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Clinton County, PA
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Created on June 21, 1839, and was probably named for
Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, a promoter of the
Erie Canal. Actually, the name seems to have been
substituted, as a political maneuver, for the name
“Eagle,” which had been first proposed. This thwarted
opponents of the new county. Lock Haven, the county
seat, derived its name from its position on the West
Branch Canal that was completed to Lock Haven in 1834.
Lock Haven was incorporated as a borough on May 25,
1840, and as a city on March 28, 1870.
 First
settlement was by squatters on Great Island, possibly in
1762. The area south of the West Branch River was
purchased from the Indians in 1768; that north of the
river in 1784. The Fair Play area, which lasted from
1768 to 1784, arose due to an ambiguity in the
description of the 1768 purchase. In 1769 an influx of
settlers created Old Town. The Farrandsville iron
furnace and coal mine and Nathan Harvey’s Mill Hall
began before the county was created. Jeremiah Church
founded Lock Haven and worked to have the county formed.
The North Branch Canal opened up the economy. Iron
manufacturing declined due to competition, but the
Philadelphia and Erie Railroad arrived in 1859. During
the lumber boom Lock Haven competed with Williamsport.
Woolrich Mills began in 1830 and is one of the oldest
Pennsylvania industries. Paper and silk industries
flourished from the late nineteenth century, and dyes
were manufactured. The Piper Aircraft Company arrived in
1937. Surface coal mining continues and the county ranks
about eighteenth in the State. The agricultural sector
is not strong, although a high percentage of the
population claims German descent, a traditionally
farming people. Farms occupy 8 percent of the land.
Floods in 1889, 1936, and 1972 damaged the county’s
economy. There were Underground Railroad stations at
Clinton, Keating, and Glen Union. The Native American
Chief Bald Eagle, the Fair Play Settlers’ Pine Tree
Declaration of Independence, and log raftsman Miles King
are local legends. |
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