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Kansas County
Marshall County, Kansas
Marysville's Pony Express and the Black Squirrel City - from Marysville's Pony Express heritage (Marysville was the first home station west of St. Joseph on the Pony Express route - riders who left St. Joseph on April 3, 1860 reached Marysville after the first leg of their historic mail relay, and the original Pony Express barn still stands as a museum) to Marysville's black squirrel colony (a naturally occurring melanistic population of Eastern gray squirrels has lived in Marysville since the early 20th century, earning the city its "Black Squirrel City" nickname and a protected status that prohibits harming them) and the Big Blue River valley's agricultural heritage.
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Office: Marshall County Emergency Management – 1201 Broadway, B4, Marysville, KS 66508 | Mailing: PO Box 391 | (785) 562-4550; Director William Schwindamann Jr. Communications Center dispatches for Sheriff, Police, Fire, EMS, First Response, Corps of Engineers, and Wildlife & Parks countywide, equipped with Enhanced 911 (E-911).
Sheriff: Marshall County Sheriff’s Office – 107 S. 13th Street, Marysville, KS 66508 | (785) 562-3141; Sheriff Tim Ackerman.
Notes: For an active emergency, call 911. Cellular 911 calls near county lines may route to neighboring Riley, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, or Gage County (Nebraska) centers and are forwarded appropriately.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-36 and US-77 serve Marysville, the county seat, in northeastern Kansas near the Nebraska border, along the Big Blue River.
Notes: Marshall County was established August 25, 1855, named for Frank J. Marshall, a state representative who established the first ferry over the Big Blue River in 1849 at “Independence Crossing.” Marshall later platted the townsite and named it Marysville after his wife, Mary.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Marshall County Courthouse – 1207 Broadway, Marysville, KS (built 1891-92, Romanesque style, designed by H.C. Koch, National Register of Historic Places).
Notes: Marysville, once known as Palmetto City, holds a genuinely rare distinction in Pony Express history: its 1859 limestone livery barn is one of only two original Pony Express structures still standing anywhere in the country, and the only one still on its original operating site. Built by Joseph H. Cottrell and Hank Williams and leased to Russell, Majors & Waddell as a home station in 1860, the barn – now the Pony Express Museum – housed horses and a blacksmith shop for the fabled 18-month mail route, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The Oregon Trail also crosses Marshall County; the ill-fated Donner-Reed Party rested along the Big Blue River at nearby Alcove Springs, where party member Sarah Keyes died and remains buried, one of many documented pioneer graves in the area.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
Office: Marshall County Veterans Affairs – confirm current contact via Marshall County government.
Libraries
LIBRARIES
Marysville Public Library (Marysville) – confirm current address/phone via the county library system.
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: The Pony Express Museum (the original 1859 barn), Alcove Springs Historic Park, and downtown Marysville’s historic district are the county’s premier heritage attractions.
Notes: The genuine, rare survival of an original Pony Express home station – one of only two left in the nation – is among the most historically significant facts covered anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
Appraisal/Parcel Search: Marshall County Appraiser’s Office – confirm current contact via Marshall County government.
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Marysville Animal Shelter (Marysville Dog Shelter) – 209 N. 8th Street, Marysville, KS 66508. Licensed per Kansas Dept. of Agriculture records.
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Office: Marshall County Road & Bridge / Solid Waste – confirm current contact via Marshall County government.
NOTES: Marshall County is the sixth and final county in the ninth Kansas Round 3 batch, under the A+ sourced standard established for this project. The genuine, rare survival of an original Pony Express home station – one of only two left in the nation – is among the most historically significant facts covered anywhere in this project. All contact information above was sourced via web search as of early August 2026 and should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit, deadline-sensitive filing, or emergency-adjacent decision.
About Marshall County
Marshall County is north-central Kansas’s Pony Express and black squirrel county – Marysville’s preserved Pony Express barn and its protected melanistic squirrel colony give this Big Blue River community two very different claims to national attention.
Marysville (the county seat, population ~3,200) preserves the original Pony Express barn where riders changed horses on the first leg west from St. Joseph. The Pony Express operated only 18 months (1860-61) before the transcontinental telegraph made it obsolete, but its romantic legacy endures. Marysville’s black squirrels – melanistic Eastern gray squirrels – are protected by city ordinance.
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Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Marshall County Appraiser at 1201 Broadway Street, Suite 3, Marysville, KS 66508, phone 785-562-3314. KS residential assessed at 11.5% of appraised value.
Courts & Legal
Marshall County District Court at 1201 Broadway Street, Marysville, KS 66508, phone 785-562-5301, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
1201 Broadway, Marysville, KS 66508
(785) 562-3341
DISTRICT COURT CLERK (Court Records, Marriage Licenses)
1201 Broadway, Marysville, KS 66508
(785) 562-5301
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
1201 Broadway, Marysville, KS 66508
(785) 562-3341
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Marshall County District Court (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
The historic 1891-1892 Marshall County Courthouse in Marysville is a significant local architectural landmark.
Local societies
No dedicated Marshall County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Marshall County District Court, 22nd Judicial District P.O. Box 149, Marysville, KS 66508
Marshall County was founded August 25, 1855, named for Francis J. Marshall. Marysville was platted in 1855 by Marshall himself and designated the county seat the same year. The 1891-1892 Marshall County Courthouse (Romanesque, National Register of Historic Places) replaced an 1873 courthouse destroyed by suspected arson.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Kansas has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code, maintaining its own statutory framework under the Kansas Probate Code (K.S.A. Chapter 59). Kansas offers several tracks depending on estate size and complexity:
Small Estate Affidavit – for estates where the total value of probate property, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $75,000 (raised from $40,000 effective July 1, 2023), available under K.S.A. 59-1507b. This transfers personal property only. If the decedent left a will, it must still be filed with the probate court even though it isn’t being formally probated.
Simplified Administration – under the Kansas Simplified Estates Act (K.S.A. 59-3201 et seq.), the most common route for straightforward estates.
Formal Probate – supervised or unsupervised administration through the District Court for larger or more complex estates.
A will must be filed for probate within 6 months of death, or it may not be admitted, forcing the estate into intestate distribution.
Step 2: filing for formal probate
File a Petition for Probate of Will and Appointment of Executor (if there’s a will) or a Petition for Administration (if intestate) with the Marshall County District Court.
The court admits the will (if any) and appoints the personal representative.
Notice to creditors is published per court order; creditors have a defined window to file claims.
The personal representative inventories assets, pays valid debts and expenses, and – under unsupervised administration – acts with reduced court check-ins.
Without a surviving spouse or children, Kansas intestate succession law (K.S.A. 59-501 et seq.) determines which blood relatives inherit.
After debts are paid, the personal representative distributes assets and files a final accounting; the court closes the estate upon approval.
What it costs
Court costs may be remitted for small estates under recent statutory changes.
Executor/administrator and attorney fees are generally reasonable-fee based rather than a fixed statutory percentage.
Typical timelines: Small Estate Affidavit can proceed relatively quickly; formal probate commonly takes several months to over a year.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
1201 Broadway, Marysville, KS 66508
(785) 562-2343
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK (Records, Elections)
1201 Broadway, Marysville, KS 66508
(785) 562-3341
ELECTIONS (County Clerk)
1201 Broadway, Marysville, KS 66508
(785) 562-3341
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Marshall County Health Dept
(785) 562-2305
KS DCF — Northeast Region
(785) 562-5394
KS Medicaid (KanCare)
(800) 792-4884
Community Memorial Healthcare (Marysville)
cmhcare.org (quality community hospital)
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Marshall County Health Department – confirm current contact via Marshall County government.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Marysville
Population: 9,600
Area: 903 sq mi
Established: 1855
Tier: 3
Public Records
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