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Welcome to Columbia County Pennsylvania History and Genealogy

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Genealogy Trails History Group

Columbia County was created on March 22, 1813 from part of Northumberland County and named for Columbia, a poetic name that alludes to Christopher Columbus. Bloomsburg, the county seat since November 30, 1847, was incorporated as a town on March 4, 1870, and is the only incorporated town in the state. Its name comes from Bloom Township, which was named for Samuel Bloom, a commissioner of Northumberland County. Danville, the county seat from 1813 to 1846, is now the seat of Montour County. Native American communities had long lived here along the Susquehanna River, and the first white settlement was south of the river. Berwick was laid out in 1783. As a North brach Canal depot and then a railroad station, Catawissa grew and served a thriving farm region. Anthracite mining and a lumber boom arose but, like Columbia’s farming, yielded to competition in the 1930’s .Abandoned deep coal mines have burned for decades beneath the town of Centralia. ACF’s railroad car complex and Bloomsburg’s silk and carpet works prospered until the national trend toward deindustrialization began in recent decades. ACF manufactured tanks during World War II. The county’s farming has emphasized fruit and field crops; in 1992 Columbia ranked 37th among all 67 counties in value of farm crops. Farms cover 37 percent of the county’s area. There were Underground Railroad stations at Berwick and Millville. Some of the accused Molly Maguires were tried in Bloomsburg in 1877.

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UPDATED October 12, 2008
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History and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, PA by: J. H. Beers, 1915

(Through Penn State's Digital Bookshelf.)


Boroughs and Census Designated Places

AlmediaAristesAsland(partial)BentonBerwick
BloomsburgBriar CreekBuckhornCatawissaCentralia
EspyEyers GroveFernvilleFoundryvilleIola
Jamison CityJerseytownJonestownLightstreetLime Ridge
LocustdaleMainvilleMifflinvilleMillvilleNumidia
OrangevilleRohrsburgRupertSlabtownStillwater
WallerWilburton Number OneWilburton Number Two

Townships
Beaver TownshipBenton TownshipBriar Creek TownshipCatawissa TownshipCleveland Township
Conyngham TownshipFishing Creek TownshipFranklin TownshipGreenwood TownshipHemlock Township
Jackson TownshipLocust TownshipMadison TownshipMain TownshipMiffin Township
Montour TownshipMount Pleasant TownshipNorth Centre TownshipOrange TownshipPine Township
Roaring Creek TownshipScott TownshipSouth Centre TownshipSugarloaf Township

Surronding Counties
Sullivan County(north) Luzerne County(east) Schuylkill County(south)
Northumberland County(southwest) Montour County(west) Lycoming County(northwest)

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