Ottawa County, Kansas

Ottawa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and largest city is Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 5,735. The county was named after the Odawa tribe.

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 1860, Ottawa County was established.

Following amendment to the Kansas Constitution in 1986, Ottawa County remained a prohibition, or dry county until 2006, when voters approved the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with a 30% food sales requirement.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 721 square miles (1,870 km²), of which 721 square miles (1,870 km²) is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) (0.08%) is water.

The Solomon River is the longest river in the county, entering from Cloud County to the northwest and exiting to Saline County to the southeast. The Saline River traverses the southwestern portion of the county, going from Lincoln County to Saline County.

The largest lake is Ottawa State Fishing Lake, a 111-acre (0.45 km²) reservoir to the east of Minneapolis. It is managed by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.