Douglas County, Kansas

Douglas County is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. In 2010 census, there were 110,826 people living in the county. That made it the fifth-most populous county in Kansas. The city with the most people is Lawrence.

Early history
For many centuries, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Plains Indians. From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of North America. In 1762, after the French and Indian War, France secretly gave all the territory west of the Mississippi River to Spain, per the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

19th century
In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France. But it kept about 7,500 square miles. In 1803, most of the land including the modern-day state of Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of Louisiana Purchase.

In 1854, the Kansas–Nebraska Act created the territory of Kansas. In 1855, Douglas County was established. Douglas County was opened for settlement on May 15, 1854. It was named for Stephen A. Douglas. The county was practically at the center of the Bleeding Kansas years as leaders in Lecompton, the territorial capital, wanted Kansas to be a slave state. Leaders in Lawrence wanted Kansas to be a free state. A number of events took place in Douglas County. These including the drafting of the controversial Lecompton Constitution (attempting to admit Kansas as a slave state), the sacking of Lawrence, and the Battle of Black Jack.

The first railroad in Douglas County, the Union Pacific, was built through that territory in 1864.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 475 sqmi. Of this, 456 sqmi is land and 19 sqmi (4.0%) is water. It is the fifth-smallest county in Kansas by land area. Much of its northern boundary is defined by the Kansas River, which flows through Lawrence. The Bowersock Dam is one of the county's producers of hydropower.

People
Douglas County includes the Lawrence, Kansas United States metropolitan area.

In 2000, there were 99,962 people, 38,486 households, and 21,167 families living in Douglas County. The people were 86.1% White, 4.2% Black or African American, 2.6% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.2% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. 3.3% of the people were Hispanic or Latino.

There were 38,486 households. 27.4% of them had children under 18 years old; 43.1% of them had married people; 8.5% had only a woman as the main person (with no man); 45% were not families. 28.5% were people living alone, and 5.8% were people over 65 years old living alone.

20.4% of the people were under 18 years old; 26.4% of the people were between 18 and 24 years old; 28.3% of the people were between 25 and 44 years old; 16.9% of the people were between 45 and 64 years old; 7.9% were 65 years old or older.