Pennsylvania State...
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Pennsylvania Counties
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Clinton County, Pennsylvania
Clinton County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Lock Haven
Year Organized: 1839
Square Miles: 891 |
Court House: Jay & Water Streets
County Courthouse
Lock Haven, PA 17745
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
Probably named for Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, a
promoter of the Erie Canal. Actually, the name seems to have been substituted,
as a political maneuver, for the name "Eagle," which had been first proposed.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts:
Census Bureau Quick Facts
History
Created on June 21, 1839, and was
probably named for Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, a promoter of the Erie
Canal. Actually, the name seems to have been substituted, as a political
maneuver, for the name "Eagle," which had been first proposed. This thwarted
opponents of the new county. Lock Haven, the county seat, derived its name from
its position on the West Branch Canal that was completed to Lock Haven in 1834.
Lock Haven was incorporated as a borough on May 25, 1840, and as a city on March
28, 1870.
First settlement was by squatters on Great Island, possibly in 1762. The area
south of the West Branch River was purchased from the Indians in 1768; that
north of the river in 1784. The Fair Play area, which lasted from 1768 to 1784,
arose due to an ambiguity in the description of the 1768 purchase. In 1769 an
influx of settlers created Old Town. The Farrandsville iron furnace and coal
mine and Nathan Harvey's Mill Hall began before the county was created. Jeremiah
Church founded Lock Haven and worked to have the county formed. The North Branch
Canal opened up the economy. Iron manufacturing declined due to competition, but
the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad arrived in 1859. During the lumber boom Lock
Haven competed with Williamsport. Woolrich Mills began in 1830 and is one of the
oldest Pennsylvania industries. Paper and silk industries flourished from the
late nineteenth century, and dyes were manufactured. The Piper Aircraft Company
arrived in 1937. Surface coal mining continues and the county ranks about
eighteenth in the State. The agricultural sector is not strong, although a high
percentage of the population claims German descent, a traditionally farming
people. Farms occupy 8 percent of the land. Floods in 1889, 1936, and 1972
damaged the county's economy. There were Underground Railroad stations at
Clinton, Keating, and Glen Union. The Native American Chief Bald Eagle, the Fair
Play Settlers' Pine Tree Declaration of Independence, and log raftsman Miles
King are local legends.
Neighboring Counties:
Cities and Towns:
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- Avis |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Bald Eagle |
township |
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- Beech Creek |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Castanea |
township |
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- Dunnstable |
township |
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- East Keating |
township |
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- Flemington |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Gallagher |
township |
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- Greene |
township |
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- Grugan |
township |
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- Keating |
township |
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- Lamar |
township |
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- Leidy |
township |
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- Lock Haven
(County
Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Logan |
township |
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- Loganton |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Mill Hall |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Noyes |
township |
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- Renovo |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- South Renovo |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- West Keating |
township |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic
features of our country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.
Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally,
act locally." |
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Penn Foster High School
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