Welcome to Montour County Pennsylvania History and Genealogy
THIS COUNTY IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION
If you have the desire to help transcribe genealogical data and
place it online for the free use of all researchers, contact Nancy to become a host. Volunteer Information is
available here.
This County currently does not have a host. This
means that there is no one available to help answer your questions about this county's history or to help you with
your family's genealogy within this county.
WE REGRET THAT WE ARE UNABLE TO DO PERSONAL RESEARCH FOR YOU.
Montour County was 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.
Boroughs and Census Designated Places
|
| California |
Columbia Hill |
Comly |
Danville |
Dieffenbach |
| Eschange |
Franklin Furnace |
Kaseville |
Limestoneville |
Mausdale |
| Mechanicsville |
Mexico |
Mooresburg |
Oak Grove |
Ottawa |
| Ridgeville |
Roaring Creek |
Schuyler |
Strawberry Ridge |
Washingtonville |
| White Hall |
|
|
|
|
|
Townships
|
| Anthony Township |
Cooper Township |
Derry Township |
Liberty Township |
Limestone Township |
| Mahoning Township |
Mayberry Township |
Valley Township |
West Hemlock Township |
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