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Clearfield County, PA
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Formed on March 26, 1804,from parts of Huntingdon and
Lycoming Counties, and named for Clearfield Creek. The
name alluded to openings or deer fields in its vicinity.
For many years Clearfield County functioned as part of
Centre County, not electing its own commissioners until
1812. It was organized for judicial purposes in 1822.
Clearfield, the county seat, was incorporated as a
borough on April 21, 1840.
 The
first settlement was Capt. Edward Rickert’s in 1784, on
the site of Coalport. The Erie Pike, which ran from
Milesburg, Centre County, to Erie County, opened up
Clearfield after 1804. The production of logs and cut
lumber dominated the economy until 1910, and these,
especially white pine and hemlock, were floated down the
West Branch of the Susquehanna from 1837 to 1917. In
1920 the population reached 103,236, its all time peak.
In 1871 lumber king John Dubois Jr. opened up the
northwest of the county with ventures that included a
box factory, iron mill, and tannery, but by 1900 all the
trees on the Dubois family lands had gone. The McCrory’s
chain of five-and-dime stores began in the town of
Dubois. Low sulfur bituminous coal was mined all over
the county until the peak year of 1918. This is still
the state’s fourth largest bituminous producer; nearly
all the coal now comes from strip mines. There is a
strong United Mine Workers tradition. Railroads arrived,
reaching the county seat, Clearfield, in 1879 and Dubois
in 1874. The New York Central and the Buffalo,
Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railroads connected with the
county to obtain coal, and railroad maintenance shops
arose in Dubois. Firebricks and construction bricks are
manufactured. In recent decades light metal
manufacturing and printing have been mainstays of the
economy. The periods of lumbering and mining brought in
large numbers of European immigrants, many of whose
descendants have remained. There were Underground
Railroad stations at Grampian Hills and Burnside
Township. Gov. William Bigler started a newspaper in
Clearfield and represented the county in the State
Senate. Five-and-dime merchant John J. McCrory and
musical composers Philip Paul Bliss and George
Rosencranz came from this county. Only 8 ½ percent of
the area is farmed, and Clearfield ranks between 55th
and 60th in cash receipts from agriculture. |
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