Kearny County (county code KE) is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. In 2020, 3,983 people lived there.[1] Its county seat is Lakin. Lakin is also the biggest city in Kearny County.[2] The county is named after General Philip Kearny.
The original Kearney County was created on March 6, 1873. It was ended in 1883. The land area was divided between Hamilton and Finney counties. It was recreated with its original borders in 1887. It was organized on March 27, 1888. The county is named after Philip Kearny.[3] He was a U.S. Army officer in the Mexican–American War and a Union army general in the American Civil War. In 1889, the name was corrected to Kearny County.[4]
The U.S. Census Bureau says that the county has a total area of 871 square miles (2,260 km2). Of that, 871 square miles (2,260 km2) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) (0.05%) is water.[5]
The west half of Kearny County observed Mountain Standard Time until October 28, 1990. This was when the Kansas Department of Transportation moved the entire county into the Central Time Zone, which 100 of the state's other 104 counties are in. Only four counties (Hamilton, Greeley, Wallace, and Sherman), all of which border Colorado, observe Mountain Time.[6]