|
Pennsylvania State...
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Pennsylvania Counties
|
|
Click Image to Enlarge
Pennsylvania Counties
There are sixty-seven counties of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States of
America. The city of Philadelphia is coterminous with Philadelphia County, and governmental functions have been
consolidated since 1854. |
|
| |
|
|
Elk County, Pennsylvania
Elk County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Ridgway
Year Organized: 1843
Square Miles: 829 |
Court House: P.O. Box 448
County Courthouse Annex
Ridgway, PA 15853-0448
|
Etymology - Origin of County Name
Named for the elk that roamed the county.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts:
Census Bureau Quick Facts
History
Elk County was created on April 18,
1843, from parts of Jefferson, Clearfield, and McKean Counties and named for the
elk that roamed the county. Ridgway, the county seat, was laid out in 1833 and
named for Jacob Ridgway, a local landowner. It was incorporated as a borough on
February 15, 1881.
Land speculation companies owned this area after it was acquired by Pennsylvania
at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1784—the "Last Purchase." In 1825, a Smethport
to Milesburg Turnpike was incorporated, and a sawmill opened in Ridgway the next
year. Lumber was the basis of the early economy, logs being floated to cities by
the natural waterways. Railroads began to appear in 1864, and by 1890 the county
produced coal and oil. Today, powdered metal, paper, and carbon are produced.
Elk is one of the four counties that have large areas lying within the Allegheny
National Forest. The farming area is only 3― percent of the county. Although the
indigenous elk population was hunted to extinction, a herd introduced from
strains found in the western states now flourishes. Elk was the first county to
have land designated for state game. The original settlers were from upper New
York State and New England. Northern European immigrants then appeared, and
around 1900 immigrants from southern and eastern Europe arrived.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 832 square miles (2,155 kmē), of which, 829
square miles (2,146 kmē) of it is land and 4 square miles (9 kmē) of it (0.43%) is water.
Neighboring Counties:
- McKean County (north)
- Cameron County (east)
- Clearfield County (south)
- Jefferson County (southwest)
- Forest County (west)
- Warren County (northwest)
Cities and Towns:
|
- Benezette |
township |
|
|
- Highland |
township |
|
|
- Horton |
township |
|
|
- Jay |
township |
|
|
- Johnsonburg |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
|
- Jones |
township |
|
|
- Millstone |
township |
|
|
- Ridgway
(County Seat) |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
|
- St. Marys |
city |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
|
|
County Resource Guide
|
|
|
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." |
|
|
| |
|
