Mifflin County, Pennsylvania

Mifflin County Education, Geography, and History

Mifflin County is a county located in the state of Pennsylvania. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 46,682. Its county seat is Lewistown. The county was created on September 19, 1789, from parts of Cumberland County and Northumberland County and named after Thomas Mifflin, the first Governor of Pennsylvania.

Mifflin County comprises the Lewistown, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Mifflin County Name

Named for Governor Thomas Mifflin. Lewistown

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Mifflin County History

Created on September 19,1789, from parts of Cumberland and Northumberland Counties and named for Governor Thomas Mifflin. Lewistown, the county seat, was laid out in 1790 and incorporated as a borough on April 11, 1795. However, the charter apparently was not accepted, for it was reincorporated on February 6, 1811. It was named for William Lewis, local ironmaster.

The first legitimate settlers had barely arrived after the Albany Purchase of 1745 when the area was involved in the Indian raids of 1755 to 1763. Fort Granville fell to Indian assault in 1756. Lewistown and Mifflintown were rivals for designation as the county seat because there was topographical division at the Narrows. The formation of Juniata County settled the matter. The Pennsylvania Canal arrived in 1829 followed twenty years later by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and the county was also favored by being on the route of the William Penn Highway (later US 22). Despite mountains, the Kishacoquillas Valley is fertile, and limestone, glass quality sand, silica sand, and ganister are profitable. A silk industry was converted to rayon, then to nylon, and now to polyester. In the 1930s Vicose Silk had 4,000 employees, 10 percent of the county's population. Iron and steel were once produced, leaving in their trail the current trades of fabricated forgings, rolled rings, and railroad wheels and axles. Forty percent of the work force is still engaged in manufacturing. One-third of the area is in farmland, and egg and dairy production is high.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 415 square miles (1,074 km²), of which, 412 square miles (1,067 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (7 km²) of it (0.66%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Centre County (north)
• Union County (northeast)
• Snyder County (east)
• Juniata County (southeast)
• Huntingdon County (west)

Education

Public school districts

Most of the county is served by the Mifflin County School District, with the exception of Wayne Township and the boroughs of Newton-Hamilton and Kistler, which are part of the Mount Union Area School District.

Mifflin County School District
Mount Union Area School District (also in Huntingdon County)

Colleges and universities

Mifflin-Juniata Career and Technology Center located in Lewistown provides post high school degrees in nursing, auto mechanics and electrical services and numerous other technology driven careers.

The Lewistown branch of the South Hills School of Business and Technology offers associate degrees and other certifications in various areas of business, technology, and some health care.

The Penn State Learning Center in Lewistown offers both two-year and four-year degrees. Recently, the Learning Center opened a state-of-the-art science lab to be used by students attending the Lewistown Hospital School of Nursing.

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