in Kansas in 1870, with 43,107 in 1880, and 52,003 by 1900, most of whom lived in urban areas.
20th century to present
Fred Alexander, a 22-year-old black veteran of the Spanish–American War, was arrested on circumstantial evidence following months of assaults on young white women in late 1900. Witnesses had identified a "large white man" and a "slight black man" as having been seen in the vicinity of the attacks, Police moved him to the penitentiary during questioning, but a lynch mob was forming in Leavenworth. The sheriff needed to bring him to Leavenworth for arraignment at the county court. He refused the governor's offer of state militia, and was unable to protect the prisoner. On January 15, 1901, Alexander was taken from jail by a mob of 5,000 people and to the site of the murder of Pearl Forbes, where he was brutally lynched: burned alive. He protested his innocence to the end. An inquest concluded he had been killed by "persons unknown".
His family refused to claim his body for burial. His father Alfred Alexander, an exoduster, said "The people have mutilated him, now let them bury him." The city arranged burial. African Americans in the region were horrified at Alexander's murder by the mob and created the first state chapter of the Afro-American Council, then the only national organization working for civil rights. (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded a few years later, and absorbed most members of the AAC.)
In 1972 Benjamin Day became the city's first African-American mayor. Day had been elected to the City Commission one year earlier. Leavenworth appoints its mayor from among the members of the commission, and Day was named mayor in 1971. Day was a former educator and principal in Leavenworth.
Fort Leavenworth was located outside the city limits until its territory was annexed by the city on April 12, 1977.
Read the full text
In 2008, an underground series of "vaults" was found in the city, apparently built during the late 19th century.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Leavenworth had a population of 37,351, 13,143 households, and 8,369 families. The population density was 1,540.7 per square mile (594.9/km2). There were 14,756 housing units at an average density of 608.7 per square mile (235.0/km2).
The median age was 35.4 years; 24.6% of residents were under the age of 18, 9.0% were from 18 to 24, 31.1% were from 25 to 44, 22.2% were from 45 to 64, and 12.9% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 117.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 120.3 males.
98.9% of residents lived in urban areas, while 1.1% lived in rural areas.
Of the 13,143 households, 34.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.6% were married-couple households, 21.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.5 and the average family size was 3.1.
Of the housing units, 10.9% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.7%.
2010 census
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 35,251 people, 12,256 households, and 8,129 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,466 inhabitants per square mile (566/km2). There were 13,670 housing units at an average density of 568.6 per square mile (219.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 75.4% White, 15.1% African American, 0.9% American Indian, 1.8% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 2.0% from other races, and 4.6% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 8.1% of the population.
There were 12,256 households, of which 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.7% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55, and the average family size was 3.15.
The median age in the city was 34.8 years. 26% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 31.6% were from 25 to 44; 23.9% were from 45 to 64; and 10% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 53.9% male and 46.1% female.
The median income for a household in the city was $49,823, and the median income for a family was $61,576. Males had a median income of $49,693 versus $30,888 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,102. About 9.8% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.4% of those under age 18 and 10.0% of those age 65 or over.
Parks and recreation
The Leavenworth Parks and Recreation Department maintains a system of more than 25 public parks as well as Riverfront Community Center, which includes an indoor cardio room and pool, and Wollman Aquatic Center. An off-leash dog park near the Dwight D. Eisenhower Veterans Affairs Medical Center was built with public donations in 2010.
From Wikipedia’s article on Leavenworth, Kansas, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4