Fulton County, Pennsylvania


Fulton County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,556, making it the fourth-least populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is McConnellsburg. The county was created on April 19, 1850, from a part of Bedford County and named after inventor Robert Fulton. The county is part of the south-central region of the commonwealth.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It is in the watershed of the Chesapeake Bay and, although most of the county is drained by the Potomac River, some northern and northeastern areas are drained by the Juniata River into the Susquehanna River. It has a humid continental climate and average monthly temperatures in McConnellsburg range from 29.2 °F in January to 73.0 °F in July. Fulton County is one of the 423 counties served by the Appalachian Regional Commission, and it is identified as part of "Greater Appalachia" by Colin Woodard in his book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.

Adjacent counties

Fulton County is situated within the Ridge and Valley physiographic province, which is characterized by folded and faulted sedimentary rocks of early to middle Paleozoic age.
The stratigraphic record of sedimentary rocks within the county spans from the Cambrian Shadygrove Formation outcropping just south of McConnellsburg to the Pennsylvanian Allegheny Group at the northernmost tip of the county. No igneous or metamorphic rocks of any kind exist within Fulton county.
Mountain ridges within Fulton County include Rays Hill, Town Hill, Sideling Hill, Scrub Ridge, and Meadow Grounds Mountain, and all these are held up by the Mississippian Pocono Formation, made of quartz sandstone and conglomerate. Rays Hill and Town Hill form a syncline, as do Scrub Ridge and Meadow Grounds Mountain, and Sideling Hill itself is a syncline. Dickeys Mountain and Tuscarora Mountain also form a syncline, but these ridges are held up by the Tuscarora Formation. Broad Top, located in the northeast corner of the county, is a plateau of relatively flat-lying rocks that are stratigraphically higher, and thus younger, than most of the other rocks within the county. Broad Top extends into Huntingdon County to the north and Bedford County to the west.
All of Fulton County lies far to the south of the terminal moraine, and thus it was never glaciated. However, during the Pleistocene epoch, or "Ice Age," periglacial processes dominated. Most of the county was most likely a tundra during the Pleistocene.
The Broad Top Coal Field is located in Wells Township in the northwestern corner of the county. The field contains bituminous coal. There are a few abandoned mines in the area, although acid mine drainage is not as much of an environmental problem in Fulton County as it is in adjacent Bedford and Huntingdon Counties.
Interesting geologic features within Fulton County include some of the following:
  • The Meadow Grounds syncline west of McConnellsburg.
  • A transpression structure is located on the east side of the Meadow Grounds syncline. This structure consists of a complex set of up-thrust fault blocks of Silurian and Devonian rocks bounded on all sides by north-trending faults.

    Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 14,556. The median age was 45.3 years. 20.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.4 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 94.3% White, 0.85% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.4% Other/Mixed, and 1.0% Hispanic or Latino of any race.
<0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 6,087 households in the county, of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.5% were married-couple households, 18.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 21.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 7,100 housing units, of which 14.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.0% were owner-occupied and 25.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%.
Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010
White alone 13,97814,38713,72698.01%96.91%94.29%
Black or African American alone 871441240.61%0.97%0.85%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 2326250.16%0.17%0.17%
Asian alone 1519410.10%0.12%0.28%
Pacific Islander alone 1130.00%0.00%0.02%
Race and ethnicity in [the United States census|Other race] alone 24170.01%0.02%0.11%
Mixed race or Multiracial 1031414740.72%0.94%3.25%
Hispanic or Latino 521231460.36%0.82%1.00%
Total14,26114,84514,556100.00%100.00%100.00%

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 14,261 people, 5,660 households, and 4,097 families residing in the county. The population density was. There were 6,790 housing units at an average density of.
There were 5,660 households, out of which 31.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.50% were married couples living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.60% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 25.00% from 45 to 64, and 14.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 100.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.60 males.
Almost everyone who lives in Fulton County speaks English as their first language. The dominant form of speech in Fulton County is the Central Pennsylvania accent.

Politics

Voter registration

As of February 5, 2024, there are 9,319 registered voters in the county. There are 6,851 registered Republicans, 1,523 registered Democrats, 674 voters registered non-affiliated voters, and 271 voters registered to other parties.

Law and government

Law enforcement

all areas in the county use the Pennsylvania State Police in a law enforcement capacity, either with part-time police departments or with no other police departments.

State Senate

There are three K-12 school districts:

Major highways

  • - known as the Buchanan Trail, meets its western terminus in McConnellsburg; serves as a major two-lane through route across South-Central Pennsylvania, as it travels toward Waynesboro in Franklin County
  • - this long Central Pennsylvania main street sees its final two miles run through the rural corner of Union Township, as it departs a long Bedford County stretch, before reaching the Maryland border
  • - a winding portion of the famous Lincoln Highway, the highway travels away from I-76, which parallels through most of the state's central mountains, to run across the county between the truck stop-lined Breezewood in Bedford County toward Franklin County's Chambersburg; although two-lane for its entire route, there is a limited access segment as the highway makes a short freeway bypass around McConnellsburg. the road serves as one of the county's two major arteries, largely oriented east/west, with its bypass intersecting US-522 just north of McConnellsburg.
  • - just prior to entering the county, the route breaks from its consignment with I-76, and it travels due south through a rural swath of the western portion of the county, as it connects with I-68 just across the Maryland line, along its way to Baltimore
  • - a portion of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, this toll interstate has one exit as it crosses the northern portion of the county; the Sideling Hill travel center is located Taylor Township
  • - a relatively short and highly rural range highway, it meets its southern terminus in Dublin Township, as it travels north through sparsely populated portions of Huntingdon County
  • - this short highway runs entirely within the county, serving the purpose of connecting I-70 with PA 26, as it runs across Union and Bethel Townships
  • - this route enters from Maryland to the south as part of a brief consignment with I-70, which it departs three miles into the county; the road serves as one of the county's two major arteries, largely oriented north–south, as it runs through McConnellsburg, past the county's only shopping center and through one of its only two stoplights, on its way to a junction with the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Dublin Township and toward Huntingdon County. it intersects with the US 30 bypass just north of McConnellsburg.
  • - just seven miles in length, this very short access route connects I-70 with the hills of Bethel and Brush Creek Townships
  • - this highway serves as a long, rural ridge route through the state's central mountains; its southern terminus is with the Maryland boundary in Thompson Township and it exits the county via Taylor Township toward Huntingdon County in the north
  • - one of the shortest numbered routes in Pennsylvania, this five mile road connects I-70 with Route 484, as it runs entirely through Union Township
  • - a very rural access route through Bedford and Huntingdon Counties, this road's final miles are in Wells and Taylor Township
  • - a mountain ridge cut-off-road, this highway travels from rural Bedford County along a valley setting toward its terminus with I-70 in Brush Creek Township
  • - a rural bi-state connector, this road travels from Ayr Township to the Maryland border via Thompson Township

    Other

Fulton County is one of only two counties in Pennsylvania with no known active railroad lines of any kind, the other being Sullivan County. However, Fulton County was home to construction of the unfinished and abandoned South Pennsylvania Railroad, including finished tunnels, aqueducts, and deep cuts. There were also several temporary logging "railroads" that spanned the county as were commonplace in the area at the time.

Communities

Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities in Pennsylvania|cities], towns and boroughs in Pennsylvania|boroughs], townships in Pennsylvania|townships], and, in at most two cases, towns. The following boroughs and townships are located in Fulton County:

Boroughs

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Fulton County.
† county seat
RankCity/Town/etc.Municipal typePopulation
1BelfastTownship1,448
2† 'McConnellsburgBorough1,220
3NeedmoreCDP170
4Valley-Hi'Borough15