Tioga County is a
county 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, Mary ...
. As of the
2020 census, the population was 41,045. Its
county seat is
Wellsboro.
The county was created on March 26, 1804, from part of
Lycoming County and later organized in 1812. It is named for the
Tioga River.
History
The county was colonized by people of
Yankee
The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...
stock (colonists from
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
and the western part of New York who were descended from the English Puritans of colonial New England). With the opening of a rough wagon road to the source of the Tioga River, New England colonists poured over the Allegheny Mountains. Tioga County resembled
upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
more than it did eastern
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, Mary ...
, as its population primarily consisted of colonists from New England. Developers and land speculators laid out roads, established post routes, erected public buildings, and invited people to move there. The original colonists were entirely of New England origins or were
Yankee
The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Its various senses depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, residents of the Northern United St ...
s from upstate New York, whose families had recent ancestors in New England, with colonization taking place in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War. Tioga County was largely culturally contiguous with New England culture, which was influential across the Northern Tier of the United States through its migrants.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the county accepted more immigrants from Ireland, Germany and eastern Europe, who came to work in the coal mines. A number of them were Roman Catholic, introducing more diversity into the mixture of religions here.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water.
It is the fourth-largest county in Pennsylvania by land area and fifth-largest by total area. 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 freezin ...
(''Dfb'') and average monthly temperatures in Wellsboro range from 22.8 °F in January to 68.2 °F in July
Adjacent counties
*
Steuben County, New York
Steuben County (stu-BEN) is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 93,584. Its county seat is Bath. Its name is in honor of Baron von Steuben, a Prussian general who fought on the American si ...
(north)
*
Chemung County, New York (northeast)
*
Bradford County (east)
*
Lycoming County (south)
*
Potter County (west)
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 41,373 people, 15,925 households, and 11,195 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 RosenberPop ...
was 36 people per square mile (14/km
2). There were 19,893 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile (7/km
2). The racial makeup of the county was 98.11%
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 on ...
, 0.60%
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 have of ...
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 enslav ...
, 0.23%
Native American, 0.30%
Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oce ...
, 0.14% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 0.61% from two or more races. 0.52% 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 form ...
or
Latino of any race. Residents of Tioga County were of 31.9%
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 ide ...
, 23.1%
German, 10.1%
Irish, 6.0%
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin scree ...
and 5.3%
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional It ...
ancestry.
There were 15,925 households, out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.80% 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 t ...
living together, 8.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.70% were non-families. 24.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.70% under the age of 18, 10.60% from 18 to 24, 25.40% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 16.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.80 males.
2020 Census
Politics and government
Tioga County is one of the most heavily
Republican represented counties in Pennsylvania. This has a long history as
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
reportedly received 78.57% of the county's vote in the
1860 Presidential election. Since Abraham Lincoln the county has voted for the non-Republican presidential candidate only two times. The first was
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
's
1912 run as a
Progressive
Progressive may refer to:
Politics
* Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform
** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context
* Progressive realism, an American foreign policy pa ...
and the second was
Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide in
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
. In 2004,
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
received 12,019 votes (68%) to 5,437 votes (31%) for
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he p ...
. In 2008
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
received 62.7% of the vote. In 2006,
Rick Santorum
Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's thir ...
and
Lynn Swann
Lynn Curtis Swann (born March 7, 1952) is an American former football player, broadcaster, politician, and athletic director, best known for his association with the University of Southern California and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He served on the ...
both had significant victories in Tioga County despite their defeats statewide. The last two sitting Board of Commissioners have been all Republican candidates, and Tioga County is the only county in Pennsylvania with all three sitting commissioners being from a single party. This was due to the success of write in campaigns conducted by Roger Bunn in 2011 and Mark Hamilton in 2015.
Elected officials
United States senator
*
Robert "Bob" P. Casey, Jr (Democrat)
*
Patrick "Pat" J. Toomey (Republican)
United States Congress
*
Fred Keller (Republican) –
12th Pennsylvania Congressional District (Includes all of Tioga County).
Pennsylvania state senator
*
Cris Dush –
25th District, Pennsylvania State Senate
Pennsylvania state representative
*
Clint Owlett (Republican) –
68th District, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
County commissioners
/h3>
Roger C. Bunn chair (Republican)
Erick J. Coolidge(Republican)
Mark L. Hamilton vice-chair (Republican)
Court of Common Pleas judge, 4th Judicial District of Pennsylvania
/h3>
* George W. Wheeler (Republican/Democrat)
Magisterial district judge
/h3>
James E. Carlson – District Court 04-3-02 (Mansfield)Robert Repard – District Court 04-3-02 (Wellsboro)James Edgecomb – District Court 04-3-01 (Elkland)
District attorney
* Krista Deats (Republican)
Register of wills / recorder of deeds
/h3>
* Jane E. Wetherbee (Republican)
Prothonotary / clerk of courts
/h3>
* Marie Seymour (Republican)
County treasurer
/h3>
* Kera Hackett (Republican)
Sheriff
/h3>
* Frank Levindoski (Republican)
Coroner
* James L. Wilson (Republican)
Auditors
* Rebecca B. Briggs (Republican)
* Elizabeth T. Craig (Republican)
* Amy Kane Perry (Republican)
Education
Colleges and universities
*
Mansfield University
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania is a campus of Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania and it is located it in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. Part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), the campus' total enrollment is 1,6 ...
in
Mansfield
Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market t ...
is a member of the
Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that oversees 10 state-owned universities. Collectively, it is the largest provider of higher education in the commonwealth. All o ...
.
Public school districts
*
Canton Area School District (also in
Bradford County and
Lycoming County)
*
Galeton Area School District (also in
Potter County)
*
Northern Tioga School District
*
Southern Tioga School District (also in Lycoming County)
*
Wellsboro Area School District
Private schools
As reported b
EdNA Pennsylvania Department of Education, June 2010.
*Covington Community DCC, Covington
*Irvin Comstock Seventh-Day Adventist School, Wellsboro
*Laurel Youth Services, Blossburg
*Lauries Bright Beginnings CCC, Millerton
*Mansfield Area Nursery School, Mansfield
*Maranatha Mission Learning Community Branch 20, Trout Run
*New Covenant Academy, Mansfield
*Presbyterian Child Development Center, Wellsboro
*Stony Fork Mennonite School, Wellsboro
*Trinity Lutheran School, Wellsboro
*Toddler University, Blossburg
*Toddler University, Trinity
*Wellsboro Montessori Children's Center, Wellsboro
*Wesley Academy, Elkland
Public libraries
*Blossburg Memorial Library
*Elkland Area Community Library
*Green Free Library – Wellsboro
*Knoxville Public Library
*Mansfield Free Public Library
*Potter-Tioga County Lib System
*Westfield Public Library
Transportation
Public transportation is provided by
BeST Transit.
Major highways
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Recreation
There are three
Pennsylvania state parks in Tioga County.
*
Hills Creek State Park
Hills Creek State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Charleston Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Hills Creek Lake, a man-made lake, is the focal point of the park. It is open for year-round recreation. Hills Creek ...
is several miles north of
U.S. Route 6 between
Wellsboro and
Mansfield
Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market t ...
in
Charleston Township.
*
Colton Point State Park and
Leonard Harrison State Park
Leonard Harrison State Park is a List of Pennsylvania state parks, Pennsylvania state park in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is on the east rim of the Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the Grand Ca ...
are both part of the
Pennsylvania Grand Canyon that is carved by
Pine Creek.
Communities
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities:
cities,
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
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
, 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 ori ...
. The following boroughs and townships are located in Tioga County:
Boroughs
*
Blossburg
*
Elkland
*
Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...
*
Lawrenceville
*
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
*
Mansfield
Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market t ...
*
Roseville
*
Tioga
*
Wellsboro (county seat)
*
Westfield
Townships
*
Bloss
*
Brookfield
*
Charleston
*
Chatham
*
Clymer
*
Covington
*
Deerfield
*
Delmar
*
Duncan
*
Elk
The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The commo ...
*
Farmington
*
Gaines
*
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilto ...
*
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, ...
*
Lawrence
*
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
*
Middlebury
*
Morris
Morris may refer to:
Places
Australia
*St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia
Canada
* Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry
* Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba
** Morris, Mani ...
*
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
*
Osceola
Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a Scotsman, James Mc ...
*
Putnam
*
Richmond
*
Rutland
Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest len ...
*
Shippen
*
Sullivan
Sullivan may refer to:
People
Characters
* Chloe Sullivan, from the television series ''Smallville''
* Colin Sullivan, a character in the film ''The Departed'', played by Matt Damon
* Harry Sullivan (''Doctor Who''), from the British science f ...
*
Tioga
*
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''U ...
*
Ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
*
Westfield
Census-designated places
Census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
s are geographical areas designated by the
U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.
*
Arnot
*
Millerton
Ghost town
*
Fall Brook
Population ranking
The population ranking of the following table is based on the
2010 census of Tioga County.
† ''county seat''
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Tioga County, Pennsylvania
References
External links
Tioga County, PennsylvaniaMap 562*Augmented by Williams, J. H., Taylor, L. E., and Low, D. J. (1993), Surficial geologic map of major glaciated valleys of Bradford, Tioga, and Potter Counties, Pennsylvania, showing locations of wells, test holes, and data-collection sites, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 4th ser., Water Resource Report 68.
{{authority control
1812 establishments in Pennsylvania
Populated places established in 1812
Counties of Appalachia