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Official Website
Overview
Clearfield County was formed by the Act of Assembly by the second Governor of Pennsylvania at the time, Thomas McKean on March 26, 1804. The county was created from parts of the already created counties of Huntingdon and Lycoming. The name for the county was most likely derived from the many cleared fields of the valleys surrounding Clearfield Creek and West Branch of the Susquehanna River, formed by the bison herds and also by old corn fields of prior Native Americans tribes.
The two major industries of the county in the mid-1800s until the early 1900s was lumber and coal. Lumber was still being floated down the West Branch of the Susquehanna up until 1917. Coal remains the main industry of the county to this day.
No case tried in the county has caused as much comment as the union conspiracy trials. In all there were fifty-six persons, primarily miners in the Houtzdale region, who were charged with conspiracy as organized strikers. The first case against John Maloney and fifty three others was tried in 1875, before a jury with Judge Orvis presiding. All were found guilty, although they seem to have been solely peacefully picketing. Four were sentenced to one year's imprisonment, eight for six months, and sentences suspended as to the others. As every organized labor society in the USA was interested in the result, the events of the trial and verdict were telegraphed throughout the country. This proceeding was followed by the trial of the remaining two offenders who were union representatives, John Siney, and Xingo Parks. Siney was then the President of the Miners’ National Association (MNA). He came to Houtzdale and delivered an address of support for the union strike, for which he was arrested. Parks was an able organizer for the MNA. They were defended by US Senator Matthew H. Carpenter of Wisconsin. At trial Siney was acquitted, but Parks was found guilty of inciting unlawful assembly. He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, but pardoned within a month from the time sentence was pronounced. These cases led in the next year to a liberalization of the Pennsylvania conspiracy law, through amendment providing that only "force, threat, or menace of harm to person or property" should be considered illegal.
Adjacent Counties
- Elk County
- Cameron County
- Clinton County
- Centre County
- Blair County
- Cambria County
- Indiana County
- Jefferson County
Cities & Boroughs
- Brisbin
- Burnside
- Chester Hill
- Clearfield (County Seat)
- Coalport
- Curwinsville
- DuBois
- Falls Creek (part)
- Glen Hope
- Grampian
- Houtzdale
- Irvona
- Mahaffey
- New Washington
- Newburg (aka La Jose)
- Osceola Mills
- Ramey
- Troutville
- Wallaceton
- Westover
Other Townships & Communities: Allport, Beccaria, Bell, Bigler, Bloom, Boggs, Bradford, Brady, Chest, Cooper, Covington, Decatur, Ferguson, Girard, Goshen, Graham, Grassflat, Greenwood, Gulich, Hawk Run, Helvetia, Huston, Hyde, Jordan, Karthaus, Knox, Kylertown, Lawrence, Lumber City, Morris, Morrisdale, New Castle, Penn, Pike, Pine, Plymptonville, Sandy, Sylvan Grove, Treasure Lake, Union, Viola, West Decatur and Woodward
Links
National Register of Historic Places
Clearfield County Historical Society
