Montour 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 ...

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, ...

. It is located in

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Nanticoke, and Car ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,136. 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 Danville. The county is named for

Andrew Montour Andrew Montour ( – 1772), also known as Sattelihu, Eghnisara,Hagedorn, 57 and Henry,Montour was also called Henry, possibly due to the similarity of sound with the French ''"Andre".'' was an important mixed interpreter and negotiator in t ...

, a prominent

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United State ...

interpreter who served with

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...

. It encompasses 132 sq mi, making it the smallest county by land area in the state. Montour County is part of the Bloomsburg- Berwick, PA

Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

History

Fort Bosley Fort Bosley was a fort fortified in 1777 in the Susquehanna Valley frontier to protect settlers. It was one of roughly a dozen frontier forts in the immediate Susquehanna Valley region. It was located near a grist mill built by John Bosley in 177 ...

, located near the present day border of Derry Township and the Borough of Washingtonville, was the county's only fortified location during the Revolutionary War.

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 (1.6%) is water. It is the smallest county by area in Pennsylvania. A total of 45% of Montour County is wooded. The entire county sits inside the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

watershed. The other major streams in Montour County include

Chillisquaque Creek Chillisquaque Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Montour County and Northumberland County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Derry Township, Washingtonville, and Liberty ...

and Mahoning Creek.

Climate

Montour has a

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 ...

(''Dfa''/''Dfb'') and average monthly temperatures in Danville range from 26.9 °F in January to 72.3 °F in July

Adjacent counties

* Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, Lycoming County (north) * Columbia County (east) * Northumberland County (south & west)

Major highways

* * * * * * *

Geology

View of northern Montour County, Pennsylvania

Montour County is located in the Ridge-and-Valley Province of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...

. A total of 65% of the soils in the county are well-drained. The Muncy Hills are located in the northern part of the county and Montour Ridge is located in the southern part of the county, not far from the Susquehanna River. Montour Ridge also is home to the highest elevation in the county, 1425 feet

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

. The lowest elevation is 440 feet above sea level, at the Susquehanna River. The

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

s in Montour County are from either the

Devonian Period The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, w ...

or the Silurian Period. The Devonian Period rocks are more common than Silurian Period rocks, making up two thirds of the county. These rocks are prevalent in the Muncy Hills and the lowlands in the southern portion of the county. The Devonian Period rocks in Montour County include the

Catskill Formation The Devonian Catskill Formation or the Catskill Clastic wedge is a unit of mostly terrestrial sedimentary rock found in Pennsylvania and New York. Minor marine layers exist in this thick rock unit (up to ). It is equivalent to the Hampshire Form ...

, the Marcellus Shale, the Helderburg Formation, the

Mahantango Formation The Devonian Mahantango Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. It is named for the North branch of the Mahantango Creek in Perry and Juniata counties in Pennsylvania. It is a member of the Hamilton Grou ...

, the

Oriskany Formation The Oriskany Sandstone is a Middle Devonian age unit of sedimentary rock found in eastern North America. The type locality of the unit is located at Oriskany Falls in New York. The Oriskany Sandstone extends throughout much of the Appalachian ...

, the Marine Beds, and the Onondaga Formation. The other one third of the rocks in Montour County are from the Silurian Period. Rocks from this period are prevalent on Montour Ridge and the adjacent

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

and the hills to the northwest of Washingtonville. These areas consist of the Wills Creek formation, the Tonoloway Formation, the Bloomsburg Formation, the Tuscarora Formation, the Clinton Group, and the McKenzie Formation. There are three major

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is t ...

s and

syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimpose ...

s in Montour County. These are the White Deer Anticline, the Lackawanna Syncline, and the Milton Anticline. These are located in the northern, central, and Montour Ridge areas of the county, respectively. These features are situated in a northeast–southwest alignment. They were formed by regional compression and uplift approximately 200 million years ago, during the Permian Period. During the Pleistocene Period, the Illinoian

glacial A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...

advance reached Montour County, although the Wisconsin glacial advance stopped slightly short of it. There are alluvial deposits in many of the

river valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ...

s in the county, especially there two streams or rivers meet. These deposits were formed fairly recently, geologically speaking. The

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

for Montour County comes primarily from the Susquehanna River, as well as

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

s and springs. The rural areas especially depend on wells for their water supply, but Danville mostly uses the Susquehanna River. Wells drilled into Silurian rock have a tendency to be highly hard and prone to developing

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s. However, the Keyser, Wills Creek, and Tonoloway Formations are considerably better at producing water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 18,236 people, 7,085 households, and 4,817 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 140 people per square mile (54/km²). There were 7,627 housing units at an average density of 58 per square mile (23/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.67%

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 ...

, 1.01%

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 ...

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 ...

, 0.07% Native American, 1.28% Asian, 0.38% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. 0.92% 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. 33.2% 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 ...

, 13.2% American, 8.1% Irish, 6.6%

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 ...

, 5.7% Italian and 5.6% Polish ancestry. There were 7,085 households, out of which 30.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.30% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.00% were non-families. 28.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.98. In Montour County, the population was spread out, with 24.40% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 17.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.00 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). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

has designated Montour County as the Bloomsburg-Berwick, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2010 U.S. Census the metropolitan area ranked 20th most populous in the State of Pennsylvania and the 368th most populous in the United States with a population of 82,562. Montour County is also a part of the larger Bloomsburg-Berwick-Sunbury, PA Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which combines the populations of Montour County as well as

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, Snyder and Union Counties in Pennsylvania. The

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan statistical area, metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and ...

ranked 8th in the State of Pennsylvania and 115th most populous in the United States with a population of 264,739.

Economy

There are approximately 350 farms in Montour County. The majority of these farms produce beef, hogs, and

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

is mined in some areas in the county.

Government

Montour County is heavily Republican, with the Republican winning it in every presidential election since 1968. The county is run by three locally elected commissioners, each of whose term of office lasts for four years.

State Senate

* John R. Gordner, Republican, Pennsylvania's 27th Senatorial District

State House of Representatives

* Kurt A. Masser, Republican, Pennsylvania's 107th Representative District

United States House of Representatives

Dan Meuser Daniel Philip Meuser ( ; born February 10, 1964) is an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist who is the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district. A Republican, he previously served as the secretary of re ...

, Republican, Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district

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

Map of Montour County Pennsylvania School Districts

Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit #16 (CSIU), located in the Milton Industrial Park, Milton, Pennsylvania, was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1971 as one of 29 Intermediate Units in the commonwealth. Intermediate units serve a ...

#16 provides a wide variety of services to children living in Montour County. These include early intervention, special education support services, driver education on road training, speech and hearing therapy and autistic support. Services for children during the preschool years are provided without cost to their families when the child is determined to meet eligibility requirements. Danville Area Head Start

Public school districts

* Danville Area School District (also in Northumberland County) *

Warrior Run School District Warrior Run School District is a small, rural, public school district that covers . It spans townships in three different counties: Gregg Township in Union County, Delaware Township and Lewis Township in Northumberland County, and Anthony ...

(also in Northumberland and Union Counties)

Private schools

As reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education - EdNA. February 2014 *Alternative Education Program - Danville *Breezy Meadow - Danville *Chillisquaque Valley Parochial School - Bloomsburg *County Line Parochial School - Danville *Creek Side School - Turbotville *Danville Child Development Center - Danville *Danville Mennonite School - Danville *Delong Alternative Educ Program - Washingtonville *Limestone Mennonite Parochial School - Milton *Ridgeview Amish School - Watsontown *St Cyril Kindergarten - Danville *St Joseph School - Danville *The Learning Tree Child Care Center, LLC - Danville CSIU16 School Directory 2014

Library

*Thomas Beaver Free Library - Danville

Communities

Map of Montour County Pennsylvania With Municipal and Township Labels

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 one case,

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 Montour County:

Boroughs

* Danville (county seat) * Washingtonville

Townships

* Anthony Township * Cooper Township * Derry Township * Liberty Township * Limestone Township * Mahoning Township * Mayberry Township * Valley Township * West Hemlock Township

Unincorporated communities

* Exchange * Kaseville * Limestoneville * Mausdale * Mechanicsville *

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

* Mooresburg * Ottawa * Ridgeville

Population ranking

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

References

{{authority control 1850 establishments in Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1850 Bloomsburg–Berwick metropolitan area Counties of Appalachia