Forest County is a
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. As of the
2020 census, the population was 6,973, making it the third-least populous county in Pennsylvania. Its
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...
is
Tionesta.
The county was created in 1848 and later organized in 1857.
History
Forest County was created on April 11, 1848, from part of
Jefferson County. The county was enlarged on October 31, 1866, when part of
Venango County
Venango County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,454. Its county seat is Franklin. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1805.
Venango County comprises the Oil City ...
was incorporated into the county. Forest County was named for the forests contained within its limits.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.8%) is water.
It has a warm-summer
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...
(''Dfb'') and average monthly temperatures in Tionesta range from 25.3 °F in January to 69.8 °F in July
Adjacent counties
*
Warren County, Pennsylvania, Warren County (north)
*
McKean County (northeast)
*
Elk County (east)
*
Jefferson County (south)
*
Clarion County (south)
*
Venango County
Venango County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,454. Its county seat is Franklin. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1805.
Venango County comprises the Oil City ...
(west)
National protected area
Part of
Allegheny National Forest covers Forest County.
State protected area
Part of
Cook Forest State Park is in Forest County.
Major highways
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
of 2000, there were 4,946 people, 2,000 households, and 1,328 families residing in the county. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...
was 12 people per square mile (4/km
2). There were 8,701 housing units at an average density of 20 per square mile (8/km
2). The racial makeup of the county, largely a result of the SCI Forest State Penitentiary, was 77.4%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 21.1%
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
or
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.40%
Native American, 0.14%
Asian, 0.69% from
other races, and 0.61% from two or more races. 1.21% of the population were
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or
Latino of any race. 40.5%
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
or
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
, 14.4% were of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, 10.1%
Irish, 12.5%
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
, 10.1%
Irish, 6.8%
Scotch-Irish, 2.4%
Dutch, and 2.2%
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
ancestry.
There were 2,000 households, out of which 23.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
living together, 6.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.60% were non-families. 29.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.70% under the age of 18, 5.90% from 18 to 24, 22.60% from 25 to 44, 28.90% from 45 to 64, and 19.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 111.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.30 males.
2020 Census
Law and government
Voter Registration
As of February 21, 2022, there are 3,344 registered voters in Forest County.
*
Democratic: 1,014 (30.32%)
*
Republican: 1,953 (58.40%)
*
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independe ...
: 218 (6.52%)
*
Third Party
Third party may refer to:
Business
* Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller
* Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party
* Third-party insurance, such as a V ...
: 159 (4.75%)
State Senate
*
Scott E. Hutchinson, Republican,
Pennsylvania's 21st Senatorial District
State House of Representatives
*
Donna Oberlander, Republican,
Pennsylvania's 63rd Representative District
*
Kathy L. Rapp, Republican,
Pennsylvania's 65th Representative District
United States House of Representatives
*
Glenn Thompson,
Republican,
Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district
Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district has been located in western Pennsylvania since February 2018. The district includes all of Warren County, McKean County, Forest County, Venango County, Elk County, Cameron County, Clarion County, ...
United States Senate
*
Pat Toomey
Patrick Joseph Toomey Jr. (born November 17, 1961) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator for Pennsylvania since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms as the U.S. representa ...
,
Republican
*
Bob Casey, Jr.,
Democrat
Education
The
Forest Area School District serves the entire Forest County.
Private schools
*
Cornell Abraxas I Arlene Lissner (9th-12th) Marienville
Libraries
*Marienville Area Library - Marienville
*Sarah Stewart Bovard Memorial Library - Tionesta
Communities
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities:
cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
,
boroughs
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
,
townships, and, in at most two cases,
towns
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an or ...
. The following boroughs and townships are located in Forest County:
Borough
*
Tionesta (county seat)
Townships
*
Barnett
Barnett is both a surname and a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
Barnett is an Anglo-Saxon and Old French surname that came after the Norman Invasion.The original Anglo-Saxon spelling is baernet which means'the ...
*
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...
*
Harmony
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howeve ...
*
Hickory
Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mex ...
*
Howe
*
Jenks
*
Kingsley Kingsley may refer to:
People
*Kingsley (given name)
* Kingsley (surname)
Places Australia
*Kingsley, Western Australia
Canada
* Rural Municipality of Kingsley No. 124, Saskatchewan
England
*Kingsley, Cheshire
* Kingsley, Hampshire
* Kingsley, ...
*
Tionesta
Census-designated place
*
Marienville
Unincorporated communities
*
Clarington
Clarington ( 2021 population 101,427) is a lower-tier municipality in the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. It was incorporated in 1973 as the town of Newcastle with the merging of the town of Bowmanville, the Village of Newca ...
*
Cooksburg‡
*
East Hickory
*
Endeavor
*
Porkey
*
West Hickory
Population ranking
The population ranking of the following table is based on the
2010 census of Forest County.
The jump in census figures between the 2000 and 2010 census, is due in a large part to the opening of the
State Correctional Institution - Forest (SCI - Forest) in October 2004. SCI Forest houses approximately 2,200 inmates at their facility in Marienville, PA.
† ''county seat''
See also
*
References
{{authority control
1857 establishments in Pennsylvania
Populated places established in 1857
Counties of Appalachia