In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping title to about 7,500 square miles. In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mileLouisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre. In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state. In 1867, Rooks County was established. In 1881, the first county courthouse was built in Stockton. The county jail was built nearby from cottonwood logs strengthened by tons of iron.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Adjacent counties
Phillips County
Smith County
Osborne County
Ellis County
Trego County
Graham County
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,685 people, 2,362 households, and 1,556 families residing in the county. The population density was 6 people per square mile. There were 2,758 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 97.13% White, 1.13% Black or African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.37% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. 1.06% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 2,362 households out of which 29.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.40% were married couplesliving together, 7.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.10% were non-families. 31.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.93. In the county, the population was spread out with 25.20% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 25.50% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 21.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 98.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,457, and the median income for a family was $36,931. Males had a median income of $26,794 versus $18,389 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,588. About 7.30% of families and 9.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.70% of those under age 18 and 7.40% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Presidential elections
Rooks County is overwhelmingly Republican. No Democratic Presidential candidate has won Rooks County since Franklin D. Roosevelt – ironically against Kansan Alf Landon – carried the county by eighty-five votes in 1936. The last Democrat to exceed a quarter of the county's vote was Michael Dukakis in 1988 during a major drought on the Great Plains.
Laws
Following amendment to the Kansas Constitution in 1986, the county remained a prohibition, or "dry", county until 2000, when voters approved the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with a 30 percent food sales requirement.
Education
Unified school districts
*limited to western edge of county; includes Palco, Damar and Zurich
*southern half of county, except western edge zoned to Palco
Rooks County is divided into twelve townships. None of the cities within the county are considered governmentally independent, and all figures for the townships include those of the cities. In the following table, the population center is the largest city included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size.
