Sumner

Formed February 26, 1867 (71^st county)

Sumner County (22,392), Wellington (8,172)

A masonry and marble Art Deco style is the 1951 courthouse in Wellington.  It is sited on a square at Washington, 10^th, C, and 11^th streets.  United States Highway 160 is three blocks to the north of the site.  Thomas W. Williamson and Victor H. Loebsack were the designers.  A classier 1884 courthouse was also in Wellington, the only county seat.  Sumner County was created on February 26, 1867 from Butler County as the 71^st county.  It was named for Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner.  Wellington is named for the Duke of Wellington. 

Sumner County government consists of a sheriff, a clerk, an attorney, a treasurer, a coroner, and an appraiser (executive).  It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)  Five District Court Judges serve Sumner, Barber, Harper, Kingman, and Pratt counties (judicial.) The county is in southern Kansas on the border with Oklahoma.  Wichita, Kansas is directly north of the county.  The county center is 15.4 miles West-Southwest of Wellington nearer Mayfield.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Sedgwick, Butler, and Cowley counties and Oklahoma and Harper and Kingman counties. 

The area of the county is 1182 square miles.  It is 4 out of 105 in the state.  It ranks 25 out of 105 in population in the state.  It has a density of 18.9 persons per square mile making it 37 out of 105 in the state.  Sumner County has 64.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 35 goes north to south in the county from Sedgwick County to Oklahoma.  United States Highway 81 parallels Interstate Highway 35 from Sedgwick County to Oklahoma.  United States Highway 160 crosses east to west from Cowley County to Harper County.  United States Highway 166 enters from the east, Cowley County, and terminates.  United States Highway 177 originates and heads south into Oklahoma.  The county is square.  Wellington is northeast of center in the county.  Wellington is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 34.4% of the county population.  This county is in the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area.