Montour County, Pennsylvania

Montour County Education, Geography, and History

Montour County is a county located in the state of Pennsylvania. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 18,267. Its county seat is Danville. The county is named for Andrew Montour, a prominent Métis interpreter who served with George Washington during the French and Indian War. 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.

Etymology - Origin of Montour County Name

Named for Madame Montour, a woman of Indian and French descent who was prominent in the Indian affairs

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Montour County History

Created on May 3, 1850 from part of Columbia County and named for Madame Montour, a woman of Indian and French descent who was prominent in the Indian affairs. Danville, the county seat, was laid out in 1792 and incorporated as a borough on February 27, 1849. It had been the county seat of Columbia County from 1813 to 1846.

The Mahoning Creek area was settled beginning in 1769. Danville is named for Daniel Montgomery, son of early settler General William Montgomery. It had been Columbia County's seat until 1845, but when Bloomsburg usurped Columbia County Danville wanted a new county so it could once more be a county seat. Newspaper activist Valentine Best went to the legislature and pushed the creation through. Danville became a highway, canal, and then rail link on the North Branch route from Sunbury to Wilkes-Barre. Danville's Big Mill, eventually owned by Bethlehem Steel, made iron and steel from 1838 to 1938, Rails were a specialty- the first T-rails made in the United States were made here. In 1873 a national financial panic eclipsed the mill's future, it lost out in competition with Bessemer process and Lake Superior ore, and in 1896 it experienced a major explosion. But iron and steel specialties production continued until the end of World War II. Silk and shirt-making factories were productive from the early 1900s. Half of the county's area is farmed.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 132 square miles (343 km²), of which, 131 square miles (339 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) of it (1.17%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Lycoming County (north)
• Columbia County (east)
• Northumberland County (southwest)

Education

Public school districts

Danville Area School District (also in Northumberland County)
Warrior Run School District (also in Northumberland and Union Counties)

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