Cherokee County is a county in Kansas, United States, in the state’s southeastern corner where it meets both Missouri and Oklahoma. It had a population of 19,362 at the 2020 census and covers 591 square miles (1,530 km2) centred near 37°10′N 94°51′W.
Columbus is the county seat; its postal code is 66725. The county contains 7 incorporated cities and 18 unincorporated communities, spread across 14 civil townships. Cherokee County observes Central Time and carries FIPS code 20021.
Towns & Villages in Cherokee County
Cherokee County has 25 named places on the map: seven incorporated cities (five of them — Baxter Springs, Columbus, Galena, Scammon and Weir — are governmentally independent of any township) and 18 unincorporated communities counted within the county’s civil townships. Roseland and West Mineral are the two smallest incorporated cities.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter Springs | City | — | — | 66713 |
| Columbus | City · seat | — | — | 66725 |
| Galena | City | — | — | 66739 |
| Roseland | City | — | — | — |
| Scammon | City | — | — | 66773 |
| Weir | City | — | — | 66781 |
| West Mineral | City | Mineral | — | 66782 |
| Carona | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Cokedale | Unincorp. | Mineral | — | — |
| Crestline | Unincorp. | Sheridan | — | 66728 |
| Empire City | Unincorp. | Mineral | — | — |
| Faulkner | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Hallowell | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Keelville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Kniveton | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Lawton | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Lowell | Unincorp. | Lowell | — | — |
| Melrose | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Neutral | Unincorp. | Neosho | — | — |
| Riverton | Unincorp. | Lowell | — | 66770 |
| Sherman | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Sherwin | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Skidmore | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Stippville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Turck | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
Baxter Springs and the unincorporated hamlet of Empire City sit side by side in the far southeast corner of the county, close enough that older maps sometimes merge the two; they remain separate places today. Treece, once an incorporated city in the county’s Tri-State mining district, is no longer a populated place — it was disincorporated in 2012, and it is described under History below rather than listed in the table.
Townships
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Garden | 3,039 | — |
| Spring Valley | 1,007 | — |
| Ross | 893 | — |
| Pleasant View | 658 | — |
| Lowell | 672 | Lowell, Riverton |
| Crawford | 646 | — |
| Salamanca | 569 | — |
| Lyon | 528 | — |
| Shawnee | 505 | — |
| Lola | 382 | — |
| Cherokee | 336 | — |
| Neosho | 306 | Neutral |
| Mineral | 254 | West Mineral, Cokedale, Empire City |
| Sheridan | 249 | Crestline |
The five governmentally independent cities — Baxter Springs, Columbus, Galena, Scammon and Weir — are excluded from these township population totals; their residents are counted in the city figures instead.
ZIP Codes
- 66713 — Baxter Springs
- 66725 — Columbus (also serves the seat’s surrounding rural townships)
- 66739 — Galena
- 66728 — Crestline
- 66770 — Riverton (also serves nearby communities along old Route 66)
- 66773 — Scammon
- 66781 — Weir
- 66782 — West Mineral
Roseland and most of the county’s smaller unincorporated communities have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is addressed through Baxter Springs, Columbus or Galena depending on which is closest.
Geography
Cherokee County sits at the southeastern tip of Kansas, where the rolling prairie of the Osage Cuestas gives way to the edge of the Ozark Plateau along the Missouri line. Of the county’s 591 square miles, 588 square miles are land and 3.5 square miles (0.6%) are water. The Spring River crosses the county’s southeast corner near Baxter Springs, and Shoal Creek and Lightning Creek drain the rest of the county toward the Neosho basin.
Cherokee County borders Crawford County, Kansas to the north and Labette County, Kansas to the west. Across the state line it borders Jasper County, Missouri to the east and Newton County, Missouri to the southeast, and Ottawa County, Oklahoma to the south and Craig County, Oklahoma to the southwest.
Demographics
Cherokee County had 19,362 residents at the 2020 census, a density of about 32.9 people per square mile. Baxter Springs and Columbus, the county seat, are its two largest communities. The county’s median household income runs well below the Kansas median of $70,333, reflecting the area’s history as a former lead-zinc mining district that never fully replaced that industry after the mines closed.
Economy & Local Life
Cherokee County’s economy today is anchored in agriculture — cattle grazing and row crops on the western prairie — along with light manufacturing and retail centered on Columbus and Baxter Springs. The county’s southeast corner, including Galena, Baxter Springs, Treece and Empire City, was once part of the Tri-State lead-zinc mining district that stretched into Missouri and Oklahoma; decades of abandoned mine workings and chat piles later made much of that ground part of the Cherokee County, Kansas Superfund site, which the EPA has worked to remediate for years. Baxter Springs also draws visitors as a stop on historic Route 66, which runs through the county via Riverton and Baxter Springs.
History
Cherokee County was organized on February 18, 1860, and takes its name from the Cherokee Nation, whose Cherokee Neutral Lands once covered this part of southeast Kansas following the federal Indian Removal policies of the 1830s. During the Civil War, Confederate raiders under William Quantrill attacked a Union cavalry escort near Baxter Springs in October 1863, an engagement remembered locally as the Baxter Springs Massacre. In the cattle-drive era of the 1870s, Baxter Springs became one of Kansas’s earliest “cow towns,” a railhead where Texas longhorns were loaded for shipment east. Treece, in the far southeast corner near the Oklahoma line, grew up around the Tri-State mining boom of the early 1900s; contamination from decades of lead and zinc mining led federal and state buyout programs to relocate its remaining residents, and the city was formally disincorporated in 2012.
Getting There
US Route 400 and US Route 69 cross the county through Columbus and Baxter Springs, and historic Route 66 runs through the southeast corner via Riverton and Baxter Springs on its way into Missouri.
- Joplin, Missouri — about 10 miles east of Baxter Springs
- Pittsburg, Kansas — about 20 miles north of Columbus
- Miami, Oklahoma — about 15 miles south of Baxter Springs
- Parsons, Kansas — about 30 miles west of Columbus
The nearest commercial airport is Joplin Regional Airport in Joplin, Missouri, roughly 20 miles from Baxter Springs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Cherokee County, Kansas?
It sits in the southeastern corner of Kansas, bordering both Missouri and Oklahoma, roughly centred near 37°10′N 94°51′W.
What is the population of Cherokee County?
Cherokee County had a population of 19,362 at the 2020 census.
How big is Cherokee County?
The county covers 591 square miles (1,530 km2), of which 588 square miles are land.
What is the county seat of Cherokee County?
Columbus is the county seat.
How many towns are in Cherokee County?
The county has seven incorporated cities — Baxter Springs, Columbus, Galena, Roseland, Scammon, Weir and West Mineral — plus about 18 unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Cherokee County?
Cherokee County’s ZIP codes include 66713 (Baxter Springs), 66725 (Columbus), 66739 (Galena), 66728 (Crestline), 66770 (Riverton), 66773 (Scammon), 66781 (Weir) and 66782 (West Mineral).
Why did Treece stop existing as a city?
Treece was disincorporated in 2012 after federal and state buyout programs relocated its residents because of contamination left by decades of Tri-State lead-zinc mining.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Kansas.