Saline County, KS

History

Organized in 1859. County Seat, Salina. Named for the Saline river, whose waters drain a large area of the county.

Map and text from History of Kansas, Noble Prentis, 1899

William G. Cutler's History of Kansas, first published in 1883, tells about early Saline County.

There is a section on Saline County in the book Kansas: a Cyclopedia Of State History by Frank Blackmar (1912).

The Kansas State Historical Society also has more historical data for Saline County online including a rich bibliography and lists of cemeteries, post offices, and newspapers.

The Special Collections of the Ablah Library at WSU contain historical images of Assaria, Brookville, Gypsum, New Cambria, Salina, and Smolan.

Cities, Towns, & Villages of Saline County

                      2000
     Town          Population  ZIP         Year Elevation
     ------------  ----------  -----       ---- ---------
     Assaria              438  67416       1868   1282
     Bavaria                   67401              1270
     Bridgeport                                   1302
     Brookville           259  67425       1869   1369
     Falun                     67442              1352
     Glendale                                     1385
     Gypsum               414  67448              1229
     Hallville                                    1405
     Hedville                                     1271
     Kipp                                         1210
     Marydel                                      1260
     Mentor                    67416              1273
     New Cambria          150  67470              1196
     Salemsborg                                   1330
     Salina            45,679  67401-67402 1858   1225
     Shipton                                      1240
     Smolan               218  67479       1868   1315
     Trenton                                      1225

Census Bureau Profile & Map

Coronado Heights--1936 WPA Project .

Special Places in Saline County

Coronado Heights is a favorite place to explore. It's perched on top of the mountains NW of Lindsborg close to the southern border of Saline County. Built by the WPA in 1936, it has a main "castle", picnic spots with stone fireplaces' and a stone "convenience" building. A switchback road that may have once been paved leads right to the top where the view is wonderful in all directions. More photos (135K total size)
Brookville, located about 15 miles southwest of Salina on KS-140, is a shady little town with an interesting history and several handsome old buildings including the original Brookville Hotel.
The Rolling Hills Zoo Wildlife Conservation Center, Inc. is a zoological park 6 miles west of Salina, south of I-70. The center opened Oct 26, 1999.

Libraries

Gypsum Public Library (785) 536-4296
521 Maple / P. O. Box 8, Gypsum, KS 67448-0008
Salina Public Library (785) 825-4624
301 W. Elm, Salina, KS 67401

Museums

Central Kansas Flywheels Museum (785) 825-8473
1100 W. Diamond Dr., Salina, KS 67401
Open May-Oct
Collection started as agricultural items, grew into domestic & many other areas. 300,000 sq. ft., 4 bldgs.
Smoky Hill Museum (785) 309-5776
Eighth & Iron / Salina, KS 67402
Salina Art Center (785) 827-1431
242 S. Santa Fe / Salina, KS 67402

Saline County School Systems

USD 305 Salina (785) 826-4700 Salina
USD 306 Southeast Of Saline (785) 536-4291 Gypsum
USD 307 Ell-Saline (785) 827-1121 Salina
USD 240 Twin Valley (785) 488-3325 Bennington
USD 400 Smoky Valley (785) 227-2981 Lindsborg
USD 393 Solomon (785) 655-2541 Solomon

Colleges & Universities

Kansas Wesleyan University (785) 827-5541
100 E. Claflin Ave., Salina, KS 67401
K-State at Salina (800) 248-5782 or (785) 826-2640
2310 Centennial Road, Salina, KS 67401-8196
The Brown Mackie College (785) 825-5422 or (800) 365-0433
126 South Santa Fe / Salina, Kansas 67401

Hospitals

Salina Regional Health Center (785) 452-7000
400 S Santa Fe Ave., Salina, KS 67401-4144

Newspapers

Salina Journal (785) 823-6363
333 S. 4th / P. O. Box 740 / Salina, KS 67402

More Data About Saline County

Economic Development

Kansas County Profile Reports Statistical data from The Institute for Policy and Social Research, the University of Kansas

Health Data

KDHE's Saline County Health Profile

Genealogy

Saline County KSGenWeb

Saline County Offices

Saline County Government (785) 309-5820 (County Clerk)
300 W. Ash St., Salina, KS 67402-5040
Extension Service (785) 309-5850
300 W. Ash / Box 5040, Salina, KS 67401

For more about Saline County contact:

Salina Area Chamber of Commerce (785) 827-9301
120 W. Ash, Salina, KS 67401