Logan County, Kansas

Logan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and largest city is Oakley. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 2,762. The county was named for John Logan, a general during the American Civil War. One of the county's distinctive features is a mile-long stretch of Smoky Hill Chalk bluffs that tower 100 feet (30 m) high over the Smoky Hill River and are dubbed "Little Jerusalem" for resemblance to the ancient walled city. The formation is mostly on private land. In 2016, The Nature Conservancy purchased the property and the Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park opened to the public in October 2019.

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.

In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping 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 1887, Logan County was established.

Logan County was first created in 1871 as St. John County. St. John was formed from the area to the east of range 38 in what was then part of Wallace County. The Kansas State Legislature changed the name from St. John to Logan in 1885.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,073 square miles (2,780 km²), of which 1,073 square miles (2,780 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (0.01%) is water.

At the 2000 census, there were 3,046 people, 1,243 households and 856 families residing in the county. The population density was 3 per square mile (1.2/km²). There were 1,423 housing units at an average density of 1 per square mile (0.39/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.72% White, 0.59% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.72% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races. 1.64% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,243 households, of which 29.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.30% were married couples living together, 6.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.10% were non-families. 28.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.98.