Pottawatomie

Formed February 20, 1857 (26^th county)

Pottawatomie County (25,344), Westmoreland (724), Wamego (4,848)

A Romanesque courthouse of stone and concrete was built in 1884.  The courthouse is on a square at Main Street, 1^st, Armer, and 2^nd streets.  A large Justice Center has been added north of the building.  A memorial pyramid sits in front of the courthouse.  Kansas State Highway 99 is six blocks to the east of the courthouse.  Hulse and Moses are the architects.  Pottawatomie County was formed on February 20, 1857 from parts of Riley County and Calhoun County (which no longer exists) as the 26^th county.  It is named for the Native American tribe.  Westmoreland is named for Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. 

Pottawatomie County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Six District Court Judges serve Pottawatomie, Jackson, Jefferson, and Wabaunsee counties.  The county is in northeast Kansas.  Topeka, Kansas is immediately to the southeast of the county.  The Kansas River forms its southern border.  The county center is 7.1 miles East of Westmoreland.  Saint George (1857), Louisville (1861), and Westmoreland (1882) have all served as the county seat.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Marshall, Nemaha, Jackson, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, and Riley counties. 

The area of the county is 844 square miles.  It is 44 out of 105 in the state.  It ranks 24 out of 105 in population in the state.  It has a density of 30.0 persons per square mile making it 27 out of 105 in the state.  Pottawatomie County has 43.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 24 crosses through the county east to west from Shawnee County to Riley County.  The county shape resembles a bag of popcorn spilt west with wavy western and southern borders.  Westmoreland is in the western third of the county.  Wamego is on the southern border and extends into Wabaunsee County.  Westmoreland is the county seat and Wamego is the largest city.  Westmoreland is 2.9% of the county population while Wamego is 19.1% of the county population.  The county is pronounced POT-A-WA-TOE-MEE.  The largest city is pronounced WA-MEE-GOE.  This county is in the Manhattan Metropolitan Statistical Area.