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Bradford County, Pennsylvania
Towanda Main Street
Towanda is the county seat
Seal of Bradford County, Pennsylvania
Seal
Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Bradford County
Location in the state of Pennsylvania
Map of the U.S
Pennsylvania's location in the U.S.
Founded February 21, 1810
Named for William Bradford
Seat Towanda
Largest borough Sayre
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

1,161 sq mi (3,007 km²)
1,147 sq mi (2,971 km²)
14 sq mi (36 km²), 1.2%
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

59,967
52/sq mi (20/km²)
Congressional district 12th
Website www.bradfordcountypa.org
Footnotes:
Invalid designation
Designated: July 10, 1982[1]

Bradford County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, its population was 59,967.[2] Its county seat is Towanda.[3] The county was created on February 21, 1810, from parts of Lycoming and Luzerne Counties. Originally called Ontario County, it was reorganized and separated from Lycoming County on October 13, 1812, and renamed Bradford County for William Bradford, who had been a chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and United States Attorney General.[4][5]

Bradford County comprises the Sayre, Pennsylvania micropolitan statistical area.

The county is not to be confused with the city of Bradford, which is in McKean County, 141 miles to the west via U.S. Route 6.

History[]

As noted above, Bradford County was originally named Ontario County. The county was reorganized and renamed in 1812, but a section of north Philadelphia in which major east–west streets are named after Pennsylvania counties retains an Ontario Street, between Westmoreland and Tioga Streets. Two short Bradford Streets are in northeast Philadelphia, about 4 miles from Ontario Street.

Bradford County is the ancestral home of the Tehotitachsae indigenous people of North America. Their principal village, Gohontoto, was on the site of the present Borough of Wyalusing.

Geography[]

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,161 square miles (3,010 km2), of which 1,147 square miles (2,970 km2) are land and 14 square miles (36 km2) (1.2%) are covered by water.[6] It is the second-largest county in Pennsylvania by land area and third-largest by total area.

Climate[]

Bradford has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb) and average monthly temperatures in Towanda range from 24.5°F in January to 70.6°F in July. [1]

Adjacent counties[]

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1820 11,554
1830 19,746 70.9%
1840 32,769 66.0%
1850 42,831 30.7%
1860 48,734 13.8%
1870 53,204 9.2%
1880 58,541 10.0%
1890 59,233 1.2%
1900 59,403 0.3%
1910 54,526 −8.2%
1920 53,166 −2.5%
1930 49,039 −7.8%
1940 50,615 3.2%
1950 51,722 2.2%
1960 54,925 6.2%
1970 57,962 5.5%
1980 62,919 8.6%
1990 60,967 −3.1%
2000 62,761 2.9%
2010 62,622 −0.2%
[7]

As of the census[8] of 2000, there were 62,761 people, 24,453 households, and 17,312 families residing in the county. The population density was 54 people per square mile (21/km2). There were 28,664 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile (10/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.94% White, 0.40% Black or African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 0.63% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 32.4% were of English, 19% German, 12.6% Irish and 6.4% Italian ancestry.

There were 24,453 households, out of which 31.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.40% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.20% were non-families. 24.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.50% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 27.20% from 25 to 44, 24.70% from 45 to 64, and 15.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.10 males.

Micropolitan Statistical Area[]

The United States Office of Management and Budget[9] has designated Bradford County as the Sayre, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area (µSA).[10] As of the 2010 U.S. Census[11] the micropolitan area ranked 8th most populous in the State of Pennsylvania and the 131st most populous in the United States with a population of 62,622.

Law and government[]

Bradford County is a Republican Party stronghold in presidential elections. The only two instances Republican presidential candidates have failed to win the county from 1880 to the present were when Theodore Roosevelt won it in 1912 by splitting the Republican vote & in 1964 when Lyndon B. Johnson won statewide & nationally in a landslide. Johnson is also the only Democrat to ever manage over forty percent of the county's vote.

United States presidential election results for Bradford County, Pennsylvania[12]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 21,600 71.45% 8,046 26.61% 586 1.94%
2016 18,141 69.81% 6,369 24.51% 1,476 5.68%
2012 14,410 61.21% 8,624 36.64% 506 2.15%
2008 15,057 58.16% 10,306 39.81% 526 2.03%
2004 16,942 66.05% 8,590 33.49% 120 0.47%
2000 14,660 62.78% 7,911 33.88% 781 3.34%
1996 10,393 49.47% 7,736 36.82% 2,879 13.70%
1992 10,221 45.17% 6,903 30.51% 5,504 24.32%
1988 13,568 66.72% 6,635 32.63% 134 0.66%
1984 14,808 72.71% 5,474 26.88% 85 0.42%
1980 13,139 62.97% 6,439 30.86% 1,287 6.17%
1976 12,851 61.10% 7,913 37.62% 270 1.28%
1972 15,050 73.57% 5,204 25.44% 204 1.00%
1968 13,308 63.20% 6,373 30.26% 1,377 6.54%
1964 10,434 49.31% 10,714 50.63% 14 0.07%
1960 16,252 70.04% 6,920 29.82% 33 0.14%
1956 15,399 73.57% 5,502 26.29% 30 0.14%
1952 15,894 76.02% 4,959 23.72% 55 0.26%
1948 11,783 71.99% 4,421 27.01% 163 1.00%
1944 13,472 70.40% 5,523 28.86% 142 0.74%
1940 14,826 69.01% 6,605 30.74% 53 0.25%
1936 16,643 66.74% 8,078 32.39% 215 0.86%
1932 11,521 63.34% 5,970 32.82% 697 3.83%
1928 17,251 79.83% 4,281 19.81% 77 0.36%
1924 11,620 73.62% 2,307 14.62% 1,857 11.77%
1920 11,947 75.14% 2,825 17.77% 1,128 7.09%
1916 6,178 57.51% 3,655 34.03% 909 8.46%
1912 2,034 18.56% 2,960 27.01% 5,963 54.42%
1908 7,997 63.43% 3,758 29.81% 853 6.77%
1904 8,303 69.23% 2,862 23.86% 828 6.90%
1900 8,625 64.05% 4,211 31.27% 631 4.69%
1896 9,422 66.04% 4,388 30.76% 457 3.20%
1892 8,132 63.10% 4,080 31.66% 676 5.25%
1888 8,762 63.00% 4,552 32.73% 594 4.27%
1884 8,405 62.51% 4,216 31.36% 825 6.14%
1880 8,152 59.65% 4,950 36.22% 564 4.13%



County commissioners[]

  • Daryl Miller, Chairman, Republican
  • Doug McLinko, Vice-Chairman, Republican
  • John Sullivan, Democrat[13]

Other county officials[]

  • Auditors, Jeff Warner, Eric Matthews, Sebrina Shanks
  • Clerk of Courts and Prothonotary, Dawn Close, Republican
  • Coroner, N.A.
  • District Attorney, N.A.
  • Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds, Sheila Johnson, Republican
  • Sheriff, Clinton J. Walters, Republican
  • Treasurer, Matthew Allen, Republican

State Senate[]

  • Gene Yaw, Republican, Pennsylvania's 23rd Senatorial District

State House of Representatives[]

  • Clint Owlett, Republican, Pennsylvania's 68th Representative District
  • Tina Pickett, Republican, Pennsylvania's 110th Representative District

United States House of Representatives[]

  • Fred Keller, Republican, Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district

United States Senate[]

  • Pat Toomey, Republican
  • Bob Casey, Democrat

Economy[]

Major employers are the natural gas industry, DuPont, Global-Tungsten and Powders (former Sylvania), Jeld-Wen, and Cargill Regional Beef, Wyalusing.

Education[]

Map of Bradford County Pennsylvania School Districts

Bradford County school districts

Public school districts[]

  • Athens Area School District
  • Canton Area School District (also in Lycoming and Tioga Counties)
  • Northeast Bradford School District
  • Sayre Area School District
  • Towanda Area School District
  • Troy Area School District
  • Wyalusing Area School District (also in Wyoming County)

Other public school entities[]

Private schools[]

  • Canton Country School – Canton
  • Children's Place – Sayre
  • Epiphany School (Catholic) Pre-K–6 – Sayre accepting OSTCP students
  • Freedom Lane Academy – Milan
  • G&G Learning Center – Rome
  • Maranatha Mission Learning Community Branch 19 – Canton
  • North Rome Christian School
  • South Hill Amish School – Wyalusing
  • St. Agnes Elementary School – Towanda accepting OSTCP students
  • Union Valley Christian School – Ulster
  • Valley View Amish School – Pike Township
  • Wyalusing Valley Children's Center INC – Wyalusing

Data from EdNA database maintained by Pennsylvania Department of Education 2012

Libraries[]

  • Allen F. Pierce Free Library – Troy
  • Bradford County Library – Troy
  • Bradford County Library System – Troy
  • Green Free Library – Canton
  • Mather Memorial Library – Ulster
  • Monroeton Public Library – Monroeton
  • New Albany Community Library Inc.
  • Sayre Public Library
  • Spalding Memorial Library – Athens
  • Towanda Public Library
  • Wyalusing Public Library

Bradford Mall and it's history[]

Bradford Mall is a shopping mall in Foster Brook. The mall started in the 70s, having locations open. In the 2000s, the mall had a few stores. Dollar Tree opened in 2002, Kmart closed in 2004, and Firestone closed in 2009. The 2010s made the Bradford Mall have more stores.

Here is a list of stores of Bradford Mall in the 2010s:

  • Dollar Tree
  • Big Lots (closed in 2017)
  • Label Shopper
  • Tractor Supply (opened in 2012)
  • Giant Eagle (scrapped)
  • Dumhan's Sports (opened in 2015)
  • Peebles
  • Big Lots (opened in 2017)
  • Taco Bell (opened in 2015)
  • Aldi (opened in 2018?)
  • Phonix (opened in 2014)

Bradford Mall is doing good in the 2020s. New stores like Shoe Department and UMPC opened.

Transportation[]

Public transportation is provided by BeST Transit.

Major Highways[]

  • Template:Jct/2 (briefly crosses the NY-PA state border, but is maintained by NYSDOT)
  • US 220 US 220
  • PA-14 [[Template:Infobox road/PA/link PA|PA 14]]
  • PA-154 [[Template:Infobox road/PA/link PA|PA 154]]
  • PA-187 [[Template:Infobox road/PA/link PA|PA 187]]
  • PA-328 [[Template:Infobox road/PA/link PA|PA 328]]
  • PA-367 [[Template:Infobox road/PA/link PA|PA 367]]
  • PA-414 [[Template:Infobox road/PA/link PA|PA 414]]
  • PA-467 [[Template:Infobox road/PA/link PA|PA 467]]
  • PA-514 [[Template:Infobox road/PA/link PA|PA 514]]
  • PA-549 [[Template:Infobox road/PA/link PA|PA 549]]

Recreation[]

There is one Pennsylvania state park in Bradford County.

  • Mt. Pisgah State Park

Communities[]

Map of Bradford County Pennsylvania with Municipal and Township Labels

Map of Bradford County, Pennsylvania with Municipal Labels showing Boroughs (red) and Townships (white).

Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and, in only one case (Bloomsburg, Columbia County), towns. The following boroughs and townships are located in Bradford County:

Boroughs[]

  • Alba
  • Athens
  • Burlington
  • Canton
  • Le Raysville
  • Monroe
  • New Albany
  • Rome
  • Sayre
  • South Waverly
  • Sylvania
  • Towanda (county seat)
  • Troy
  • Wyalusing

Townships[]

  • Albany
  • Armenia
  • Asylum
  • Athens
  • Burlington
  • Canton
  • Columbia
  • Franklin
  • Granville
  • Herrick
  • Leroy
  • Litchfield
  • Monroe
  • North Towanda
  • Orwell
  • Overton
  • Pike
  • Ridgebury
  • Rome
  • Sheshequin
  • Smithfield
  • South Creek
  • Springfield
  • Standing Stone
  • Stevens
  • Terry
  • Towanda
  • Troy
  • Tuscarora
  • Ulster
  • Warren
  • Wells
  • West Burlington
  • Wilmot
  • Windham
  • Wyalusing
  • Wysox

Census-designated place[]

  • Greens Landing

Unincorporated communities[]

  • Berrytown
  • Browntown

Population ranking[]

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Bradford County.[11]

county seat

Rank City/Town/etc. Population (2010 Census) Municipal type Incorporated
1 Sayre 5,587 Borough 1891
2 Athens 3,367 Borough 1831
3 Towanda 2,919 Borough 1828
4 Canton 1,976 Borough 1864
5 Troy 1,354 Borough
6 South Waverly 1,027 Borough 1878
7 Greens Landing 894 CDP
8 Wyalusing 596 Borough
9 Monroe 554 Borough 1855
10 Rome 441 Borough 1860
11 New Albany 356 Borough 1879
12 Le Raysville 290 Borough 1863
13 Sylvania 219 Borough 1853
14 Alba 157 Borough 1864
15 Burlington 156 Borough 1854

See also[]

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Bradford County, Pennsylvania

References[]

  1. ^ "PHMC Historical Markers Search" (Searchable database). Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_historical_marker_program/2539/search_for_historical_markers. 
  2. ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Bradford County, Pennsylvania". United States Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0500000US42015. 
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  4. ^ An outline history of Tioga and Bradford counties in Pennsylvania, Chemung, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins and Schuyler in New York: by townships, villages, boro's and cities, John L. Sexton. The Gazette Company, 1885, p67. 1885. p. 67. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_kWlCAAAAYAAJ. "bradford county, pa. sexton." 
  5. ^ Bradford County History Archived July 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Accessed August 21, 2007
  6. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_42.txt. 
  7. ^ "Census 2020". https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/bradfordcountypennsylvania/PST045219. 
  8. ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov. 
  9. ^ "Office of Management and Budget - The White House". https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb. 
  10. ^ "Archived copy". https://www.census.gov/econ/census/media/forms/pa.html. 
  11. ^ a b "2010 U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.2010.html. 
  12. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 
  13. ^ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". https://bradfordcountypa.org/commissioners/. 
  14. ^ "Towanda - Lackawanna College". http://www.lackawanna.edu/about/locations/towanda/?via=locations. 

External links[]

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Coordinates: 41°47′N 76°31′W / 41.79, -76.52

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