Monroe County, Pennsylvania

Monroe County Education, Geography, and History

Monroe County is a county in the state of Pennsylvania. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 169,842. Its county seat is Stroudsburg. The county was formed from the northern section of Northampton County. Named in honor of James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, the county is located in the east of the state, along its border with New Jersey.

Monroe County comprises the East Stroudsburg, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. It is located in the northeastern section of Pennsylvania.

Etymology - Origin of Monroe County Name

Named in honor of James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Monroe County History

Created on April 1, 1836, from parts of Northampton and Pike Counties and named for President James Monroe. Stroudsburg, the county seat, was incorporated as a borough on February 6, 1815, and named for Jacob Stroud, a settler.

Nicholas DuPui settled at Shawnee in 1729 and used the Old Mine Road to market his wheat in New York. This area saw fighting in the French and Indian War; Fort Penn was on the site that became Stroudsburg. The Brodhead family developed East Stroudsburg. A road to Easton was opened in 1774. Monroe County was created because Easton and Milford were too far away from too many people. After 1856 Monroe grew because it lay on the corridor used by railroads carrying anthracite, although it has no coal of its own. The railroads started a big tourist business for the Delaware Water Gap, and in the 1920s tourism spread deep into the Poconos. Railroad transportation also made competitive Monroe's farm products, lumber, block ice, and mineral products. Monroe once manufactured steam boilers, textiles, wooden products (barrels, clothespins, etc.), and glass. The railroads declined in the 1930s. Today there is some printing, publishing, trucking, and warehousing, as well as a retailing emphasis. Farms occupy only 7 percent of the area and have not been major producers since the decline of the dairy export market about 1900. The county had mushroomed since the 1960s as a desirable residential area, and home construction is strong.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 617 square miles (1,599 km²), of which, 608 square miles (1,576 km²) of it is land and 9 square miles (23 km²) of it (1.44%) is water. Monroe County was formed from the northern section of Northampton County.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Wayne County (north)
• Pike County (northeast)
• Sussex County, New Jersey (northeast)
• Warren County, New Jersey (east)
• Northampton County (south)
• Carbon County (west)
• Luzerne County (northwest)
• Lackawanna County (northwest)

Education

Colleges and universities

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania
Northampton Community College (Monroe Campus)

Public school districts

East Stroudsburg Area School District
Pleasant Valley School District
Pocono Mountain School District
Stroudsburg Area School District

Technology schools

Monroe Career & Technical Institute, Bartonsville, PA

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