MORRIS COUNTY COURTHOUSE

501 W. MAIN

COUNCIL GROVE, KS 66846

www.morriscountyks.org

HOURS OF OPERATION:  8:00 A.M. TO 5:00 P.M.

Individual departments may have different hours of operation

Monday through Friday

Most offices open during noon hour

Closed Saturdays and County Holidays

Welcome to the official website for Morris County, Kansas.  The purpose of this site is to provide timely and accurate information about Morris County government and services and to make it available to the public at their convenience via the internet.  This site provides access to information, offices, documents and instructions of various activities.

Morris County is located in Central Kansas.  The county seat is Council Grove which is located 37 miles south of Manhattan and 19 miles north of Strong City on KS HWY 177.  Morris County is an hour drive from Topeka, 45 minutes from Emporia and 90 minutes from Wichita.

Morris County was originally organized as Wise County in 1855 and named for Henry A. Wise who was Governor of Virginia during  John Brown seizure of Harper’s Ferry.  The county name was changed to Morris in February 1859, in honor of Thomas Morris, a United States Senator in 1832 from Ohio who was an opponent of slavery and died in 1844.

Morris County has three major highways crossing it.  KS HWY 177 runs north and south and US HWY 56 runs east and west and KS HWY 4 which runs through the northern part of the county connecting the towns of White City and Dwight.  It is approximately 30 miles wide from east to west and 24 miles from north to south.  It covers a total of 697 square miles.  Our neighboring counties are Geary and Wabaunsee Counties on the north, Lyon County on the east, Chase County on the south and Marion and Dickinson Counties on the west.  Morris County has 11 townships and 7 incorporated cities of Council Grove, Dunlap, Dwight, Latimer,  Parkerville, White City, and Wilsey.  There are 3 unincorporated cities of Burdick, Delavan and Skiddy.

Known for being the last place to stop and purchase supplies before heading west on the Santa Fe Trail, Morris County is rich in history.  The ruts from the numerous wagon trains are still visible out across the scenic Flint Hills.  Agricultural dominated the early development of Morris County and is still the prominent industry today.  The grasslands of the Flint Hills are desired by cattlemen all over the nation.  Thousands of cattle arrive every year from out of state to be turned out onto the lush native grasses of the Flint Hills.  Other areas of agricultural production include various grain crops such as milo, soybeans, wheat and corn. 

Morris County is home to the Council Grove Federal Reservoir which is host to thousands of visitors each year.  There is a lot of good fishing, water skiing, boating, and camping done at the reservoir.  Besides the Federal Reservoir Morris County has a city owned lake just outside of Council Grove and a privately owned lake in the southeast corner of the County known as Lake Kahola.

There are lots of things to see in Morris County so come visit us and enjoy our friendly down-home people and a slower pace of life.  Come fall in love with our county.

 DISCLAIMER

Morris County makes every effort to produce and publish the most current and accurate information as possible.  The information from this site is furnished as a public service.  The County’s internet web site provides “hyperlinks” to other internet web sites that contain information created by other institutions or organizations.  Morris County does not endorse, approve, certify or control those external web sites.  Morris County does not guarantee accuracy or completeness of information located at those sites.  The use of any information from those web sites is voluntary.