Hays is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The most populous city in northwestern Kansas, it is the economic and cultural center of the region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 21,116. Hays is home to Fort Hays State University.
History
Before American settlement of the area, the site of Hays was located near where the territories of the Arapaho, Kiowa, and Pawnee met. Claimed first by France as part of Louisiana and later acquired by the United States with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, it lay within the area organized by the U.S. as Kansas Territory in 1854. Kansas became a state in 1861. The state government delineated the surrounding area as Ellis County in 1867.
In 1865, the U.S. Army established Fort Fletcher southeast of present-day Hays to protect stagecoaches traveling the Smoky Hill Trail. A year later, the Army renamed the post Fort Hays in honor of the late Brig. Gen. Alexander Hays, killed in the Battle of the Wilderness. In late 1866, anticipating the construction of the Kansas Pacific Railway as far west as Fort Hays, a party from St. Louis, Missouri led by William Webb selected three sections of land for colonization near the fort. In June 1867, to better serve the railroad, the Army relocated Fort Hays 15 miles northwest to a site near where the railroad was to cross Big Creek, a tributary of the Smoky Hill River. Seeing a business opportunity, Buffalo Bill Cody and railroad contractor William Rose founded the settlement of Rome near the fort's new location. Within a month, the population of Rome grew to over 2,000. Webb, meanwhile, established the Big Creek Land Company and then surveyed and platted a town site, which he named Hays City after the fort, roughly one mile east of Rome. The railroad reached Hays City soon thereafter and constructed a depot there. The railroad's arrival, combined with a cholera epidemic that hit Rome in the late summer of 1867, drove Rome businesses and residents to relocate to Hays City. Within a year, Rome was completely abandoned. As the western terminus of the railway, Hays City grew rapidly, serving as the supply point for territories to the west and southwest.
As a frontier town, Hays City experienced the kind of violence that gave rise to the myth of the American Old West. Several notable figures of the Old West lived in the Hays City of this era, including George Armstrong Custer, his wife Elizabeth Bacon Custer, Calamity Jane, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Wild Bill Hickok who served a brief term as sheriff in 1869. 30 homicides occurred between 1867 and 1873 including a deadly saloon shootout involving Fort Hays soldiers. A cemetery north of town became known as "Boot Hill"; by 1885, it held the bodies of some 79 outlaws.
Hays experienced significant racial violence during the same period. On January 7, 1869, the murder of Union Pacific watchman James Hayes led to the lynching of three African American soldiers of the 38th US Infantry Regiment.Hangmans Bridge That same year, six black soldiers at Fort Hays were murdered, their bodies were dropped in a well that was sodded over, and they were falsely reported as deserters. A mob then hunted down and lynched two black barbers, and the town's black residents were expelled.It should be noted on the Campney Reference that in May 1869 two incidents are noted in Hays Kansas: two lynchings and a race riot with unknown victims [p.222] A Contemporary Newspaper account Nashville union and American. [volume], May 06, 1869, Image 1 reports "A fight occurred on Monday at Hays City, Kansas between a lot of colored soldiers of the 38th Infantry and Citizens, in which five citizens, among them United States Marshal Neis, and A White a soldier of the 7th Cavalry were wounded. Some five hundred shots are said to have been fired."In 1910 transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society Transactions - Volume 9; Volume 11 - pp.579-580 claimed that in the fall of 1869 in Hays some Colored Troopers were denied admission to the "resort" of Jim Curry and Ida May in which a general fight broke out in which a number of soldiers were killed six, according to local memory...it does not appear any citizens were killed and that as a result the negro citizens were driven out of town. One recent account quotes the Omaha World Herald reported the burial of the six killed; also the lynching of Hays two Barbers. A 1933 account listing Lynchings in Kansas reports only the 3 soldiers lynched at the Bridge in 1869 ; reports in August 1871 a man was lynched in Hays after stabbing a constable This and numerous other racial incidents throughout the last half of the 19th century gave Hays a reputation as a sundown town. African Americans living in nearby Nicodemus were not welcome after dark. No signs formally establishing this policy were posted, but the town's reputation for racial discrimination persisted for decades. Hays City became the county seat of Ellis County in 1870, and the town became more civilized. Rougher elements of the populace had begun to leave in the late 1860s, many following the Kansas Pacific railroad construction west to Sheridan or moving south to Dodge City. Volga Germans started settling in Ellis County in 1876, finding its land suitable for their lifestyle and the types of crops they had grown in Russia. They brought with them Turkey Red Wheat, a type of winter wheat whose cultivation contributed to the agricultural transformation of the region. Bukovina Germans began settling in the area in 1886. These groups had a significant impact on the local way of life, establishing Hays as a regional center of ethnic German culture. Hays City was incorporated in 1885, and in 1895, it was renamed as simply Hays.
Fort Hays closed in 1889. In 1900, the Kansas delegation to the U.S. Congress secured the fort's land and facilities for educational purposes. The following year, the Kansas Legislature established the Fort Hays Experiment Station, part of Kansas State Agricultural College, on the Fort Hays reservation and set aside land for the Western Branch of Kansas State Normal School, which opened in 1902 and eventually became Fort Hays State University. Fort Hays opened as a historical park in 1929 and was later acquired by the Kansas Historical Society. In 1967, it became the Fort Hays State Historic Site.
Several disasters have struck Hays over the course of its history. In 1895, fire destroyed 60 buildings downtown. Severe floods occurred in 1907 and 1951. In 1919, three Standard Oil gasoline tanks exploded, killing eight and injuring approximately 150 people. In 1935, the city experienced violent dust storms as part of the Dust Bowl.
Hays began to modernize in the early 1900s with a power plant, waterworks, telephone exchange, and sewer system complete by 1911. Over the following decades, the city evolved into a regional economic hub. Development of oil fields in the surrounding area began in 1936 with Hays serving as a trading center and shipping point. Hays Regional Airport opened in 1961. Interstate 70 reached Hays in 1966. Today, Hays is a commercial and educational center for western Kansas.
Geography Hays is located in northwestern Kansas at the intersection of Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 183. Hays is northwest of Wichita, west of Kansas City, and east-southeast of Denver.
The city lies in the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains, approximately north of the Smoky Hill River and south of the Saline River. Big Creek, a tributary of the Smoky Hill River, runs through the southwestern part of the city. Chetolah Creek, a tributary of Big Creek, flows south through the eastern part of the city.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Climate Hays sits near the convergence of a humid continental climate (Köppen Dwa) and a temperate semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk). It typically experiences hot summers with variable humidity and cold winters. Due to its geographic location at a climatic boundary, severe weather is common, with tornadoes a major threat, especially in the spring and early summer months. On average, January is the coldest month, and July is both the hottest and wettest month. The hottest temperature recorded in Hays was on July 13, 1934, while the coldest temperature recorded was on January 14, 1905, and February 13, 1905. Hays reached 107 °F (41.7 °C) on April 23, 1989, which is the highest April temperature recorded in the United States outside of Arizona, California and Texas.
Demographics
2020 census As of the 2020 census, Hays had a population of 21,116 and 8,610 households, including 4,576 families. The population density was 2,443.1 per square mile (943.3/km). There were 9,541 housing units at an average density of 1,103.9 per square mile (426.2/km).
19.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 22.9% were from 18 to 24; 23.8% were from 25 to 44; 18.5% were from 45 to 64; and 15.3% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.7 years. For every 100 females there were 95.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.7 males age 18 and over.
99.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.2% lived in rural areas.
Of all households, 24.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. 40.3% were married-couple households, 22.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.3 and the average family size was 2.9.
There were 9,541 housing units, of which 9.8% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.4%.
Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 85.8% of the population.
+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 18,472 87.5% Black or African American 313 1.5% American Indian and Alaska Native 61 0.3% Asian 242 1.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 2 0.0% Some other race 787 3.7% Two or more races 1,239 5.9% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 1,538 7.3%
2016–2020 ACS estimates The 2016–2020 5-year American Community Survey estimates show that the median household income was $52,135 (with a margin of error of +/- $5,558) and the median family income was $78,151 (+/- $9,761). Males had a median income of $32,464 (+/- $2,406) versus $25,813 (+/- $3,239) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $30,104 (+/- $2,946). Approximately, 8.1% of families and 15.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.4% of those under the age of 18 and 9.5% of those ages 65 or over. The percent of those with a bachelor's degree or higher was estimated to be 26.8% of the population.
2010 census As of the 2010 United States census, there were 20,510 people, 8,698 households, and 4,639 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 9,311 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 92.8% Caucasian American, 0.8% African American, 0.3% American Indian, 1.8% Asian, 2.1% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanics and Latinos of any race were 1.7% of the population.
There were 8,698 households, of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 46.7% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25, and the average family size was 2.89.