Pennsylvania State...
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Pennsylvania Counties
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Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
Lycoming County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Williamsport
Year Organized: 1795
Square Miles: 1,235 |
Court House: 48 West 3rd Street
County Courthouse
Williamsport, PA 17701-6536
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
The name is derived from a Delaware Indian word meaning "sandy
or gravelly creek."
Demographics:
County QuickFacts:
Census Bureau Quick Facts
History
Created on April 13, 1795, from part
of Northumberland County and named for Lycoming Creek. The name is derived from
a Delaware Indian word meaning "sandy or gravelly creek." Williamsport, the
county seat was laid out in 1795, incorporated as a borough on March 1, 1806,
and became a city on January 15, 1866. There are various theories about the
origin of the city's name: that it was so called for Judge William Hepburn; that
Michael Ross named it for his own son William; or that William Ross, a boatman,
used it as a port years before the town was founded.
Native American groups had many communities in this area. Part of the county was
obtained by Pennsylvania from Indians at the Fort Stanwix Treaty of 1768 and the
remainder at Fort Stanwix in 1784 (the "Last Purchase"). A mapping ambiguity in
the 1768 deed left an independent settlement area—a "no-man's land"—known as the
"Fair Play tract" which lasted until the 1784 deed clearly made it
Pennsylvania's land. Heroic fighting against Native Americans occurred during
the Revolution, especially the exploits of the Bradys. Lumber was the backbone
of the economy from the start. There was good access from major roads, and the
West Branch Canal reached to Williamsport in 1833, but production really soared
after the Susquehanna Boom was built at Williamsport, between 1846 and 1851,
giving greater control over the lumber that was floated down river to its
markets. A "Millionaires Row" of houses arose in Williamsport. But the 1889
flood destroyed the boom, much of Williamsport, and all the sawmills. A paper
box industry later rose, relying on wood pulp, and Muncy became a manufacturing
center. Today, Williamsport makes electronics and metal products. Only one-fifth
of the county is farmed, largely along the river, but Lycoming is in the upper
half of Pennsylvania counties in value of total farm products. Dairy products
and mushrooms are the specialties of greatest economic value.
Neighboring Counties:
Cities and Towns:
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- Armstrong |
township |
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- Bastress |
township |
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- Brady |
township |
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- Brown |
township |
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- Cascade |
township |
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- Cogan House |
township |
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- Crawford |
township |
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- Cummings |
township |
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- Duboistown |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Gamble |
township |
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- Hepburn |
township |
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- Hughesville |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Jersey Shore |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Jordan |
township |
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- Lewis |
township |
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- Loyalsock |
township |
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- Lycoming |
township |
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- McHenry |
township |
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- Montgomery |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Montoursville |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Moreland |
township |
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- Muncy |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Muncy Creek |
township |
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- Newberry |
township |
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- Nippenose |
township |
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- Old Lycoming |
township |
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- Piatt |
township |
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- Picture Rocks |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Pine |
township |
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- Pine Creek |
township |
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- Plunketts Creek |
township |
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- Salladasburg |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- South Williamsport |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Upper Fairfield |
township |
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- Watson |
township |
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- Williamsport
(County
Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Wolf |
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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