Potter County, Pennsylvania


Potter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,457, making it the fifth-least populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Coudersport. The county was created in 1804 and later organized in 1836. It is named after James Potter, who was a general from Pennsylvania in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Due to its remoteness and natural beauty, it has been nicknamed “Gods Country.” The county is also known for its white supremacy movements.
Potter County is located in the Allegheny Plateau and Susquehanna Valley region.

History

Major Isaac Lyman, an American Revolutionary war veteran was one of the first permanent settlers in Potter County. Major Lyman is recognized as the founder of Potter County. He was paid ten dollars for each settler he convinced to move to Potter County. He built his home in 1809 in nearby Lymansville, now known as Ladona, now Coudersport. Major Lyman also built the first road to cross Potter County and Potter County's first sawmill and gristmill.
Lyman had a colorful personal history. After the death in childbirth of his first wife, Sally Edgecombe, he remarried; later he left his second wife and started a third family in Potter County. The second Mrs. Lyman was determined not to suffer on her own. She sought out the Major, travelling from Bolton Landing, New York to Potter County with the help of their son, Burrell, who was 18 at the time. Major Lyman lived with these two families in Potter County. Historical accounts of the living situation vary. Some say that Lyman kept both wives under one roof. Others state that there were two log homes for the families on the same piece of property. Descendants of Major Isaac Lyman's three families still live and work in Potter County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
Three major watersheds meet in Potter County: the watersheds of the Chesapeake Bay, St. Lawrence River, and Mississippi River. Moreover, the main stem by volume of the entire Mississippi river system, the Allegheny River, has its source in central Potter County, near Cobb Hill.
Potter has a warm-summer humid continental climate and average monthly temperatures in Coudersport range from 22.0 °F in January to 66.4 °F in July.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 18,080 people, 7,005 households, and 5,001 families residing in the county. The population density was 17 people per square mile. There were 12,159 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 98.06% White, 0.29% Black or African American, 0.22% Native American, 0.50% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.71% from two or more races. 0.57% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 27.3% were of English, 26.9% were of German, 9.9% Irish and 5.8% Italian ancestry.
There were 7,005 households out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.50% were married couples living together, 7.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.60% were non-families. 24.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.02.
In Potter County, the population was spread out with 26.00% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 26.10% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 16.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 97.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.80 males.
;Live birth rate:
Potter County's live birth rate was 242 births in 1990. The County's live birth rate in 2000 was 223 births, while in 2011 it had declined to 201 babies. Over the past 50 years, rural Pennsylvania saw a steady decline in both the number and proportion of residents under 18 years old. In 1960, 1.06 million rural residents, or 35 percent of the rural population, were children.
;County poverty demographics:
According to research by The Center for Rural Pennsylvania, which is a legislative agency of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the poverty rate for Potter County was 14.3% in 2014. The statewide poverty rate was 13.6% in 2014. The 2012 childhood poverty rate by school district was: Austin Area School District - 42% of pupils living at 185% or below than the Federal Poverty Level and Coudersport Area School District - 41.9%, Galeton Area School District - 57.1%, Northern Potter School District - 51.3%, Oswayo Valley School District - 54.9%, Port Allegany School District - 46.8% and Keystone Central School District - 51.7% of pupils living in poverty.

Politics and Government

Politics and elections

Potter County is one of the most Republican counties in Pennsylvania. In 2004, George W. Bush received 5,640 votes to 2,268 votes for John Kerry. The county has voted for the Republican in every presidential election since 1964. In 2006, Rick Santorum received 3,476 votes to 2,012 votes for Bob Casey, Jr., making it Santorum's strongest county in his defeat. Lynn Swann also received more than 60% of the Potter County vote in his defeat. In 2016, Donald Trump and Pat Toomey were overwhelmingly elected in Potter County for the U.S. presidential election and U.S. Senate election respectively. Trump won 80.31% of the vote over Hillary Clinton while Toomey won 77.79% of the vote over Katie McGinty. In the 2016 State Attorney General race, John Rafferty won 79.15% of the vote.

State Senate

Potter County constitutes Judicial District 55 in the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. The Court of Common Pleas for District 55 is located in Coudersport, and staffed by a single judge, President Judge Stephen P.B. Minor. Since about 2001, Potter County's Court of Common Pleas has become a center for filing no-fault divorces in Pennsylvania; as of 2009, the over 6,000 divorces filed per year in Potter County raised several hundred thousand dollars in revenue for the county's general fund.

Education

Public school districts

List from National Center for Education Statistics

Libraries

Pennsylvania EdNA - Educational Entities, 2013

Recreation

Potter County is home to 8 state parks and many more acres of state forest and gamelands.
The county is also the location of the annual "God's Country Marathon" race between Galeton and Coudersport.

Communities

Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and, in at most two cases, towns. The following boroughs and townships are located in Potter County:

Boroughs

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Potter County.
† county seat
RankCity/Town/etc.Municipal typePopulation
1† CoudersportBorough2,546
2GaletonBorough1,149
3ShinglehouseBorough1,127
4RouletteCDP779
5UlyssesBorough621
6AustinBorough562
7Sweden ValleyCDP223
8OswayoBorough139

Marcellus shale impact fee

Act 13 of 2012, which levied a Marcellus Shale Impact Fee, was signed into law by Governor Tom Corbett on February 14, 2012. The bill provides for the imposition of an unconventional well fee by county. A county may impose the fee if unconventional gas wells are located within its borders and it passes an ordinance within 60 days of the effective date of Act 13. A county that did not pass an ordinance imposing a fee is prohibited from receiving funds. This prohibition remains in effect until a county passes an ordinance imposing a fee. In 2014, Potter County received an impact fee disbursement of $256,456.52. The top county recipient was Washington County which received $6,512,570.65 in 2014. In 2014, there were 40 marcellus shale wells in Potter County.