What are the oldest and newest counties in Pennsylvania?

Matt Benedetto
·2 min read
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PENNSYLVANIA (WHTM) – Pennsylvania has 67 counties with the oldest counties being formed in 1682 and the newest county being formed in 1878.

According to National Geographic, “A county is a territorial division and a unit of local government in some countries. Counties are usually made up of cities, towns, and rural populations.”

What are the oldest municipalities in Pennsylvania?

Counties in Pennsylvania are broken into regions such as (According to Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania):

North Central

  • Centre

  • Cameron

  • Clearfield

  • Clinton

  • Elk

  • Lycoming

  • McKean

  • Potter

  • Snyder

  • Tioga

  • Union

Northeast

  • Bradford

  • Carbon

  • Columbia

  • Lackawanna

  • Luzerne

  • Monroe

  • Montour

  • Northumberland

  • Pike

  • Schuylkill

  • Sullivan

  • Susquehanna

  • Wayne

  • Wyoming

Northwest

  • Clarion

  • Crawford

  • Erie

  • Forest

  • Jefferson

  • Mercer

  • Venango

  • Warren

South Central

  • Adams

  • Bedford

  • Blair

  • Cumberland

  • Dauphin

  • Franklin

  • Fulton

  • Huntingdon

  • Juniata

  • Mifflin

  • Perry

  • York

Southeast

  • Berks

  • Bucks

  • Chester

  • Delaware

  • Lancaster

  • Lebanon

  • Lehigh

  • Montgomery

  • Northampton

  • Philadelphia

Southwest

  • Allegheny

  • Armstrong

  • Beaver

  • Butler

  • Cambria

  • Fayette

  • Greene

  • Indiana

  • Lawrence

  • Somerset

  • Washington

  • Westmoreland

Some counties have larger cities while some are filled with open roads and small towns but which of these counties were created first?

What are the oldest municipalities in Pennsylvania?

Oldest

In November 1682 three counties would be created: Bucks, Chester, and Philadelphia.

All three of these are close to the southeast region of Pennsylvania and one of them has the largest city in Pennsylvania.

The city of Philadelphia served as Pennsylvania’s state capital from 1681 to 1729 and the United States capital from 1790 to 1800. Philadelphia County’s population is around 1,627,134.

Chester County was founded in 1683. Chester County’s population is around 545,072.

Bucks County was named after William Penn’s hometown of Buckinghamshire, England. Bucks County’s population is around 652,925.

Newest

Unlike the oldest counties in Pennsylvania the newest stands alone, Lackawanna County is the newest county and was created on Aug. 13, 1878.

Lackawanna is home to Scranton which is a large tourist destination due to being the city of the show “The Office.”

Once a part of Luzerne County, the residents took it to vote on April 17, 1878, to see if they wanted to be independent of Luzerne County.

This vote would end nine to one in favor of creating a new county.

The population of Lackawanna County is around 216,334.

Why is Harrisburg the capital city of Pennsylvania

Other Pennsylvania county facts

  • The largest county is Philadelphia County with around 1,627,134

  • The smallest county is Cameron County with around 4,385

  • The largest county is Lycoming County with 474 square miles

  • The smallest county is Montour County with 50 square miles

  • The county that is growing in population is Cumberland County with a 13.29% increase

  • The county that is shrinking in population is Susquehanna County with a 14.76% decrease

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