Rice County, Kansas is a sparsely populated county right in the middle of Kansas. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 10,083.
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From '
A Time For Choosing':
For three decades, we have sought to solve the problems of unemployment through government planning, and the more the plans fail, the more the planners plan. The latest is the Area Redevelopment Agency. They have just declared Rice County, Kansas, a depressed area. Rice County, Kansas, has two hundred oil wells, and the 14,000 people there have over $30 million on deposit in personal savings in their banks. When the government tells you you're depressed, lie down and be depressed.
As of 1960, Rice County had a population of 13,909 and it sits on top of the
Mid-Continent Oil Province. According to Kansas University records, Rice County still produces almost a million barrels of oil per year.
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Rice CountyOil and Gas ProductionRice County, Kansas - Kansas Historical Society