The story
History
Early history
For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of North America. In 1762, after the French and Indian War, France secretly ceded New France to Spain, per the Treaty of Fontainebleau.
19th century
In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France but kept title to about 7,500 square miles. In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre.
In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1867, Rush County was established. Rush County was organized on December 5, 1874. There was a county seat struggle between La Crosse and Rush Center lasting 10 years until La Crosse finally became the county seat.
21st century
In 2015, the "Alexander Wind Farm" was constructed south of Alexander. It cost about $85 million and generates 48 megawatts of power.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 2,956. The median age was 48.1 years. 19.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 26.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 104.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 100.1 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 94.7% White, 0.2% Black or African American, 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.6% from some other race, and 3.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 4.5% of the population.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 1,322 households in the county, of which 22.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 24.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
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There were 1,663 housing units, of which 20.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 80.4% were owner-occupied and 19.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 18.3%.
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,551 people, 1,548 households, and 1,013 families residing in the county. The population density was 5 people per square mile (1.9 people/km2). There were 1,928 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile (1.2/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 98.45% White, 0.31% Black or African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.17% from other races, and 0.54% from two or more races. 1.04% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 1,548 households, out of which 26.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.10% were married couples living together, 5.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.50% were non-families. 31.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.80.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.10% under the age of 18, 5.50% from 18 to 24, 22.90% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 25.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 94.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.60 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $31,268, and the median income for a family was $38,821. Males had a median income of $25,408 versus $20,307 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,033. About 6.70% of families and 9.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.50% of those under age 18 and 9.90% of those age 65 or over.
From Wikipedia’s article on Rush County, Kansas, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4