Pennsylvania Formation Maps

History of County Formations in Pennsylvania 1673-1878

(See below for:
History of County Formations in Text,
County Abbreviations,
Discontinued Pennsylvania Counties, and
Destroyed Court Houses.)

(These maps are best viewed at 1024 x 768 dpi.)

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Pennsylvania County Abbreviations
(There are 67 counties.)


Ad =Adams
Al =Allegheny
Ar =Armstrong
Bea=Beaver
Bed=Bedford
Ber=Berks
Bl =Blair
Br =Bradford
Buc=Bucks
But=Butler
Car=Carbon
Cbr=Cambria
Cen=Centre
Ch =Chester
Cla=Clarion
Cle=Clearfield
Cli=Clinton


Co =Columbia
Cr =Crawford
Crn=Cameron
Cu =Cumberland
Da =Dauphin
De =Delaware
Elk=Elk
Er =Erie
Fa =Fayette
Fo =Forest
Fr =Franklin
Fu =Fulton
Gr =Greene
Hu =Huntingdon
In =Indiana
Je =Jefferson
Ju =Juniata


Lac=Lackawanna
Lan=Lancaster
Law=Lawrence
Leb=Lebanon
Leh=Lehigh
Lu =Luzerne
Ly =Lycoming
McK=McKean
Me =Mercer
Mi =Mifflin
Mro=Monroe
Mtr=Montour
Mty=Montgomery
Nhn=Northampton
Nud=Northumbert
Pe =Perry
Ph =Philadelphia


Pi =Pike
Po =Potter
Sc =Schuylkill
Sn =Snyder
So =Somerset
Sul=Sullivan
Sus=Susquehanna
Ti =Tioga
Un =Union
Ve =Venango
War=Warren
Was=Washington
Way=Wayne
We =Westmoreland
Wy =Wyoming
Yor=York


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Pennsylvania Discontinued Counties

Ontario: Formed in 1810 from Luzerne and Lycoming Counties.
Renamed Bradford County in 1812.

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Pennsylvania Destroyed Courthouses

The destruction of courthouses greatly affects genealogists in their searches.  Not only are the historic structures destroyed, the records they housed are lost forever.  Because of courthouse fires and other disasters, some Pennsylvania records filed at the county level no longer exist.  Records filed at the county level include marriages; wills and other probate records; records of county, circuit and chancery courts; deeds; and tax records.  Even if they have been placed on mircofilm, photographed, or put on computers, computers and film burn too.

. This does NOT mean that ALL RECORDS in destroyed or damaged courthouses were lost.  Some times, citizens took their documents in again for recording after a disaster and later deeds will contain long chains of title, etc.  The following list shows when courthouse fires and other disasters occurred in Pennsylvania.

  • (To be completed at a later date.)

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(I have prepared these "slideshow" presentations for KY, MD, NC, PA, TN, VA, and WV (see VA); they can be accessed from the GERMANNA COLONIES Home Page.  [Click Below to return there.]  For other states, in a different format, got to http://www.mystategenealogy.com, where "state" is replaced by the state you wish to view, e.g., http://www.mynewyorkgenealogy.com, http://www.mycaliforniagenealogy.com, etc.)

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