PENNSYLVANIA - When exploring the rich history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, one of the foundational questions is how its civic structure began. The answer lies in the earliest days of the colony, with the arrival of its founder, William Penn. The first counties in Pennsylvania were not formed one by one, but rather established simultaneously as the original building blocks of Penn's "Holy Experiment."
PENNSYLVANIA - When exploring the rich history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, one of the foundational questions is how its civic structure began. The answer lies in the earliest days of the colony, with the arrival of its founder, William Penn. The first counties in Pennsylvania were not formed one by one, but rather established simultaneously as the original building blocks of Penn's "Holy Experiment."The Keystone State's Foundation: The Formation of Pennsylvania's First Counties
The year was 1682. Shortly after William Penn was granted the charter for his new colony by King Charles II, he sailed to America. Upon his arrival, one of his first and most crucial administrative acts was to organize the vast territory. To establish a system of governance, law, and land management, Penn divided the settled southeastern portion of his province into three original counties.
The three foundational counties of Pennsylvania, all formed in November 1682, were:
- Bucks County: Named after Buckinghamshire, England, the ancestral home of the Penn family. This county was established as the northernmost of the original three.
- Chester County: Named for Cheshire, England. It was originally the largest of the three counties, encompassing a massive territory to the west of the Schuylkill River.
- Philadelphia County: Named for the city Penn planned as his capital, Philadelphia, a name derived from the Greek for "brotherly love." This county was situated between Bucks and Chester counties.
These three counties served as the primary administrative, judicial, and political divisions for the new Province of Pennsylvania. Their boundaries were initially somewhat fluid, defined by major waterways like the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers and extending westward into undeveloped territory.
It is from the vast original lands of Bucks, Chester, and Philadelphia that all of Pennsylvania’s subsequent 64 counties were eventually carved. For instance, Lancaster County was formed from a portion of Chester County in 1729, and Delaware County was separated from Chester County much later, in 1789.
Therefore, the answer to when the first county was formed in Pennsylvania is November 1682, when William Penn established the trio of Bucks, Chester, and Philadelphia Counties as the original cornerstones of the future Keystone State.
