Cheyenne County is a county in Kansas, United States, in the northwest corner of the state where Kansas meets Nebraska and Colorado. It had a population of 2,616 at the 2020 census and covers 1,020 square miles (2,600 km2) of land plus 1.1 square miles (2.8 km2) of water, centred near 39\u00b048\u2032N 101\u00b048\u2032W.<\/p>\n
St. Francis is the county seat, and its postal code is 67756. The county has two incorporated cities and one unincorporated community. Unusually for far-western Kansas, Cheyenne County keeps Central time even though Nebraska and Colorado to its north and west run on Mountain time.<\/p>\n
Cheyenne County has two incorporated cities \u2014 St. Francis, the seat, and Bird City \u2014 plus the unincorporated community of Wheeler. Kansas counties are not organized around active civil townships today, so this list covers incorporated and unincorporated places only.<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Francis<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 1,263<\/td>\n | 67756<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Bird City<\/td>\n | City<\/td>\n | 437<\/td>\n | 67731<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Wheeler<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\nZIP Codes<\/h2>\nWheeler has no ZIP code of its own; mail there is typically handled through one of the county’s two post offices.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nCheyenne County sits on the High Plains of northwestern Kansas, with sandy soil over limestone and the South Fork of the Republican River crossing the county. The terrain is flat to gently rolling, typical of the state’s short-grass plains, and average annual precipitation runs around 18.8 inches.<\/p>\n The county borders Dundy County, Nebraska to the north; Rawlins County, Kansas to the east; Sherman County, Kansas to the south; and Yuma County and Kit Carson County, Colorado to the west and southwest. That mix of neighbors across three states is why Cheyenne County keeps Central time on the Kansas side of the line while Dundy, Yuma, and Kit Carson counties all run on Mountain time \u2014 a quirk residents navigate daily for anything scheduled across the state lines.<\/p>\n Demographics<\/h2>\nCheyenne County’s population was 2,616 at the 2020 census, a density of about 2.6 people per square mile. St. Francis (1,263) and Bird City (437) are the two largest communities, together home to roughly two-thirds of county residents. The county’s population is majority White (87.2%) with a Hispanic or Latino community making up 9.1%, per the 2020 census. Median household income figures specific to Cheyenne County are not independently verified here; Kansas’s statewide median household income is $70,333.<\/p>\n Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\nAgriculture drives the local economy \u2014 grain farming (wheat, corn, milo) and cattle ranching dominate, consistent with the county’s High Plains setting and the origin of Bird City’s name (cattleman Benjamin Bird). St. Francis is the commercial and government hub, home to the county courthouse and the county’s main retail and services base. Local students attend Cheylin USD 103, formed in 1975 when the Bird City and McDonald school districts consolidated; the district’s schools remain the largest employer outside farming in the county.<\/p>\n History<\/h2>\nCheyenne County was organized on March 20, 1873, and takes its name from the Cheyenne people. St. Francis was founded in 1887; Bird City followed in 1885 as a stop on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The county’s best-documented early conflict came in June 1903, when a dispute over a cattle fence near St. Francis between the Berry family and cowboys of the Dewar Cattle Company left eight people dead \u2014 five family members and three cowboys. St. Francis is also the hometown of Apollo 17 astronaut Ron Evans, who orbited the Moon on the 1972 mission and remains the community’s best-known native.<\/p>\n Getting There<\/h2>\nU.S. Route 36 crosses the county east\u2013west, with Kansas Highways 27 and 161 providing north\u2013south links.<\/p>\n
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