GIRARD, KANSAS

'Girard' is a city in Crawford County, Kansas, United States. The population was 2,773 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Crawford County.

Contents

History

Socialism in Girard

Recent History

Geography

Demographics

Cultural facilities

Notable natives

External links

History

Girard was started in 1868 by the Girard Town Company. The Girard Town Company was first composed of the following gentlemen: A. Danford, President; Charles Henry Strong, Secretary; Dr. Couch, Dr. B. F. Hepler, E. J. Boering, Levi Hatch, John Lash, D. S. McIntosh and Col. J. Alexander. This company was formed upon the survey of the railroad through this portion of the county and the town located upon the line, it was named by C. H. Strong, after the town Girard, Pennsylvania, which had previously been his home.
Charles Strong described the founding of Girard in his own words in the book "The Genesis of Girard" by William C. Cuthbertson. At the time he told the story he was 74 years of age and living in retirement in Girard. `While at Crawfordsville I applied to the town company for a lot, by purchase or otherwise, on which to put my drug store, which was then at Cato, but I was put off. Knowing the voice of the people of the county as to the county seat, I mounted my horse Bob on the 28th day of February 1868, my birthday, and shouldered my old carbine. I told John Voss [John T. Foss in another version] and J. T. Bridgens I was going to hunt for a deer and the county seat. I got the deer and dressed him near the southwest corner where the courthouse now stands. I have his horns now. While the deer was struggling after being shot, I hunted a sprig about four feet long, pulled up some grass, tied it to the top, and wrote the name 'Girard' for my home in Pennsylvania. There was but one log house to be seen, there being no trees or anything else but tall grass and the raw prairie. I took a quarter of the venison and returned to Crawfordsville. W.W. Jones, postmaster, Henry Shoen [Schoen in another version], and H. Brown were in the post office at the time. I said to them I did not want a lot as I had named and started a town of my own.'

Socialism in Girard

In the decades after the Civil War the agrarian states of the Great Plains were increasingly influenced by the Grange movement and populism. By the election of 1896, the Democratic Party under the leadership of thier presidential canidate William Jennings Bryan had incorportated may aspects of the Populist Party platform. Despite the defeat of Bryan in election of 1896 the Great Plains remained a hot-bed of radical politics.
In the first decades of the 20th century Girard became a hub of socialist politics. Around 1900 Julius Wayland moved to Girard from Missouri and brought with him his socialist periodical "Appeal to Reason". In 1900 he employed Fred Warren as his co-editor. Warren was a well-known figure on the left and managed to persuade some of America's leading progressives to contribute to the "Appeal to Reason". In 1904 Warren commissioned Upton Sinclair to write a novel about immigrant workers in the Chicago meat packing houses. Wayland provided Sinclair with a $500 advance and after seven weeks research he wrote the novel, The Jungle. Serialized in 1905, the book helped to increase circulation to 175,000. When published by Doubleday in 1906, The Jungle an immediate success. Within the next few year it was published in seventeen languages and was a best-seller all over the world. As the popularity of the Appeal to Reason increased, so did the attacks on Wayland and Warren. The paper's offices were repeatedly broken into in an effort to find evidence of criminal activity.
During the decade of the 1900's Eugene V. Debs lived in Girard and worked on the "Appeal to Reason". He was the Socialist Party of America canidate for President of the United States in the election years of 1900, 1904, 1908, and 1912. He recieved 901,000 thousand votes in the election of 1912 (6% of the vote).[1] He kicked-off at-least one campain for president from the steps of the Crawford county courthouse in Girard. During World War I Debs was a victim of unconstitutional efforts by President Wilson to suppress dissent against the war. He was convicted of violating the Smith Espionage Act and, in September 1918, was sentanced to 10 years in prison. In 1920 he ran for President will still incacerated in the Atlanta Penitentiary. He recieved 919,799 votes despite his imprisonment. President Warren G. Harding pardoned Debs in December, 1921.[2]
In the 1960's the National Farmer's Organization was active in the area.
In part of his 2004 book What's the Matter with Kansas?, Kansas native, Thomas Frank contrasts Girard's history of socialism and populism in the early 1900's with the right-wing politics that is dominat in the area in the early 2000's.

Recent History

In 2003, Girard suffered the loss of belongings due to an F4 tornado. The tornado passed east of the down effecting unincorportated parts of Crawford county such as Ringo and Franklin.

Geography

Girard is located at (37.510204, -94.844157).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.9 km² (1.9 mi²). 4.9 km² (1.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.52% is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,773 people, 1,063 households, and 723 families residing in the city. The population density was 563.5/km² (1,461.4/mi²). There were 1,219 housing units at an average density of 247.7/km² (642.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.93% White, 1.05% African American, 0.54% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.22% from other races, and 1.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.69% of the population.
There were 1,063 households out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.2% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,847, and the median income for a family was $37,014. Males had a median income of $26,431 versus $20,682 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,668. About 8.1% of families and 13.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.4% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.

Cultural facilities

★ Girard Public Library

Notable natives

★ Dennis Franchione — college football coach

★ Ron Kramer — Green Bay Packers player

External links

★ City of Girard Website

★ History of Girard, ''Cutler's History of Kansas, 1883''