Formed April 11, 1848 (61st county)
Forest County (6,974), Tionesta (431)
A Georgian Revival red brick courthouse was constructed for Forest County in 1868. The courthouse is located on Elm Street between May and Davis streets. United States Highway 62 is Elm Street in this part of the town. Keene Vaughn is the courthouse designer. Forest County was created on April 11, 1848 from a part of Jefferson County as the 61st county. Marienville was the first county seat until 1867 when Tionesta became the seat. The county name is a descriptive term for the local trees. The county seat name is Native American for “waters meet.”
Forest County government consists of a treasurer, a sheriff, an attorney, a coroner, and a clerk (executive). It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.) Four Common Pleas Court Judges and One Magistrate Court Judge serve Forest and Warren counties (judicial.) The county is in the northwest part of the state. Erie, Pennsylvania is northwest and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is southwest of the county. The Allegheny River flows through the county. The county center is 16.4 miles East-Northeast of Tionesta nearer Kellettville. The county is surrounded clockwise by Warren, McKean, Elk, Jefferson, Clarion, and Venango counties.
The area of the county is 431 square miles. It is 53 out of 67 in the state. It ranks 65 out of 67 in population in the state. It has a density of 16.2 persons per square mile making it 64 out of 67 in the state. Forest County has 6.2% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 62 enters the county from the north, Warren County, and exits to the west, Venango County. The county resembles a block school bus. Tionesta is in the western quarter of the county. Tionesta is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 6.2% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced TIE-OE-NES-TA.
Tionesta
