Garfield Township | |
|---|---|
 Location withinFinney County | |
| Coordinates:38°07′54″N100°26′33″W / 38.13167°N 100.44250°W /38.13167; -100.44250[1] | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kansas |
| County | Finney |
| Area | |
• Total | 431.14 sq mi (1,116.65 km2) |
| • Land | 430.75 sq mi (1,115.64 km2) |
| • Water | 0.39 sq mi (1.01 km2) 0.09% |
| Elevation | 2,641 ft (805 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 345 |
| • Density | 0.801/sq mi (0.309/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| FIPS code | 20-25600[1] |
| GNIS ID | 485251[1] |
Garfield Township is atownship inFinney County, Kansas, United States.[1] As of the2020 census, its population was 345.[2]
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third Parties |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1892 | 59.7%102 | 40.4%69 | |
| 1888 | 62.2%225 | 35.6%129 | 2.2%8 |
Historically the Garfield Township was organized asGarfield County in 1887. In 1893, theKansas Supreme Court ruled that the county was illegally organized for not having the required 432 square miles (1,120 km2) of area, and the county was annexed to Finney County, forming the current township. The population at the1890 census was 881.[4]
Garfield County was created by an act of the Kansas state legislature on March 23, 1887. It consisted of what is now the eastern portion ofFinney County north ofGray County. The county was named after PresidentJames A. Garfield, who had been assassinated six years earlier.
The brief history of the county was marked by a bitter and sometimes violent rivalry between two towns,Ravanna andEminence, over which would serve as county seat. During a vote on this issue held in 1887,Bat Masterson and twenty deputies from Dodge City were sent to the county to keep the peace. Ravanna won the election by just 35 votes. Eminence immediately challenged the results, claiming a construction crew working on Ravanna's new $10,000 courthouse (nicknamed the "Great White Elephant") had illegally cast 60 votes using names of dead men who were not Ravanna residents.[5] TheKansas Supreme Court agreed, and in 1889, the county seat was transferred to Eminence.
Ravanna countered by hiring surveyors who determined that the county had less than the minimum of 432 square miles (1,120 km2) required for the formation of a county under Article 9 of theKansas State Constitution. In 1892, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that Garfield County had indeed been illegally organized in the first place. On March 18, 1893, it was annexed to neighboring Finney County.[5]
Both Ravanna and Eminence are now ghost towns.
Garfield Township covers an area of 431.14 square miles (1,116.6 km2) and contains no incorporated settlements.
According to theUSGS, it contains two cemeteries: Eminence and Garfield.
Garfield Township is also a home to number of ghost towns.
The population was 345 as of the2020 census, with 122 total housing units.[2]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 881 | — | |
| 1900 | 363 | −58.8% | |
| 1910 | 857 | 136.1% | |
| 1920 | 716 | −16.5% | |
| 1930 | 817 | 14.1% | |
| 1940 | 539 | −34.0% | |
| 1950 | 641 | 18.9% | |
| 1960 | 583 | −9.0% | |
| 1970 | 479 | −17.8% | |
| 1980 | 342 | −28.6% | |
| 1990 | 326 | −4.7% | |
| 2000 | 331 | 1.5% | |
| 2010 | 288 | −13.0% | |
| 2020 | 345 | 19.8% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[4] | |||
Municipalities and communities ofFinney County, Kansas,United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| CDP | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Townships | ||
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