York County, Pennsylvania

York County Education, Geography, and History

York County is a county in the state of Pennsylvania. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 434,972. Its county seat is York. The county was created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster County and named either for the Duke of York, an early patron of the Penn family, or for the city and shire of York in England.

York County comprises the York-Hanover, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, PA Combined Statistical Area. It is in the Susquehanna Valley, a large fertile agricultural region in South Central Pennsylvania.

Etymology - Origin of York County Name

Named either for the Duke of York, an early patron of the Penn family, or for the city and shire of York in England.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

York County History

Created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster County and named either for the Duke of York, an early patron of the Penn family, or for the city and shire of York in England. The name may have been suggested by the proximity to Lancaster County, as the names are used together often in English history. York, the county seat, was laid out in 1741 and incorporated as a borough on September 24, 1787. It was chartered as a city on January 11, 1887.

Pennsylvania's 1736 purchase from the Iroquois encompassed this area. The town of York was termed "Yorktown" in the colonial period. Cresap's War showed Maryland's desire to have the area, but it was yielded in 1760, and the matter finalized by the Mason-Dixon Line. York was the capital of the US from September 1777 to June 1778, where the Articles of Confederation were adopted. Agriculturally abundant from the start, York was very productive in corn, wheat, hemp, and whiskey. There was a canal from York to the Susquehanna in 1833. Five railroads served the county, and in the 1920s the Lincoln Highway boosted truck transportation. Products could be sold in both the Philadelphia and Baltimore markets and, later on, Pittsburgh as well. Early iron manufacturing did not lead to steel making but spawned metal products specialties such as farm implements that are still productive. Cigar making was a leading business until the 1930s. Wagonmaking led to truck, auto, and railroad car manufacture. Building water wheels led to making turbines. Papermaking began early, followed by a printing industry. Ice cutting spawned refrigeration and air conditioners. Confections, safe vaults, barbells, quarried slate, chains, organs and pianos, rope, and silk were produced. Inventors and innovators gravitated toward York. High-speed steel, metal building panels and the Jeep were conceived here. The "York Plan" was a World War II system for cooperation to mobilize small industry to win the war; it was replayed for the Korean War. Deindustrialization has been less severe than other Pennsylvania industrial counties, although local ownership dropped. York is the sixth Pennsylvania county in value added to the economy from manufactures. Farms cover 48 percent of the land. Long the second most productive farm county (behind Lancaster), it is now seventh. About half the county is farmed; York is second only to Lancaster in number of farms. It is the leader in wheat and soybeans, and strong in corn, hogs, cattle, fruit and sheep.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 910 square miles (2,358 km²), of which, 904 square miles (2,343 km²) of it is land and 6 square miles (15 km²) of it (0.64%) is water. The county is bound to its eastern border by the Susquehanna River. Its southern border is the Mason-Dixon Line, which separates Pennsylvania and Maryland

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Cumberland County (north)
• Dauphin County (northeast)
• Lancaster County (east)
• Harford County, Maryland (southeast)
• Baltimore County, Maryland (south)
• Carroll County, Maryland (southwest)
• Adams County (west)

Education

Public school districts

Central York School District
Dallastown Area School District
Dover Area School District
Eastern York School District
Hanover Public School District
Northeastern York School District
Northern York County School District
Red Lion Area School District
South Eastern School District
South Western School District
Southern York County School District
Spring Grove Area School District
West Shore School District
West York Area School District
York City School District
York Suburban School District

Vocational school

York County School of Technology

Colleges and universities

Pennsylvania State University, Penn State York campus
Harrisburg Area Community College – York Campus
The Art Institute of York
York College of Pennsylvania
Consolidated School of Business in York
York Technical Institute/York
Yorktowne Business Institute

Adult education

Baltimore School of Massage
Consolidated School of Business in York
DCS School of Driving, LLC
Empire Beauty School
Five Star Driver Training School, LLC
George B Shue Driver Training School
Krupinski Driving School
Lurz Driver Education and Training Consultants Inc.
Motorcycle Technology Center
York Technical Institute/York
York Time Institute
Yorktowne Business Institute

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