- Population (2005 US Census Bureau data):
17,834
- Area (square miles): 1,092
- Population Density: 16 per sq. mile
- Total Acerage: 698,880
- State Forest Lands: 249,314 acres
- State Forest Roads: 247 miles
- State Forest Trails: 650 miles
- State Game Lands: 18,696 Acres
- Fish Commission Land: 1,239 acres
- Trout Streams: 800 miles
- Legal Trout Stocked Annually: over 151,000
- State Park & Private Camping Areas: 15
- Susquehannock Hiking Trail: 85 miles
- Snowmobile Trails (marked): over 300 miles
- ATV Trails: 43 miles of summer trail
- Primary Industries: Lumbering, Farming,
Telecommunications, Tourism
Where
is This Place, Anyway?
There is no evidence that
Indians
ever established permanent settlements within the present boundaries of
Potter County. On a bitterly cold winter day you may hear a local
declare that "the Indians were too smart to live in Potter County!"
And, in fact, the Minsi, or Monseys, as called by the early settlers,
held this part of Pennsylvania primarily as a communal hunting and
fishing preserve. No long-term permanent Indian settlements have ever
been unearthed in Potter County. Today, Potter County remains one of the last areas in the eastern U.S. where hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreational pursuits can be enjoyed much as they were a hundred years ago. Because it always seems to be "just another hour or two" away, most travelers from the large eastern cities have not experienced "God's Country." But many who have made the effort have established second homes here, despite the lesson of the Indians.
With a land area of some 1200 square miles and a population of about 17,000 people, Potter County provides plenty of "elbow room" for visitor and resident. The largest town (there are no cities) and county seat is Coudersport (almost 3,000 residents), followed by Galeton, Shinglehouse, Ulysses, Austin, Roulette, Genesee and, of course, Cross Fork, with some 200 or so permanent residents. These communities harbor about three fourths of the total county population.
