Perry 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 ...

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 45,842. The

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 New Bloomfield. The county was created on March 22, 1820, and was named for Oliver Hazard Perry, a hero of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, who had recently died. It was originally part of

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Cumberland, historic county *Cumberl ...

and was created in part because residents did not want to travel over the mountain to

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, the

of Cumberland County. Landisburg became the temporary county seat before New Bloomfield was ultimately chosen. The county is part of the South Central Pennsylvania region of the state. Perry County is included in the

Harrisburg–York–Lebanon combined statistical area The Harrisburg–York–Lebanon, PA combined statistical area (CSA) is a region assigned by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget that includes six cities in the Harrisburg and York areas along with several metropolitan statistical areas of ...

. The county is served by the 717/223 area codes.

Geography

In 2010, the center of population of Pennsylvania was located in the eastern end of Perry County.

Green Park The Green Park, one of the Royal Parks of London, is in the City of Westminster, Central London. Green Park is to the north of the gardens and semi-circular forecourt of Buckingham Palace, across Constitution Hill road. The park is in the m ...

, an unincorporated village located in northeastern Tyrone Township, serves as Perry County's midpoint between the Conococheague Mountain in the west and the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

to the east. The county terrain is formed by the folded Appalachian Mountain ridges which run from southwest to northeast across the county. The terrain slopes to the northeast, with its highest point on the Blue Mountain Ridge, which delineates the border between Perry and Cumberland counties. The ridge peaks at NE from Perry County's southmost corner; it measures ASL. Perry 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''. The county is drained by the south-flowing

, which forms almost all of its eastern boundary. The

Juniata River The Juniata River () is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 8, 2011 in central Pennsylvania. The river is ...

enters Perry County from Juniata County near Millerstown, and flows southeast to its confluence with the Susquehanna River near Duncannon. The county also contains several creeks, runs, and lakes, which provide recreational and fishing opportunities, formerly powered mills throughout the county and provided transport venues. To this day, canoeing and kayaking are forms of recreation which utilize the Shermans Creek and other waters in the county. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.7%) is water. The

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

runs through the town of Duncannon. The county is also famous for being the northern head of the Tuscarora Trail. Perry County has a hot-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 ...

(''Dfa'') and average monthly temperatures in New Bloomfield range from 28.5 °F in January to 73.2 °F in July

The

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

is 6b except in Marysville where it is 7a ( ). Common trees include

red maple ''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant nati ...

Virginia pine ''Pinus virginiana'', the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York (state), New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennesse ...

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

eastern white pine ''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada, west through the Great Lake ...

eastern hemlock ''Tsuga canadensis'', also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce, or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as ''pruche du Canada'', is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is the state tree of ...

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

, shagbark hickory, and

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

, though American sycamore, ironwood (ex:

Hop-hornbeam ''Ostrya'' is a genus of eight to 10 small deciduous trees belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. Common names include hop-hornbeam and hophornbeam. It may also be called ironwood, a name shared with a number of other plants. The genus is na ...

American Hornbeam ''Carpinus caroliniana'', the American hornbeam, is a small hardwood understory tree in the genus ''Carpinus''. American hornbeam is also known as blue-beech, ironwood, musclewood and muscle beech. It is native to eastern North America, from Mi ...

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the ...

black walnut ''Juglans nigra'', the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to central and eastern North America, growing mostly in riparian zones. Black walnut is susceptible to thousand can ...

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

, black cherry, black locust, and sassafras are also fairly common.

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

es of various species are common sights, especially on fallen tree logs, along streams, on tree trunks, and in sidewalk cracks, usually growing in shaded areas. Ferns also grow along streams and in shaded areas, and are also commonly seen in Perry County woodlands.

Adjacent counties

* Juniata County - north * Northumberland County - northeast * Dauphin County - east *

- south * Franklin County - southwest

Major highways

* * * * * * * * * * *

Protected areas

* Big Spring State Forest Picnic Area * Fowlers Hollow State Park * Little Buffalo State Park * Colonel Denning State Park (part) * Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Natural Area * State Game Lands Number 88 * State Game Lands Number 170 * State Game Lands Number 256 * State Game Lands Number 281 * Tuscarora State Forest (part)

Demographics

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 43,602 people, 16,695 households, and 12,320 families 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 18,941 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.54%

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 ...

, 0.43%

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 ...

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 ...

, 0.12% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.21% from other races, and 0.54% from two or more races. 0.69% 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. 45.8% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 16.4% American, 7.8% Irish and 5.0% English ancestry. 96.8% spoke English and 1.2%

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

as their first language. There were 16,695 households, out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.6% 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, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.20% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.01. There is also a high population of Anabaptist communities, such as

Amish The Amish (, also or ; ; ), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church fellowships with Swiss people, Swiss and Alsace, Alsatian origins. As they ...

and

Mennonites Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

. The county population contained 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.9 males.

2020 census

Metropolitan Statistical Area

The

United States Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

has designated Perry County as the Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2010 census the metropolitan area ranked 6th most populous in the State of Pennsylvania and the 96th most populous in the United States, with its population of 549,475. Perry County is also a part of the larger

(CSA), which combines the populations of Perry County as well as Adams,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, Dauphin,

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and York Counties in Pennsylvania. The Combined Statistical Area ranked 5th in the State of Pennsylvania and 43rd most populous in the United States with a population of 1,219,422.

County government

Commissioners

* R. Frank Campbell, Chair (R) * Brenda L. Watson, Vice Chair (D) * William "Bill" Lyons, Secretary (R) (as of January 2024)

Sheriff

* David Hammar, Republican

State Senate

* Greg Rothman, Republican, Pennsylvania's 34th Senate District

State House of Representatives

* Perry A. Stambaugh, Republican, Pennsylvania's 86th Representative District

United States House of Representatives

* John Joyce, Republican, Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district

United States Senate

John Fetterman John Karl Fetterman ( ; born August 15, 1969) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Pennsylvania, a seat he has held since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 2006 to 2019 as the mayor o ...

, Democrat *

Dave McCormick David Harold McCormick (born August 17, 1965) is an American politician, businessman, and former United States Army, Army officer serving since 2025 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senato ...

, Republican

Emergency services

The county's emergency services are located in the basement of the Perry County Courthouse. The 911 center's coverage area includes almost all of Perry County and portions of Juniata and Dauphin counties.

Politics

In 2016, Donald J. Trump received 73.07% of the presidential vote, compared to 21.67% to

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

, and 5.26% for candidates

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

, write-ins,

Jill Stein Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician, activist, and perennial candidate who was the Green Party of the United States, Green Party's nominee for President of the United States in the Jill Stein 2012 presidential campaign ...

, and Darrell L. Castle, respectively. The county has voted for the Republican in every

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

since 1964. In 2006,

Lynn Swann Lynn Curtis Swann (born March 7, 1952) is an American former professional football player, broadcaster, politician, and athletic director, best known for his association with the University of Southern California and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He ...

received 9,998 votes (69%) to 4,477 votes (31%) for Ed Rendell, making it Swann's strongest county in his defeat.

Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum Sr. ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, author, and political commentator who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1995 to 2007. He was the Senate's Chairman of the United Sta ...

also received more than 60% of the Perry County vote in his defeat.

Education

Public School Districts

* Greenwood School District (also covers parts of Juniata County). * Newport School District * Susquenita School District (also covers parts of Dauphin County). * West Perry School District * Fannett-Metal School District (located in Franklin County, but covers parts of Perry County).

Intermediate unit

The Capital Area Intermediate Unit 15 is a state approved education agency that offers to Perry County school districts, charter schools, private schools, and home school students, a variety of services including: a completely developed K-12 curriculum that is mapped and aligned with the Pennsylvania Academic Standards (available online), shared services, a joint purchasing program and a wide variety of special education and special needs services.

Private schools

As reported on EdNA (ED Names and Addresses) by the

Pennsylvania Department of Education The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with publicly funded preschool, K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are direc ...

: * Blue Goose Children's Learning Center, Inc – Newport * Carson Long Military Institute * Clarks Run Parochial School – Blain * Community Christian Academy – Newport * Farm Lane School – Ickesburg * Fowlers Hollow School – Blain * Heritage Christian School – West Perry * Honeysuckle Ridge School – Elliotsburg * Kuddly Bear Child Care Center Inc. – Duncannon * Loysville Youth Development Center – Loysville * Manassa School – Blain * Messiah Day Care Center – Elliottsburg * Mountain View Parochial School – Ickesburg * Perry View Parochial School – Landisburg * Raccoon Valley Amish School – Millerstown * Shermans View School – Loysville * Stony Point School – Loysville * Sunset Valley School – Millerstown

Trade schools

* Central Pennsylvania Diesel Institute – Liverpool

Public libraries

* New Bloomfield Public Library * Community Library of Western Perry County * Marysville-Rye Public Library * Newport Public Library

Media

Newspapers

The county is home to four weekly newspapers, three published by

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc. is a privately held American media company owned by the families of Donald Newhouse and Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., the sons of company founder Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. It owns publishing-related companies inc ...

of Perry and Juniata Counties, Inc. associated with

The Patriot-News ''The Patriot-News'' is the largest newspaper serving Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area in central Pennsylvania. In 2005, the newspaper was ranked in the top 100 in daily and Sunday circulation in the United States. It has bee ...

of Harrisburg: Duncannon Record, The News-Sun, and Perry County Times. The Perry County Weekly is published by The Sentinel in Carlisle,

, by

Lee Enterprises Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 72 daily newspapers in 25 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is b ...

of Davenport, Iowa.

Books

There are numerous historical books written about the county, available at the Council of the Arts in Newport as well as other establishments. They cover various topics of the county's past, including an historical overview of the Blain area; an account of the life of the early settlers along the Shermans Creek in three townships; and an account of a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

battle on Sterrett's Gap. Author and New Bloomfield resident Roy F. Chandler wrote many books about the county.

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 Perry County:

Boroughs

* Blain * Duncannon * Landisburg *

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

* Marysville * Millerstown * New Bloomfield (county seat) * New Buffalo * Newport

Unincorporated communities

* Acker * Andersonburg * Alinda * Amity Hall * Aqueduct * Bailey * Bixler * Bridgeport * Centre * Center Square * Cisna Run * Couchtown *

Cove A cove is a small bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creek (tidal), creeks, or recesses in a coast ...

* Crums Corners * Dellville * Donnally Mills * Dromgold * Elliottsburg * Erly * Eshcol * Everhartville * Falling Spring * Fort Robertson * Glenvale * Gramere *

* Half Falls * Ickesburg * Juniata Furnace * Keystone * Kinkora Heights * Kistler * Little Germany * Losh Run * Loysville * Mannsville * Marklesville * McKee * Mecks Corner * Milltown * Montebello * Montgomery Ferry * Mount Patrick * Mount Pleasant * Nekoda * New Germantown * Oakgrove * Old Ferry *

Perdix ''Perdix'' is a genus of Galliformes, Galliform gamebirds known collectively as the 'true partridges'. These birds are unrelated to the subtropical species that have been named after the partridge due to similar size and Morphology (biology), m ...

* Pine Grove * Pfoutz Valley * Reward * Rose Glen * Roseburg * Saville * Seyoc * Shermans Dale * Stony Point * Sundy Place * Wahneta * Walnut Grove * Wardville * Wila

Townships

* Buffalo * Carroll *

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

* Greenwood * Howe * Jackson * Juniata *

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

* Northeast Madison * Oliver * Penn *

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

* Saville * Southwest Madison * Spring * Toboyne * Tuscarora * Tyrone *

Watts Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People *Watts (surname), a list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Albie Watts, a fictional character in the British soap opera ''EastEnders'' *Angie ...

* Wheatfield

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Perry County. † ''county seat''

Economy

Perry County's economy is primarily

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

. Various farmers markets, roadside stands, farm produce stands, food festivals, resale farm stands, meat stores, and plant nurseries are present throughout the county. Two farms in Perry County are particularly well known, which ar
Spiral Path Farm
and Yeehaw Farm, with the latter having been spotlighted by

the Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

. The county's area is 38.3% farmland, of which 11.09% (thus 4.24% of all land in the county) is pastureland. Perry County also hosts a wide range of non-agricultural businesses. Historically, mills were prevalent, and the county currently has 21 known non-operational mills still standing. Settlement was not allowed until 1755, and when settlement was allowed, it was not safe: in June 1755, Native Americans chased nearly all of the pioneers out, until it was considered safe to return in 1762. The first mill was ''taxed'' in 1763, though the exact date of its completion is not known. Nearly every stream's basin hosted a sawmill, providing wood for early buildings and boardwalks.

Recreation

The county has a variety of recreation facilities. There are three state parks: Fowlers Hollow State Park, Little Buffalo State Park, and Big Spring State Forest Picnic Area. The Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Natural Area is found near New Bloomfield along Huckleberry Road. Carroll Township Park also offers a wide variety of athletic facilities.Perry County Administration, Services available in Perry County, 2015 Pools:

Pool (Jann Deitzler Memorial Pool), Millerstown Pool, New Bloomfield Pool, and Little Buffalo State Park Pool Trails: Hawk Rock Trail and Iron Horse Trail State Game Lands: #170 Dellville, #254 New Buffalo, #256-Mecks Corner and #281 Miller Township. Hunting requires licenses from the PA Game Commission.

Gallery

File:Duncannon, PA.JPG, Duncannon, downtown view showing the Doyle. File:New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania (1913).jpg, New Bloomfield in 1913. File:Books Bridge 2.JPG, Books Covered Bridge. File:New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania (4143285489).jpg, New Bloomfield. File:Blain PA Depot.JPG, Blain Depot in Blain. File:UPSTREAM ELEVATION. - South High Street Bridge, South High Street, spanning Little Juniata Creek, Duncannon, Perry County, PA HAER PA-612-6.tif, South High Street Bridge, Duncannon. File:Little Buffalo State Park.JPG, Little Buffalo State Park, near New Bloomfield. File:An old building in Dellville, PA.jpg, An old building in Dellville (formerly a store.) File:Newport Boro HD.JPG, Downtown Newport. File:Duncannon PA Presby PHS174.jpg, Presbyterian church in Duncannon. File:Dunbar Creigh.JPG, Landisburg. File:Shagbark Hickory bark in Perry County, PA.jpg, A shagbark hickory tree near Dellville.

References

External links

Perry County official website
{{coord, 40.40, -77.27, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-PA_source:UScensus1990 1820 establishments in Pennsylvania Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area Populated places established in 1820