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Juniata County, PA
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Created on March 2, 1831, from part of Mifflin County
and named for the Juniata River. The Indian name Juniata
is said to mean “people of the standing stone.”
Mifflintown, the county seat, was laid out in 1791 and
incorporated as a borough on March 6, 1833. It was named
for Governor Thomas Mifflin.
 Squatters
settled here and were evicted by the provincial
government in 1750. After they returned, Indians raided
them in 1755–1756. There was protection from Forts
Bigham and Peterson, but the Indians captured Bigham.
The Pennsylvania Canal was the backbone of the early
economy beginning in 1826, followed by the Pennsylvania
Railroad in the late 1840s. The canal closed about 1900,
and the Tuscarora Valley Railroad closed in 1934. Small
clothing manufacturing continues to the present, but
kosher poultry production is the biggest industry.
Juniata is the fourth largest poultry-producing county
in the state. Farms cover 36.6 percent of the land. |
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