Perry County, Pennsylvania | |
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Saville Covered Bridge in Saville Township
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Location in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania |
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Pennsylvania's location in the U.S. |
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Founded | March 22, 1820 |
Named for | Oliver Hazard Perry |
Seat | New Bloomfield |
Largest borough | Marysville |
Area | |
• Total | 556 sq mi (1,440 km2) |
• Land | 551 sq mi (1,427 km2) |
• Water | 4.1 sq mi (11 km2), 0.7% |
Population (est.) | |
• (2015) | 45,685 |
• Density | 83/sq mi (32/km²) |
Congressional districts | 10th, 11th |
Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 |
Website | www |
Perry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,969. The county seat is New Bloomfield. The county was created on March 22, 1820, and was named after Oliver Hazard Perry, a hero of the War of 1812 who had recently died. It was originally part of Cumberland County and was created in part because residents did not want to travel over the mountain to Carlisle (the county seat of Cumberland County).
Perry County is included in the Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
In 2010, the center of population of Pennsylvania was located in the eastern end of Perry County.Green Park, an incorporated village located in northeastern Tyrone Township, serves as Perry County's midpoint between the Conococheague Mountain in the west and the Susquehanna River to the east.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 556 square miles (1,440 km2), of which 551 square miles (1,430 km2) is land and 4.1 square miles (11 km2) (0.7%) is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 43,602 people, 16,695 households, and 12,320 families residing in the county. The population density was 79 people per square mile (30/km²). There were 18,941 housing units at an average density of 34 per square mile (13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.54% White, 0.43% Black or African American, 0.12% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.21% from other races, and 0.54% from two or more races. 0.69% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 45.8% were of German, 16.4% American, 7.8% Irish and 5.0% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 96.8% spoke English and 1.2% Spanish as their first language.