Humboldt, Kansas
| Humboldt, Kansas | |
|---|---|
| City | |
 Location within Allen County and Kansas |
|
 KDOT map of Allen County (legend) |
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| Coordinates: 37°48′39″N 95°26′15″W / 37.81083°N 95.43750°WCoordinates: 37°48′39″N 95°26′15″W / 37.81083°N 95.43750°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kansas |
| County | Allen |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–Council |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.45 sq mi (3.76 km2) |
| • Land | 1.44 sq mi (3.73 km2) |
| • Water | 0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2) 0.69% |
| Elevation | 981 ft (299 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,953 |
| • Estimate (2015) | 1,856 |
| • Density | 1,300/sq mi (520/km2) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC−6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC−5) |
| ZIP code | 66748 |
| Area code | 620 |
| FIPS code | 20-33450 |
| GNIS ID | 0474721 |
| Website | HumboldtKansas.org |
Humboldt is a city in Allen County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Neosho River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,953.
Humboldt, named after Baron von Humboldt, was founded in 1857. Germans migrating from Hartford, Connecticut, began organizing a colony during the winter of 1856–57. They arrived in Lawrence, Kansas, in March 1857, and at the townsite on May 10, 1857. Orlin Thurston, a young attorney, moved to Humboldt during the summer of 1857 and put up a steam sawmill; he began sawing wood and building houses on the prairie side of town. The first frame building was erected by J.A. Coffey; and in May 1858, W.C. O'Brien opened the first gristmill in the county. The United Brethren Denomination erected the first church in 1859.
In 1861 Humboldt was attacked by a collection of border ruffians and Osages led by John Mathews out of Oswego, Kansas who took several recently freed African-Americans back into captivity. The Humboldt Home Guard joined with the Kansas 6th Cavalry under James G. Blunt to counter-attack. In a battle on September. 18, 1861 Mathews was killed at Chetopa, Kansas.
The city was organized as a village in 1866 and incorporated as a city of the second class by the act of February 28, 1870. In October 1870 the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston railway was run through Humboldt; the railway is currently a short line owned by BNSF Railway.
Humboldt was the Allen county seat for seven years, from 1858 until 1865, when Iola became the seat. Humboldt won two contentious legislative elections to become the seat in 1858 and 1860, but another election in 1865 at the end of the American Civil War resulted in the re-location of the county seat to Iola. The legitimacy of this election was questioned by Humboldt residents due to low turnout arising from soldiers fighting the War. Some residents claim that the county seat was "stolen". Iola effectively secured the seat by donating 100 lots to the county to aid in the construction of public buildings and subsequently raising funds to build a courthouse. However, Humboldt was also guilty of shady practices. Lieut. Col. Charles W. Blair, the commander of Fort Scott, temporarily replaced the commander of the post at Humboldt, Maj. Henry C. Haas, to keep the soldiers there from illegally voting in the county seat election. Blair claimed none of the troops were legal voters in Humboldt. The Humboldt newspaper, however, denied the troops had been involved in any wrongdoing. County seat wars of this sort were common in Kansas and the American West.
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