Jefferson County
Brookville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Formed March 26, 1804 out of Lycoming County and named for President Thomas Jefferson. Until 1806 attached to Westmoreland County, then to Indiana County until 1830. Noted for its coal and lumber industries. Brookville, county seat, was incorporated 1834.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Formed in 1804 and named for the sitting president, Thomas Jefferson, this county spent its early decades administratively tethered to neighboring counties before it could stand on its own. Its wealth lay underground and in the forests: rich coal seams and vast stands of timber that fed the industrial appetite of a growing nation. Brookville, the county seat, took shape as a lumbering and mining town and was incorporated in 1834.
Why it matters
Named for a president in his own lifetime, Jefferson County became one of the coal-and-lumber engines of western Pennsylvania's rise as an industrial powerhouse.
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Related people
- · Thomas Jefferson
Themes & tags
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