Centre County, Pennsylvania Genealogy

United States &gt; Pennsylvania &gt; Centre County

County Courthouse
Centre County Government Centre County Register of Wills Willowbank County Office Building 414 Holmes Street Suite #2 Bellefonte PA 16823

History
Named for being middle of the state.

Parent County
13 February 1800: Centre County was created from Lycoming, Mifflin, and Northumberland Counties.

==== Boundary Changes ====


 * 27 January 1750: Centre County was originally part of Cumberland County when the county was created.
 * 9 March 1771: When Bedford County was carved out of Cumberland County, the western 2/3 of what is today's Centre County was part of Bedford County and the eastern 1/3 remained part of Cumberland County. A very small portion of the eastern-most point was in Berks County.
 * 21 March 1772: When Northumberland County was created, the western 1/3 of today's Centre County remained in Bedford County, while the eastern 2/3 of today's Centre County was included in Northumberland County.
 * 19 September 1789: When Mifflin County was formed, much of today's Centre County became part of Mifflin County; the eastern-most point (about 20% of the county) remained in Northumberland County.
 * 13 April 1795: When Lycoming County was created, a small portion of today's eastern Centre County. was absorbed into Lycoming County, the rest of eastern Centre County remained in Northumberland County, a small southeastern portion of future Centre County was part of Huntingdon County,  and the bulk of the county remained in Mifflin County.
 * 21 January 1839: Clinton County set off.

Populated Places

 * Boroughs: Bellefonte, Millheim, Philipsburg, State College


 * Townships: Benner, Boggs, College, Ferguson, Gregg, Haines, Harris, Halfmoon, Patton, Potter

Neighboring Counties
Blair | Clearfield | Clinton | Huntingdon | Mifflin | Union

Resources
The county's probate and court records begin with the founding of the county, the land records in 1801. Except for a brief period of time when birth, marriage and death records were kept in the 1850's (approximately 1852-1855), there were no civil vital records kept by the county until marriages began again in 1885 and births and deaths in 1893. The keeping of birth and death records was discontinued after 1905 when the state of Pennsylvania began keeping those records.

Biographies
Centre County Biographies

Maps

 * Ancestor Tracks has posted some early maps of Centre Co., as well as a link to the 1861 Tilden map posted by Penn State.

Military

 * Centre County Civil War Soldiers

Vital Records

 * Centre County Vital Statistics

Societies and Libraries

 * Centre County Geneological Society http://www.centrecountygenealogy.org/
 * Family History Center at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 * 842 W Whitehall Rd., State College (814) 237-1958
 * Hours: Tues & Wed  9 am - 2 pm, 6:30 - 9 pm

Web Sites

 * Centre County Historical Society
 * Cyndi's List
 * Linkpendium - Centre County
 * USGenWeb project
 * Family History Library Catalog