Wallace

Formed March 11, 1868 (74^th county)

Wallace County (1,517), Sharon Springs (753)                

The white columns make the Classical Revival light tan brick courthouse built in 1914.  The courthouse is on Main, between 3^rd and 4^th streets.  Kansas State Highway 27 is Main Street.  William E. Hulse designed this courthouse.  Wichita County has the twin of this courthouse.  An honor roll of veterans is on the inside walls.  Sharon Springs has always been the county seat.  The county was organized on March 11, 1868 from Native American Territory as the 74^th county.  The county is named for Civil War General William Harvey Lamb Wallace.  The county seat is named for Sharon Springs, New York. 

Wallace County government consists of a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Eight District Court Judges serve Wallace, Cheyenne, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, and Thomas counties (judicial.) Wallace County is in western Kansas on the border with Colorado.  Denver, Colorado is west and Dodge City, Kansas is southeast of the county.  The county center is 9.4 miles North-Northwest of Sharon Springs.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Sherman, Logan, Wichita, and Greeley counties and Colorado. 

The area of the county is 914 square miles.  It is 21 out of 105 in the state.  It ranks 104 out of 105 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1.7 persons per square mile making it 104 out of 105 in the state.  Wallace County has 52.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 40 crosses the county from east to west from Logan County to Colorado.  The highest point in Kansas, Mount Sunflower, is located in the county.  The county is a square.  Sharon Springs is slightly south of the county’s center.  Sharon Springs is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 49.6% of the county population.