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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.

Snyder County, Pennsylvania

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

County Seat: Middleburg
Year Organized: 1855
Square Miles: 331

Court House:

P.O. Box 217
County Courthouse
Middleburg, PA 17842-0217

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Named for Governor Simon Snyder.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Created on March 2, 1855, from part of Union County and named for Governor Simon Snyder. Middleburg, the county seat, was laid out in 1800 and incorporated as a borough on September 25, 1860. It was on Middle Creek near the middle of former Centre Township, so its name became even more appropriate after the creation the county.

The lower Penns Creek Valley was settled about 1744. The area was included in the Albany Purchase of 1754. The Penns Creek Massacre of October 1755 was the start of Indian raids in the French and Indian War. The last Indian raid occurred in 1781. The population had a strong German element that continues to the present. The Susquehanna Division of Pennsylvania Canal opened in 1831, providing jobs and a means to market products. Gov. Simon Snyder lived in Selinsgrove. A disagreement about a new Union County courthouse led to separation from Union. A railroad arrived through Middlecreek Valley to Selinsgrove in 1871. The canal flourished for fifty years until it was destroyed by ice in 1904; the Middlecreek rail system was discontinued in the 1930s. There is a tradition of craft industries such as muzzleloaders, furniture, leather, boats, and shoes. Tanning, lumber, iron mining, and dredging for coal were all profitable in the past. Crushed stone and timber are still profitably extracted. Farms cover 45 percent of the land and are strong in swine, cattle, poultry, tobacco, and apples.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 332 square miles (860 km²), of which, 331 square miles (858 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (2 km²) of it (0.29%) is water. Snyder County is in the Appalachian Mountain Section of the Ridge and Valley Province. Two parallel mountain ridges run southwest to northeast. The Susquehanna River is the eastern border. Between the ridges are steep hills, gently rolling hills, and flat creek valleys. With over 400 active farms in the county, agriculture plays an important role in the economy and environment. Roughly half the county remains forested with both softwoods and hardwoods.

Neighboring Counties:

Union County (north)
Northumberland County (east)
Juniata County (south)
Mifflin County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Adams	township
- Beavertown	borough	Incorporated Area
- Center	township
- Chapman	borough	Incorporated Area
- Decatur	township
- Freeburg	borough	Incorporated Area
- Independence	township
- McClure	borough	Incorporated Area
- Middleburg (County Seat)	borough	Incorporated Area
- Middlecreek	township
- Selinsgrove	borough	Incorporated Area
- Shamokin Dam	borough	Incorporated Area
- Spring	township
- Union	township
- West Beaver	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."