USGenWeb > PAGenWeb > Cameron County PAGenWeb >
Cameron County PAGenWeb Project
History
Cameron County, PA
Cameron County, named for Simon Cameron, a United States Senator for PA, was formed
in 1860 from McKean, Potter, Clinton and Elk counties. Supposedly an agent of the
Holland Land Co. carved the word Emporium ( meaning market) into a tree
in 1785, but the village was originally known as Shippen for Edward Shippen who settled
there in 1810. The name changed to Emporium in 1861, when it was selected as the county seat.
Early Business and Occupations included: Salt mining, lumbering,mills, railroads,
timber rafting, rafting, and tanning.
Beware of township locations especially before 1860 when Cameron County was formed.
Gibson Township,in particular, has a complicated history. Shippen was original township
formed from Shippen Twp, McKean Co. Portage was another original township formed
from Portage Twp, Potter Co. Another original township Lumber formed from part of Clinton Co.
Gibson was an original township formed from Lawrence Twp, Clearfield Co.
Grove was an original township formed from Clinton County.
Records Location
Records prior to 1795 will be found in Northumberland County.
Shippen Township: 1795–1804 Lycoming, 1804-1814* Centre, 1814-1824 McKean or Potter,
1824-1860 McKean
Portage Township: 1795-1814* Lycoming, 1814-1824 Potter or McKean, 1824-1860 Potter
Lumber and Grove townships: 1795-1839 Lycoming, 1839-1860 Clinton
Gibson Township: Historically, this township was part of Lycoming (1795), then
Clearfield (1804), then Elk (1843); but records for residents of this township
have been located in Centre County.
History of the Counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania J.H. Beers & Co |
Copyright © 2008 Bob Nay and contributors