Atchison

Formed August 25, 1855 (3^rd county)

Atchison County (16,341), Atchison (10,884)

The stone and concrete building with stand-out working clock tower was constructed in 1896.  It is on Parallel Street between 5^th and 6^th streets.  An annex has been added to the west part of the building.  United States Highway 59 is six blocks to the south of the courthouse.  The building architect is George P. Washburn for this Romanesque Revival courthouse.  A stone noting an Abraham Lincoln speech near the courthouse sits on the grounds.  The county is an original county formed on August 25, 1855 (3^rd county) with Atchison as the only county seat.  Both the county and county seat are named for Missouri Senator David Rice Atchison. 

Atchison County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Five District Court Judges serve Atchison and Leavenworth counties.  The county is in northeast Kansas on the Missouri River border with Missouri.  Topeka, Kansas is southwest and Kansas City, Kansas is southeast of the county.  The county center is 12.6 miles West of Atchison nearer Lancaster.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Doniphan County and Missouri and Leavenworth, Jefferson, Jackson, and Brown counties. 

The area of the county is 432 square miles.  It is 102 out of 105 in the state.  It ranks 31 out of 105 in population in the state.  It has a density of 37.8 persons per square mile making it 17 out of 105 in the state.  Atchison County has 72.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 59 goes east to southwest in the county from Missouri to Jefferson County.  United States Highway 73 crosses northwest to southeast from Brown County to Leavenworth County.  United States Highway 159 enters from the northwest, Brown County, to terminate at the southern border.  The county is shaped like a plow.  The City of Atchison is on the eastern border of the county.  Atchison is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 66.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Atchison Micropolitan Statistical Area.