Pennsylvania State...
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Pennsylvania Counties
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Snyder County, Pennsylvania
Snyder County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Middleburg
Year Organized: 1855
Square Miles: 331
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Court House: P.O. Box 217
County Courthouse
Middleburg, PA 17842-0217
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
named for Governor Simon Snyder.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts:
Census Bureau Quick Facts
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.
Neighboring Counties:
Cities and Towns:
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- Adams |
township |
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- Beavertown |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Center |
township |
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- Chapman |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Decatur |
township |
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- Freeburg |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Independence |
township |
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- McClure |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Middleburg
(County
Seat) |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Middlecreek |
township |
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- Selinsgrove |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Shamokin Dam |
borough |
Incorporated Area |
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- Spring |
township |
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- Union |
township |
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- West Beaver |
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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