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Snyder County, PA
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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. |
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