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Kansas Counties

Labette County, Kansas

Date Established: February 26, 1867
Date Organized:
Location: Kansas map showing location of Labette County
County Seat: Oswego
Origin of Name: Tradition asserts that the name is from the French words la bête, meaning 'the beast.'; the story goes that Labette Creek, the second largest stream in the county, was named by a group of French trappers after an encounter with a skunk; the county then took its name from the creek. Other sources, however, state the stream and the county are named for Pierre Bete [also spelled Baete or Beatte], a French-Canadian trapper and trader who married into the Osage tribe and lived along the Neosho River in the 1830s and 40s. Pierre Bete served as a guide for Washington Irving during the author's tour across the prairie in 1832.
Cities & Townships
PlacePopulation (2020 census)
Canada Township  205 
Chetopa (city)  929 
Elm Grove Township  682 
Fairview Township  284 
Hackberry Township  402 
Howard Township  347 
Labette Township  366 
Liberty Township  471 
Montana Township  150 
Mound Valley Township  720 
Mount Pleasant Township  1,268 
Neosho Township  160 
North Township  591 
Osage Township  968 
Oswego (city)  1,668 
Oswego Township  330 
Parsons (city)  9,600 
Richland Township  332 
Walton Township  711 
Total population: 20,184 

Township map of Labette County, 2000
Population:
1870 (9,973)
1880 (22,735)
1890 (27,586)
1900 (27,387)
1910 (31,423)
1920 (34,047)
1930 (31,346)
1940 (30,352)
1950 (29,285)
1960 (26,805)
1970 (25,775)
1980 (25,682)
1990 (23,693)
2000 (22,835)
2010 (21,607)
2020 (20,184)
Other Resources: Post offices in Labette County
Cemeteries in Labette County, As of 1906
Newspapers Available on Microfilm
Townships and Independent Cities in Labette County
Bibliography
Kansas Memory
Links to Other Sites: Labette County GenWeb
Early Kansas Maps [KanColl]
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