A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government , or capital city of a county or civil parish . The term is in use in five countries: Canada , China , Hungary , Romania , and the United States . An equivalent term, shire town , is used in the U.S. state of Vermont and in several other English-speaking jurisdictions, such as Venezuela .
31-460: Wellsboro is a borough and county seat of Tioga County, Pennsylvania , United States. The borough was founded by Benjamin Wistar Morris. It is located 52 miles (84 km) northwest of Williamsport . The population was 3,472 at the 2020 census. Early in the 20th century, Wellsboro was the shipping point and trade center for a large area. It had fruit evaporators, flour and woolen mills,
62-531: A Superior Court and Sheriff (as an officer of the court ), both located in a designated "shire town". Bennington County, Vermont has two shire towns; the court for "North Shire" is in the shire town Manchester , and the Sheriff for the county and court for "South Shire" are in the shire town Bennington. In 2024, Connecticut , which had not defined their counties for anything but statistical, historical and weather warning purposes since 1960, along with ending
93-410: A county seat may be an independent city surrounded by, but not part of, the county of which it is the administrative center; for example, Fairfax City is both the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia and completely surrounded by Fairfax County, but the city is politically independent of the county. When the county seat is in the independent city, government offices such as the courthouse may be in
124-667: A county was the magistrate , who oversaw both the day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases. The current number of counties mostly resembled that of the later years of the Qing dynasty . Changes of location and names of counties in Chinese history have been a major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially from the 1960s to the 1980s. There are 1,355 counties in Mainland China out of
155-533: A milk-condensing plant, marble works, saw mills, foundry and machine shops, and manufactories of cut glass , chemicals, rugs, bolts, cigars, carriages, and furniture. In 1900, 2,945 people lived here; in 1910, 3,183 lived here. It is also home to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania . It is a local tourist destination known for its iconic gas lamps that are spaced through the grass median of Main Street. Wellsboro
186-581: A total of 2,851 county-level divisions. In Taiwan , the first counties were first established in 1661 by the Kingdom of Tungning . The later ruler Qing empire inherited this type of administrative divisions. With the increase of Han Chinese population in Taiwan, the number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. Protestant missionaries in China first romanized
217-598: Is a section of Middle Township , an incorporated municipality. In some states, often those that were among the original Thirteen Colonies , county seats include or formerly included "Court House" as part of their name, such as Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia . Most counties have only one county seat. However, some counties in Alabama , Arkansas , Georgia , Iowa , Kentucky , Massachusetts , Mississippi , Missouri , New Hampshire , New York , and Vermont have two or more county seats, usually located on opposite sides of
248-658: Is a weekly print publication owned by Tioga Publishing Company which covers news in Wellsboro and surrounding towns. Mountain Home, published by Beagle Media, is a monthly regional magazine headquartered and published out of Wellsboro. Wellsboro receives television programming from the Elmira - Corning media market. Additionally, Wellsboro is the first market opened by online media/news company The Home Page Network (starting as Wellsboro Home Page). County seat In Canada ,
279-451: Is often difficult, since methodologies, definitions and data quality can vary greatly. Since the 1990s, the OECD has conducted regular surveys among its 38 member countries using a standardized methodology and set of questions. Per capita income is often used to measure a sector's average income and compare the wealth of different populations. Per capita income is also often used to measure
310-495: Is water. Wellsboro has a humid continental climate (Dfa) with warm to hot summers and cold winters. Winter generally lasts from December through March, although snow has been recorded in every month except July and August. Temperatures of 100°F or more are rare, and have only been recorded in July, August, and September. The all-time record low is -30°F. Snowfall averages 60.6" per year and precipitation averages 42.27" per year. As of
341-573: The Adirondack lakes in open lightweight solo canoes and what is today called ultralight camping. Wellsboro was also the site of one of the first factories where light bulbs were mass-produced, using machines whose design remains essentially unchanged from the early 20th century when the Corning company established the plant in the town. The Robinson House , Jesse Robinson House , Wellsboro Armory , and Wellsboro Historic District are listed on
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#1732790553393372-470: The National Register of Historic Places . Wellsboro is located at 41°44′48″N 77°18′7″W / 41.74667°N 77.30194°W / 41.74667; -77.30194 (41.746794, -77.301881). According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the borough has a total area of 4.9 square miles (13 km), of which 4.9 square miles (13 km) is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km) (0.61%)
403-752: The People's Republic of China . Xian have existed since the Warring States period and were set up nationwide by the Qin dynasty . The number of counties in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1,000. Under the Eastern Han dynasty , the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when
434-542: The Sui dynasty abolished the commandery level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure; in other words, it was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of
465-522: The United States , a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government is known as the seat of its county. Generally, the county legislature, county courthouse, sheriff's department headquarters, hall of records, jail and correctional facility are located in
496-497: The census of 2000, there were 3,328 people, 1,469 households, and 866 families residing in the borough. The population density was 681.0 inhabitants per square mile (262.9/km). There were 1,602 housing units at an average density of 327.8 per square mile (126.6/km). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.14% White , 0.39% African American , 0.18% Native American , 0.90% Asian , 0.18% from other races , and 0.21% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.57% of
527-411: The provinces of Ontario , Quebec , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , and Nova Scotia have counties as an administrative division of government below the provincial level, and thus county seats. In the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia the term "shire town" is used in place of county seat. County seats in China are the administrative centers of the counties in
558-407: The average family size was 2.83. In the borough the population was spread out, with 20.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 23.1% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 24.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 80.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.3 males. The median income for a household in the borough
589-500: The average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such as the American Community Survey . This allows the calculation of per capita income for both the country as a whole and specific regions or demographic groups. However, comparing per capita income across different countries
620-495: The county seat is the entire county. Ellicott City , the county seat of Howard County, Maryland , is the largest unincorporated county seat in the United States, followed by Towson , the county seat of Baltimore County, Maryland . Likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, Cape May Court House, New Jersey , though unincorporated,
651-491: The county seat, though some functions (such as highway maintenance, which usually requires a large garage for vehicles, along with asphalt and salt storage facilities) may also be located or conducted in other parts of the county, especially if it is geographically large. A county seat is usually an incorporated municipality . The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as Arlington County, Virginia , where
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#1732790553393682-420: The county. Examples include Harrison County, Mississippi , which has both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats, and Hinds County, Mississippi , which has both Raymond and the state capital of Jackson . The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult. There have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of civic pride for
713-625: The independent city under an agreement, such as in Albemarle , or may in be enclaves of the county surrounded by the independent city, such as in Fairfax . Others, such as Prince William , have the courthouse in an enclave surrounded by the independent city and have the county government, the Board of Supervisors, in a different part of the county, far from the county seat. The following counties have their county seat in an independent city: Bedford
744-408: The population. There were 1,469 households, out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and
775-777: The state's area, has no borough government or borough seat. One borough, the Lake and Peninsula Borough , has its borough seat located in another borough, namely King Salmon in Bristol Bay Borough . In Louisiana , which is divided into parishes rather than counties, county seats are referred to as "parish seats". In New England , counties have served mainly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems. Rhode Island has no county level of government and thus no county seats, and Massachusetts has dissolved many but not all of its county governments. In Vermont , Massachusetts , and Maine county government consists only of
806-580: The term as hien . When Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895, the hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the Japanese system in the period when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. By September 1945, Taiwan was divided into 8 prefectures ( 州 and 廳 ), which remained after the Republic of China took over. There are 13 county seats in Taiwan, which function as county-administered cities , urban townships , or rural townships . In most of
837-416: The towns involved, along with providing employment opportunities. There are 33 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states: Alaska is divided into boroughs rather than counties; the county seat in these case is referred to as the "borough seat"; this includes six consolidated city-borough governments (one of which is styled as a "municipality"). The Unorganized Borough, Alaska , which covers 49% of
868-624: The use of county seats in particular, will fully transition with the permission of the United States Census Bureau to a system of councils of government for the purposes of boundary definition and as county equivalents. Two counties in South Dakota , Oglala Lakota and Todd , have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county. Their county-level services are provided by Fall River County and Tripp County , respectively. In Virginia ,
899-446: Was $ 30,169, and the median income for a family was $ 39,898. Males had a median income of $ 37,083 versus $ 20,492 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $ 18,096. About 9.5% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line , including 19.8% of those under age 18 and 13.9% of those age 65 or over. WNDA 1490AM (1000 watts) and WNBT-FM (50,000 watts) are owned by Southern Belle LLC. The Wellsboro Gazette
930-402: Was an independent city from 1968 to 2013, while also being the county seat of Bedford County . Bedford reverted to an incorporated town, and remains the county seat, though is now part of the county. The state with the most counties is Texas, with 254, and the state with the fewest counties is Delaware, with 3. Per capita income Per capita income ( PCI ) or average income measures
961-413: Was settled in 1806 and incorporated in 1830 and was named in honor of Mary Wells , wife of one of the original settlers, Benjamin Wistar Morris . The town was the home of George W. Sears (1821–1890), a sportswriter for Field & Stream magazine in the 1880s and an early environmentalist . His stories, appearing under the pen name " Nessmuk ", popularised self-guided canoe camping tours of