Thomas

Formed October 8, 1885 (96^th county)

Thomas County (7,933), Colby (5,562)

The red brick courthouse is somewhat unique in Kansas.  It was built in 1906 to replace the 1886 building.  It sits on Court Street between 2^nd and 3^rd streets.  United States Highway 24 is one block to the north of the site.  J. C. Holland and Frank C. Squires are the building architects of this Richardsonian Romanesque building.  A working clock tower and a pioneer statue are the main features of the facility.  The county was established on October 8, 1885 from Native American Territory as the 96^th county with Colby as the only county seat.  The county’s namesake is Civil War General George Henry Thomas.  Settler J. R. Colby provided the inspiration for the county seat name.  Thomas County was the birthplace of 1 Kansas Governors, J. Michael Hayden. 

The area of the county is 1075 square miles.  It is 10 out of 105 in the state.  It ranks 48 out of 105 in population in the state.  It has a density of 7.4 persons per square mile making it 59 out of 105 in the state.  Thomas County has 78.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 70 travels southeast to west in the county from Gove County to Sherman County.  United States Highway 24 enters from the east, Sheridan County and joins Interstate Highway 70 to exit into Sherman County.  United States Highway 83 goes northeast to south from Sheridan County to Logan County.  The county is a rectangle.  Colby is located near the center of the county.  Colby is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 70.1% of the county population.  Salina, Kansas is east and Denver, Colorado is west of the county. 

Thomas 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 Thomas, Cheyenne, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, and Wallace counties (judicial.) It is located in the far western part of Kansas.  The county center is 3.5 miles Southeast of Colby.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Rawlins, Decatur, Sheridan, Gove, Logan, and Sherman counties.  The county seat is pronounced KOLE-BEE.