Johnson County, Kansas

Johnson County (county code JO) is a county in northeast Kansas. The county is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. It contains many of the richer suburbs of Kansas City. As of the 2010 census, 544,179 people lived there. Its county seat is Olathe. The most populous city is Overland Park.

In 2010, Money magazine ranked Overland Park 7th and Shawnee 17th in its list of the 100 Best Cities in the United States in which to live. In 2008 the same magazine had ranked Olathe 11th.

History
Johnson County is named for Thomas Johnson. It was one of the first counties in the Kansas Territory in 1855. The well known gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok lived in the county for a time. He was the constable of Monticello Township in 1858. Johnson County was the site of many battles dealing with slavery during Bleeding Kansas.

The county was mostly rural until the early 20th century. There was a large amount of urban development from 1914 though World War II. After the war, the development grew even greater.

Laws
Johnson County was a prohibition, or "dry", county until the Kansas Constitution was changed in 1986.

Geography
The county has a total area of 480.15 sqmi. Of this, 476.78 sqmi (or 99.30%) is land, and 3.37 sqmi (or 0.70%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * Wyandotte County (north)
 * Jackson County, Missouri (east)
 * Cass County, Missouri (southeast)
 * Miami County (south)
 * Franklin County (southwest)
 * Douglas County (west)
 * Leavenworth County (northwest)

Incorporated cities
Name and population (2010 Census Bureau):
 * Overland Park,* 173,372
 * Olathe, 125,872 (county seat)
 * Shawnee,* 62,209
 * Lenexa,* 48,190
 * Leawood,* 31,867
 * Prairie Village,* 21,447
 * Gardner, 19,123
 * Merriam,* 11,003
 * Mission,* 9,323
 * Roeland Park,* 6,731
 * Bonner Springs (also in Wyandotte County and Leavenworth County)
 * De Soto, 5,720
 * Spring Hill, 5,437
 * Fairway,* 3,882
 * Mission Hills,* 3,498
 * Edgerton, 1,671
 * Westwood,* 1,506
 * Lake Quivira,* 906 (also in Wyandotte County)
 * Westwood Hills,* 359
 * Mission Woods,* 178

* Cities included in Shawnee Mission. The main Shawnee Mission post office is in Mission.

Unincorporated places

 * Bonita
 * Clare
 * Ocheltree
 * Stanley
 * Stilwell

Townships
Johnson County was divided into nine townships. Two of these no longer exist. They were made part of independent municipalities. All of the cities are considered governmentally independent. They are not included in the census numbers for the townships.

Other websites

 * Official sites
 * Johnson County
 * Johnson County History
 * Johnson County Library
 * Johnson County Genealogical Society and Library
 * Frontier Military Historic Byway
 * Additional information
 * Blue Skyways
 * Kansas Statistical Abstract
 * Maps
 * Johnson County Map, KDOT
 * Kansas Highway Map, KDOT
 * Kansas Railroad Map, KDOT
 * Kansas School District Boundary Map, KSDE