Wakarusa Township | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 38°56′10″N095°15′21″W / 38.93611°N 95.25583°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Kansas |
County | Douglas |
Area | |
• Total | 46.74 sq mi (121.07 km2) |
• Land | 45.9 sq mi (118.87 km2) |
• Water | 0.85 sq mi (2.19 km2) 1.81% |
Elevation | 866 ft (264 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 2,318 |
• Density | 50/sq mi (19/km2) |
GNIS feature ID | 0479514 |
Wakarusa Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 2,318. It was named for the Wakarusa River which flows through Douglas County from Wabaunsee County to the Kansas River near Eudora.
Wakarusa Township covers an area of 46.74 square miles (121.1 km2) surrounding the county seat of Lawrence. According to the United States Geological Survey, it contains one cemetery, Richland.
Lake View Lake is within this township. The streams of Baldwin Creek, Burroughs Creek, Coal Creek, Washington Creek and Yankee Tank Creek run through this township.
Although these towns may not be incorporated or populated, they are still placed on maps produced by the county. The city of Lawrence is considered governmentally independent and is not included on this list.
Wakarusa Township is served directly by one Interstate Highway, on US Highway and one state highway:
Wakarusa Township is served with direct routes to one Interstate Highway, two US Highways and one state highway:
Shawnee County is located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. Its county seat and most populous city is Topeka, the state capital. As of the 2020 census, the population was 178,909, making it the third-most populous county in Kansas. The county was one of the original 33 counties created by the first territorial legislature in 1855, and it was named for the Shawnee tribe.
Miami County is a county located in east-central Kansas and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Its county seat and most populous city is Paola. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 34,191. The county was named for the Miami tribe.
Douglas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Lawrence. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 118,785, making it the fifth-most populous county in Kansas. The county was named after Stephen Douglas, a U.S. Senator from Illinois and advocate for the popular sovereignty choice in the Kansas slavery debate.
The Wakarusa River is a tributary of the Kansas River, approximately 80.5 miles (129.6 km) long, in eastern Kansas in the United States. It drains an agricultural area of rolling limestone hills south of Topeka and Lawrence.
K-10 is a 36.611-mile-long (58.920 km) state highway in the U.S. state of Kansas. It was originally designated in 1929. It is mostly a controlled-access freeway, linking Lawrence to Lenexa. It provides an important toll-free alternate route to Interstate 70. Several scenes for the TV-movie The Day After were filmed on the highway at De Soto in 1982 portraying a mass exodus evacuating the Kansas City area on I-70.
The Baker Wetlands is a nature preserve and artificially sustained wetland, spanning approximately 927 acres (3.8 km2) south of Lawrence, Kansas, United States. It is associated with the Wakarusa River and sustained by levees and flood controls built in the 1990s.
Clinton Lake is a reservoir on the southwestern edge of Lawrence, Kansas. The lake was created by the construction of the Clinton Dam, and the 35 square miles (91 km2) of land and water is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Clinton Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 531. It took its name from Clinton, Illinois.
Eudora Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 6,724.
Grant Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 442.
Kanwaka Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 1,317. The name is a portmanteau of the Kansas River and Wakarusa River.
Lecompton Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 1,761.
Marion Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 836. It was named after the former town of Marion which in turn was named after Francis Marion.
Palmyra Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of 2000 census, its population was 5,760. It was named after a small trail stop on the Santa Fe Trail that was later absorbed into Baldwin City. When it was first established in 1855, it was called Calhoun, until 1858.
Willow Springs Township is a township in Douglas County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 1,409. Willow Springs Township was formed in 1856. It was named after a small watering stop along the Santa Fe Trail.
Rural Township is a township in Jefferson County, Kansas, USA. It was formed in 1871, from the territory of Kentucky Township and Sarcoxie Township. As of the 2000 census, its population was 804.
Lincoln Township is one of the thirteen townships of Sherman County, Kansas, United States. The population was 95 at the 2000 census.
Wakarusa is a census-designated place (CDP) in Shawnee County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 242. It is located 11 miles (18 km) south of downtown Topeka. Wakarusa is also the name of an unincorporated community in adjacent Douglas County, Kansas, 6.6 mi (10.6 km) southwest of downtown Lawrence and the name of the township that includes Lawrence, Kansas.
Little is known about Fort Wakarusa, which was built by free-state partisans between 1855 and 1857. Historian William E. Connelley drew a map in the 1920s that located the fort on the north side of the Wakarusa River, at Blue Jacket's Crossing. The town of Sebastian, Kansas, was on the south side of the river. Considering that the area is very flat and that there are some meander scars showing that the river has changed course various times, the site of Fort Wakarusa may today be on the south side of the river. The fort was located about midway between Lawrence, Kansas, and Eudora, Kansas.
Haskell Limestone is a geological unit name originating in Kansas and used in adjoining states. The Pennsylvanian period unit was named by R.C. Moore for the Haskell Institute in the southeast of Lawrence, Kansas in 1931. The name has been applied to various beds within this range, and assigned as a member variously to the Lawrence Formation, Cass Formation, and Stranger Formation, and significant legacy literature exists for each classification. These three formations now comprise the Douglas Group.