This compilation details the process by which twenty-two boroughs have been incorporated in the county.1 The incorporation of a borough required a special act of the state legislature, until an 1851 statute (the 1851 Act) delegated this power to the county courts of quarter sessions.2 The 1851 Act also authorized the burgess and council to alter borough boundaries, but only changes by legislative or judicial action are included here.Unlike townships, which sprang into existence, boroughs were formed from existing towns and villages. Their origins, including name changes, are also briefly noted.3 Maps depicting borough boundaries as shown on the 1876 county atlas will eventually (it is hoped) be added to this site.
For genealogists, incorporation means that such records as tax rolls and census returns will be found separate from the parent township, as indicated in the following chart:
borough | incorporated | annulled | parent township(s) | first tax roll | first census |
Blooming Valley | 1867 | Woodcock.Twp. | 1868 | 1870 | |
Cambridge Springs | 1866 | Cambridge. Twp. | 1867 | 1870 | |
Centerville | 1865 | Rome Twp. | 1867 | 1870 | |
Cochranton | 1855 | East Fairfield Twp. | 1856 | 1860 | |
Conneautville | 1844 | Spring & Summerhill Twps. | 1845 | 1850 | |
Conneaut Lake | 1858 | Sadsbury Twp. | 1859 | 1860 | |
Evansburgh see Conneaut Lake | |||||
Geneva | 1872 | 1939 | Greenwood Twp. | 1873 | 1880 |
Hartford / Hartstown | 1850 | 1915 | West Fallowfield Twp. | 1851 | 1860 |
Hydetown | 1868 | Oil Creek Twp. | 1870 | ||
Jamestown | 1853 | South Shenango & Greene Twps. | 1860 | ||
(Kerrtown) | proposed | (Vernon Twp.) | — | — | |
Linesville | 1862 | Pine Twp. | 1865 | 1870 | |
Meadville | 1823 | Mead Twp. | 1824 | 1800 | |
Oil Creek see Hydetown | |||||
Riceville | 1859 | Bloomfield Twp. | 1861 | 1860 | |
Saeger(s)town | 1849 | Woodcock Twp. | 1851 | 1860 | |
Spartansburg(h) | 1855 | Sparta Twp. | 1856 | 1860 | |
Spring / Springboro | 1866 | Spring Twp. | 1867 | 1870 | |
Titusville | 1847 | Oil Creek Twp. | 1849 | 1850 | |
Townville | 1867 | Steuben Twp. | 1868 | 1870 | |
Turner(s)ville | 1851 | 1863 | South Shenango Twp. | 1853 | 1860 |
(Tryonville) | proposed | (Steuben Twp.) | — | — | |
Val(l)onia | 1868 | 1904 | Vernon Twp. | 1869 | 1870 |
Venango | 1852 | Venango Twp. | __ | 1860 | |
Woodcock | 1844 | Woodcock Twp. | 1845 | 1850 |
2 1851 Pa. Laws 320 (No. 218, &3147;an act regulating boroughs, approved 3 April 1851). The incorporation of communities such as Jamestown which straddled county lines still required the intervention of the state legislature.
3 John L. Kay & Charles M. Smith, Jr., Pennsylvania Postal History (Lawrence, Mass., 1976), 139-44 [courtesy of William B. Moore], is the source for dates when, and names under which
post offices were established.