Clinton

Formed June 21, 1839 (55^th county)

Clinton County (37,456), Lock Haven (8,111)

The Italianate and Romanesque Revival 1867 white brick courthouse replaced an 1842 facility.  Samuel Sloan and Addison Hutton were the architects.  It is located on Water Street at Jay Street.  Pennsylvania State Highway 120 passes in front of the courthouse.  The building was enlarged in 1936.  Clinton County was established on June 21, 1839 from parts of Centre and Lycoming counties as the 55^th county with Lock Haven as the only county seat.  The county is named for New York Governor DeWitt Clinton.  The county seat name is a geographical combination of a canal lock and its haven for business.  Clinton County is the birthplace of 1 Pennsylvania governor, Daniel H. Hastings. 

Clinton County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners.  Three Common Pleas Court Judges and Five Magistrate Court Judges serve Clinton County.  The county is in north central Pennsylvania.  The West Branch of the Susquehanna River flows through the county.  Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is southeast and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is southwest of the county.  The county center is 8.7 miles Northwest of Lock Haven nearer Farrardsville.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Potter, Lycoming, Union, Centre, Clearfield, and Cameron counties. 

The area of the county is 898 square miles.  It is 15 out of 67 in the state.  It ranks 56 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 41.7 persons per square mile making it 59 out of 67 in the state.  Clinton County has 40.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 80 crosses the southern part of the county from east to west from Union County to Centre County.  United States Highway 220 enters from Lycoming County, east, and joins Interstate Highway 80 into Centre County.  The county resembles a crawling worm.  Lock Haven is located in the southeast quarter of the county.  Lock Haven is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 21.7% of the county population.  This county is in the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area.