Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

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

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The name is derived from a Delaware Indian word meaning "sandy or gravelly creek."

Demographics:

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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.
 

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