Clarion County is a
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
in the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. As of the
2020 census, the population was 37,241.
Its
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
is
Clarion.
The county was formed on March 11, 1839, from parts of
Venango and
Armstrong counties. Clarion County is entirely defined as part of the
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...
. The county is part of the
North Central region of the commonwealth.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.5%) 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 cold ...
(''Dfb''), and average temperatures in Clarion borough range from 24.5 °F in January to 82 °F in July. Clarion County is one of the 423 counties served by the
Appalachian Regional Commission
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a United States federal–state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life. Congress established A ...
,
and it is identified as part of the "Midlands" by Colin Woodard in his book ''
American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America''.
Adjacent counties
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Forest County (north)
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Jefferson County (east)
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Armstrong County (south)
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Butler County (west)
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Venango County (west)
Parks
Part of
Cook Forest State Park is in Clarion County.
The Clarion County Park is located in
Paint Township. Clarion County Veterans Memorial Park is located directly across Main Street (Route 322) from the Clarion County Courthouse in the center of the Borough of Clarion.
Major highways
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Demographics
As of the
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2020, there were 37,241 people, 18,845 households, and 10,738 families residing in the county. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...
was . There were 19,426 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 1.4%
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.1%
Native American, 0.47%
Asian, 3% from
other races, and 0.52% from two or more races. 1% of the population were
Hispanic
The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or
Latino of any race. 43.9% were
English or
Welsh, 12.9%
American, 10.5%
German, 8.0%
Irish, 6.3%
Scotch-Irish, 5.5%
Italian and 2.6%
Dutch, and 2.0%
French ancestry.
There were 18,845 households, out of which 28.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.90% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.10% were non-families. 26.00% 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 2.46 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.60% under the age of 18, 15.40% from 18 to 24, 25.20% from 25 to 44, 22.70% from 45 to 64, and 15.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.40 males.
2020 census
Government
Voter Registration
As of February 6, 2024, there are 23,414 registered voters in Clarion County.
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Republican: 14,959 (63.89%)
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Democratic: 5,788 (24.72%)
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Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
: 1,946 (8.31%)
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Third Party: 721 (3.08%)
County commissioners
* Wayne Brosius; Republican
* Ted Tharan; Republican
* Braxton White; Democrat
Other county officials
* Hon.
James G. Arner, senior judge, Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas
* Hon. Sara Seidle-Patton, president judge, Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas
* Duane L. Quinn (18-3-01), district judge
* Timothy P. Schill (18-3-02), district judge
* Jarah L Heeter (18-3-03), district judge
* Jeffery C. Miller (18-3-04), district judge
* Drew Welsh; Republican, District Attorney
* Shawn Zerfoss; Republican, Sheriff
* Karyn Montana; Republican, Treasurer
State senate
State House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
United States Senate
Education
Colleges and universities
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PennWest Clarion
Public school districts
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Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District
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Clarion Area School District
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Clarion-Limestone Area School District
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Karns City Area School District
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Keystone School District
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North Clarion County School District
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Redbank Valley School District
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Union School District
Intermediate unit
Public school districts and private schools in the county are served by Riverview Intermediate Unit IU6 which provides special education and professional development services.
Technical school
Clarion County Career Center is located along State Route 66 in Marianne (Shippenville address).
Private schools
*Alexander Amish School - Venus
*Bear Run School - Knox
*Christs Dominion Academy - Summerville
*Clarion Center School - Clarion
*County Corner - Knox
*Deer View School - Mayport
*Immaculate Conception School - Clarion
*Little Bird Preschool - New Bethlehem
*Meadow View Amish School - Knox
*New Bethlehem Mennonite School - New Bethlehem
*Shady Nook Amish School - Sligo
*St Josephs School - Lucinda
*Zacheral Amish School - Venus
Communities
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities:
cities
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
,
boroughs
A borough is an administrative division in various English language, 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
...
,
townships, and, in at most two cases,
towns
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
. The following boroughs and townships are located in Clarion County:
Boroughs
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Callensburg
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Clarion (county seat)
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East Brady
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Foxburg
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Hawthorn
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Knox
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New Bethlehem
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Rimersburg
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Shippenville
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Sligo
Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...
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St. Petersburg
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Strattanville
Townships
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Ashland
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Beaver
Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
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Brady
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Clarion
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Elk
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Farmington
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Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
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Knox
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Licking
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Limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
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Madison
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Millcreek
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Monroe
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Paint
Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...
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Perry
Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...
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Piney
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Porter
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Redbank
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Richland
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Salem
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Toby
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Washington
Census-designated places
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Crown
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Leeper
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Marianne
Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty.
Marianne is displayed i ...
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Tylersburg
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Vowinckel
Population ranking
The population ranking of the following table is based on the
2020 census of Clarion County.
† ''county seat''
Notable people
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Marietta Bones (1842–1901) - suffragist, social reformer, philanthropist
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Fred Caligiuri (1918–2018) - Major League Baseball pitcher (Philadelphia Athletics, 1941, 1942); as of 2018 was the oldest living major-league player; born in Forest County; former resident of Knox and Rimersburg
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Hunter Corbett - pioneer American Presbyterian missionary to China, ministered in China for 56 years
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Jim Kelly - NFL athlete (
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...
); grew up in East Brady
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Chris Kirkpatrick - musician (
'N Sync); born in Clarion
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Dominick Labino - glass artist; born in Fairmount City (Redbank Township); managed the
Owens-Illinois glass plant in Clarion
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Ossee Schreckengost - Major League Baseball player; born in New Bethlehem
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Randall Silvis - author and screenwriter; born in Madison Township
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Grace M. Sloan (1902–2001), Pennsylvania state treasurer and auditor general; born in Clarion
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Ernest M. Skinner -
pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...
builder, inventor; born in Clarion
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Jane Wolfe
Sarah Jane Wolfe (March 21, 1875 – March 29, 1958) was an American silent film character actress who is considered an important female figure in Thelema. She was a friend and a colleague of Aleister Crowley and a founding member of Agape Lod ...
- silent film actress and
thelemite; born in St. Petersburg
See also
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National Register of Historic Places listings in Clarion County, Pennsylvania
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Oil Creek Library District
References
{{Coord, 41.19, -79.42, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-PA_source:UScensus1990
1839 establishments in Pennsylvania
Populated places established in 1839