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Pennsylvania Counties

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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.

Lebanon County, Pennsylvania

Lebanon County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Lebanon
Year Organized: 1815
Square Miles: 362

Court House:

400 South Eighth Street
County Courthouse
Lebanon, PA 17042-6794

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for old Lebanon Township. Lebanon is a Biblical name meaning "White Mountain."

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Created on was created on February 16, 1813, from parts of Dauphin and Lancaster Counties and named for old Lebanon Township. Lebanon is a Biblical name meaning "White Mountain." Lebanon, the county seat, was laid out in 1750. It was incorporated as a borough on March 28, 1799, but the citizens did not accept incorporation. It was finally chartered as a borough on February 20, 1821 and as a city in 1885.

Palatine Germans from New York were the first large group, first arriving in 1732. Conrad Weiser became their leader. Today 42 percent of the residents still claim German descent. Indian attacks troubled the area from 1755 to 1763, and the Hanover Resolves of 1774 anticipated the Revolution. Jacob Albright established the Evangelical Association whose Albright College was located in Myerstown from 1895 to 1928. A turnpike in 1817 followed by the Union Canal in 1828 opened up business markets. Iron mines, especially those of the Coleman family, led to iron making. Cornwall Furnace was productive from 1742 to 1883; Cornwall's iron mine operated into the 1970s. There was an important limestone industry, and items manufactured included carriages, shoes, cigars, Miller Organs, whiskey, and Lebanon Bologna. Agriculture leads the economy today, the county being a leader in livestock and dairy products—sixth in the state—and an important grain producer. It is one of only four counties in which half or more of the area is farmed. The first National Guard annual training camps were at Mount Gretna. Since World War II, the Federal dollar input in the county has been high because of Indiantown Gap Military Reservation.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 363 square miles (939 km²), of which, 362 square miles (937 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (2 km²) of it (0.20%) is water

Neighboring Counties:

Schuylkill County (northeast)
Berks County (east)
Lancaster County (south)
Dauphin County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Annville	township
- Cleona	borough	Incorporated Area
- Cold Spring	township
- Colebrook	township
- Cornwall	borough	Incorporated Area
- East Hanover	township
- Jonestown	borough	Incorporated Area
- Lebanon (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Millcreek	township
- Mount Gretna	borough	Incorporated Area
- Myerstown	borough	Incorporated Area
- North Annville	township
- North Cornwall	township
- North Lebanon	township
- North Londonderry	township
- Palmyra	borough	Incorporated Area
- Richland	borough	Incorporated Area
- South Annville	township
- South Lebanon	township
- South Londonderry	township
- Union	township
- West Cornwall	township

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."