History of Jefferson County:

Jefferson County was created by an act of the Legislature on March 26, 1804. The original boundaries included present day Forrest County and part of Elk County. Jefferson County was, of course, named after Thomas Jefferson, who was President of the United States at the time.

The first recorded settler to the county was Joseph Barnett. He settled in what is now known as Port Barnett near Brookville which is Jefferson County's seat. The County Seat was chosen for it's then central location. The site chosen was at the confluence of Sandy Lick Creek and North Fork Creek where they meet to form Redbank Creek. because of the numerous brooks and springs in the area, it was called Brookville. Today, Brookville is located in the northern part of the county since the north part of Jefferson County was split off to form Forest County.

Lumbering was the first industry in Jefferson County because of it's woodlands rich in oak, hickory and other valued trees. In conjunction with the lumbering industry, tanneries were established. These tanneries received tons of hand removed bark from fallen timber to process hides into leather. Tanneries were located in Brookville, Reynoldsville, Dogtown (Warsaw township), Ohio Town (West Reynoldsville), Big Run, and Falls Creek in Jefferson County.

During the lumbering days, the waterways of Jefferson county were used extensively for the transportation of timber to the lumber mills. Many projects were initiated to straighten, deepen or dam up the waterways to improve flow to the great mills in Pittsburgh and other places. Red Bank Creek was used by Jefferson County's first settler, Joseph Barnett to raft logs down to the big mills. The Red Bank flows through New Bethlehem into the Allegheny River about 4 miles downstream from East Brady.. In 1806 Barnett built a saw mill in Port Barnett. He invited some of the local Indians to help. He invited them to dinner and they accepted. When dinner was over they said, "Dinner -Indian sleep an hour - then strong." Barnett supposed he would not see them again that day as the disappeared into the woods. One hour later they came out and worked diligently the rest of the day. Iron was transported to Port Barnett via packhorse, wagons, and sleds. Some of it was then shipped on rafts down the Red Bank.

The first railroad in Jefferson County was the Allegheny Low Grade Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. By 1874, passenger and freight service was available to Summerville, Brookville, Reynoldsville, and Falls Creek.

Trolleys were a major transportation mode around the turn of the century. The Jefferson Traction Company was formed from the merger in 1902 of the Punxsutawney Street Passenger Railway of 1892, the Reynoldsville Traction Company of 1899, and the Jefferson Street Railway Company of 1901. There were 39 miles of track and served the towns of Punxsutawney,Big Run, Reynoldsville, Sykesville, Walston, Adrian, Anita, Florence, Wishaw, Soldier, and Eleanora. The United Traction Company provided routes to Dubois and Falls Creek.

The first roadways in the area were trails blazed by the Indians. The first actual roadway through the area wa constructed from Indiana PA to Port Barnett (near Brookville) in 1810. Later there was a road constructed to follow the path of the "Chinklacamoose Trail" which runs from Milesburg, PA to Brookville, and on to Tionesta. The first paved road was near Brookville. Two miles of the Ridgeway Road road were paved with bricks in 1909. Concrete roads came in the 1920's.