Discover Pike PA Information & Facts
Pike County, Pennsylvania
LOCATION
Pike County encompasses 567 square miles of which 547 square miles is land and
20 square miles is water. The terrain rises rapidly from the river valley in the east to
the rolling foothills of the Pocono Mountains in the west. The highest point is one of
two unnamed hills in Greene Township that top out at approximately 2,110 feet
above sea level. The lowest elevation is approximately 340 feet at the confluence of
the Bushkill and the Delaware.
HISTORY OF PIKE COUNTY
Pike County was named for General Zebulon Pike and created on March 26, 1814
from part of Wayne County, Pennsylvania. The original inhabitants were Lenape,
later known as the Delaware Indians.
Nicholas Depui was the first to settle in the area, in 1725. Thomas Quick moved to
the area that would become Milford in 1733.
John Roebling built a suspension bridge/aqueduct in 1848 with an innovative
design requiring only three piers. This allows ice floes and timber rafts to pass
under with less damage to the bridge. Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct is still
standing, possibly the oldest suspension bridge in America; it has been named a
National Historic Landmark.
In 1926, a hydroelectric plant was built by the Pennsylvania Power and Light
Company on Wallenpaupack creek at the former village of Wilsonville. This now lies
under Lake Wallenpaupack. A crew of 2,700 men worked for two years to complete
the dam for the project.
Gifford Pinchot (1865 – 1946) was the first Chief of the United States Forrest Service
(1905 – 1910) and the Governor of Pennsylvania (1923 – 1927, 1931 – 1935). Grey
Towers in Pike County is the ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot.
STATISTICS
o Population: 69,384 projected for 2010 (Census Figure)
o County Seat: Milford
o 13 Municipalities including: Pike County, Blooming Grove, Delaware, Dingman,
Greene, Lackawaxen, Lehman, Matamoras, Milford Township, Palmyra, Porter,
Shohola and Westfall.
Pike County, PA
Annual Events
January: Ice Tee Tournament on Lake Wallenpaupack
January/February: Winter Lights Festival in Milford
February: Crystal Cabin Fever
March: Chili & Wing Cookoff
April: Pike-Wayne Earth Day Festival
June: Milford Music Festival
July: 4th of July Fireworks of Lake Wallenpaupack
July: The Audubon Arts & Crafts Festival
August: Festival of Wood
August: Wally Lake Fest
October: Black Bear Film Festival
December: Hawley Winterfest