Genuine Kansas - Hill City, Kansas

Hill City is a city in Graham County, Kansas. The population was 1,604 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Graham County. Hill City is located at the junction of Highways 24 and 283, about 100 miles East of Goodland.

History 2005 Tornado On June 9, 2005 a large tornado (pictured above) passed just one mile south of Hill City at its closest. On that afternoon several supercell thunderstorms produced tornadoes across portions of western and north central Kansas. Within the Goodland, Kansas National Weather Service's (NWS) area of warning and forecasting responsibility. Seven tornadoes occurred over a three-hour period; 1 F2, 1 F1, 5 F0 on the Fujita scale. It was one of these that passed close to Hill City. The Early History of Hill City by Frank W. Blackmar (1912) Hill City, the county seat and largest town of Graham county, is located in the central part, on the Union Pacific R. R. and on the Solomon river. It is in the midst of a prosperous farming country, has 2 banks, 2 opera houses, 3 newspapers (the New Era, the Reveille and the Republican), 2 hotels, a mill and elevator, which is one of the best plants of its kind in the state, a county high school, a number of churches and retail stores dealing in all lines of merchandise. The town is supplied with express and telegraph offices and has an international money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population according to the census of 1910 was 983. Hill City was founded in 1876 and was the first town in Graham county. The postoffice was established in 1878. In 1880 it was made the county seat. Business and professional men came in and soon made a town, which was incorporated as a city of the third class before the close of the year. Geography Hill City is located at 39°22'2N, 99°50'44W (39.367319, -99.845558). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.4 km² (0.9 mi²), all land. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 1,604 people, 696 households, and 448 families residing in the city. The population density was 665.9/km² (1,716.3/mi²). There were 795 housing units at an average density of 330.1/km² (850.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.33% White, 3.43% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.69% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.12% of the population. There were 696 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.80. In the city the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 21.6% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 25.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 86.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,236, and the median income for a family was $36,500. Males had a median income of $26,207 versus $18,295 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,989. About 6.2% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.