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County in Kansas, United States

For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of North America. In 1762, after the French and Indian War, France secretly ceded New France to Spain, per the Treaty of Fontainebleau.

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 mile Louisiana 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, Rice County was established. The Santa Fe Trail followed the route of present day U. S. Route 56. Ruts in the earth from the trail are still visible in several locations. (Ralph's Ruts are visible in aerial photos at .) In 1878, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and parties from Marion County and McPherson County chartered the Marion and McPherson Railway Company. In 1879, a branch line was built from Florence to McPherson, in 1880 it was extended to Lyons, in 1881 it was extended to Ellinwood. The line was leased and operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The line from Florence to Marion, was abandoned in 1968. In 1992, the line from Marion to McPherson was sold to Central Kansas Railway. In 1993, after heavy flood damage, the line from Marion to McPherson was abandoned. The original branch line connected Florence, Marion, Canada, Hillsboro, Lehigh, Canton, Galva, McPherson, Conway, Windom, Little River, Mitchell, Lyons, Chase, Ellinwood.

According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 728 square miles (1,886 km2), of which 726 square miles (1,880 km2) is land and 1.7 square miles (4 km2) (0.2%) is water.

The Kansas Constitution was amended in 1986 to allow the sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink with the approval of voters, either with or without a minimum of 30% of sales coming from food. Rice County is one of 35 counties in the state that allows for the sale of liquor by the drink without the minimum food sales stipulation.

[[File:Map of Rice Co, Ks, USA. png|thumb|300px|2005 map of Rice County

Rice County is divided into twenty townships. The cities of Lyons and Sterling are considered governmentally independent and are excluded from the census figures for the townships. In the following table, the population center is the largest city (or cities) included in that township's population total, if it is of a significant size. Sources: 2000 U. S. Gazetteer from the U. S. Census Bureau. Township FIPS Populationcenter Population Populationdensity/km2 (/sq mi) Land areakm2 (sq mi) Water areakm2 (sq mi) Water % Geographic coordinates Atlanta 03075 233 3 (7) 90 (35) 0 (0) 0.25% Bell 05375 18 0 (0) 94 (36) 1 (0) 0.65% Center 12075 136 1 (4) 95 (37) 0 (0) 0.04% East Washington 19725 179 2 (5) 93 (36) 0 (0) 0.03% Eureka 21900 65 1 (2) 95 (37) 0 (0) 0% Farmer 23100 441 5 (12) 94 (36) 0 (0) 0% Galt 25175 51 1 (1) 94 (36) 0 (0) 0.22% Harrison 30425 192 2 (5) 92 (35) 0 (0) 0.06% Lincoln 41100 577 6 (16) 95 (37) 0 (0) 0% Mitchell 47525 131 1 (4) 94 (36) 0 (0) 0.18% Odessa 52150 55 1 (2) 93 (36) 0 (0) 0.10% Pioneer 55925 101 1 (3) 94 (36) 0 (0) 0.03% Raymond 58575 185 2 (5) 92 (36) 1 (0) 0.71% Rockville 60725 134 1 (4) 93 (36) 0 (0) 0.04% Sterling 68225 223 2 (5) 114 (44) 1 (0) 1.01% Union 72325 741 8 (21) 93 (36) 0 (0) 0% Valley 73100 276 4 (9) 77 (30) 1 (0) 1.11% Victoria 73825 364 4 (10) 94 (36) 0 (0) 0.06% West Washington 77425 138 1 (4) 93 (36) 0 (0) 0.12% Wilson 79775 147 2 (4) 94 (36) 0 (0) 0.02%

The CW television series Superman & Lois places Superman's home town of Smallville in Rice County ("Pilot").