Atchison, KS

 Atchison is located at 89km northwest of Kansas City. It is best known from the popular song of the 1930s, "The Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," which celebrated the railway that passed through the town.

The Lewis and Clark expedition made a stop at what is now Atchison in 1804 as they set out on their journey to explore land acquired by the Louisiana Purchase: Independence Park commemorates their campsite. Amelia Earhart, the famed female aviator who disappeared while trying to fly around the world, was born in Atchison. The International Forest of Friendship contains trees from around the U.S. and the world, including one that grew from a seed taken to the moon on an Apollo mission.

Population (year 2000): 10,232. Estimated population in July 2005: 10,169 (-0.6% change)
Males: 4,788 (46.8%), Females: 5,444 (53.2%)

Atchison County

Zip code: 66002

Median resident age: 34.7 years
Median household income: $31,109 (year 2000)
Median house value: $52,200 (year 2000)

Races in Atchison:

Ancestries: German (27.5%), Irish (15.6%), United States (9.1%), English (8.8%), Dutch (3.1%), Italian (2.6%).

Elevation: 950 feet

Land area: 6.8 square miles

For population 25 years and over in Atchison

• High school or higher: 84.4%
• Bachelor's degree or higher: 20.4%
• Graduate or professional degree: 9.0%
• Unemployed: 7.9%
• Mean travel time to work: 17.6 minutes

For population 15 years and over in Atchison city

• Never married: 30.1%
• Now married: 48.2%
• Separated: 1.1%
• Widowed: 7.9%
• Divorced: 12.7%

0.9% Foreign born

Population change in the 1990s: -542 (-5.0%).