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Pennsylvania County
Montour County, Pennsylvania
Danville's Geisinger Medical Center and Pennsylvania's smallest county - from Montour County's distinction as Pennsylvania's smallest county by land area (132 square miles) to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville (one of the most innovative health systems in the United States - Geisinger pioneered the ProvenCare model of outcomes-based medicine, the first health system to offer a money-back guarantee on heart bypass surgery, and has been consistently cited as a national model for rural healthcare delivery and innovation) and the Susquehanna River's scenic central Pennsylvania corridor.
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Office: Montour County Emergency Management Agency – 24 Wesner Lane, Danville, PA 17821 | (570) 271-3047 | Fax: (570) 271-3078 | Email: [email protected] | Hours: By appointment only
Services: Coordinates emergency preparation, mitigation, and response countywide; maintains telephone/SMS mass-notification alerting (CodeRED); is the base of operations for the Central Pennsylvania Drone Response Team
Related: East Central Emergency Network (ECEN) – 26 West First Street, PO Box 380, Bloomsburg, PA 17815, (570) 389-5731, provides 24/7 911 dispatch for all EMS, fire, and law enforcement agencies in Montour County (separate from the county’s own Emergency Management Agency).
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: PA-54 and US-11 serve Danville, the county seat, along the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Montour County Planning Department – 21 Woodline Lane (also listed as Ste 3, 112 Woodbine Ln), Danville, PA 17821 | (570) 271-3021
Services: Coordinates zoning requirements and construction plan review; handles building permit review for municipalities without their own zoning officer
Notes: Confirm the correct jurisdiction for your specific municipality (e.g., Danville Borough Zoning, (570) 275-2180).
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Montour County Veterans Affairs Office – Danville, PA
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Thomas Beaver Free Library – 317 Ferry Street, Danville, PA 17821 | (570) 275-4180
Services: Housed in a historic Queen Anne/Second Empire sandstone building constructed 1886-1888, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987, alongside the attached former Danville YMCA; donated by prominent local businessman Thomas Beaver (1814-1891) in 1888, with an opening celebrated by fireworks and a parade; today serves residents of Montour County, Rush Township, and Riverside Borough with roughly 36,000 volumes, circulating about 66,000 items annually
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Danville, the county seat, is genuinely and historically the birthplace of the first iron T-RAIL manufactured in the United States, a foundational moment in American railroad history; the Montour Iron Works began in 1838 when local industrialist Thomas Chambers purchased land from Alexander Montgomery, son of the town’s founder, and partnered with New Jersey’s Morris Canal president E.R. Biddle to acquire and adapt a furnace by 1840; before this innovation, American railroads relied heavily on thin strap-iron facing nailed to wooden rails – cheap but prone to breaking loose and puncturing rail cars from below (a hazard nicknamed the “snakehead”) – or on heavy T-shaped rails imported at great cost and delay from England; after adding the country’s largest rolling mill in 1844, the Montour Iron Works successfully rolled America’s first iron T-rails, fired using locally abundant anthracite coal, on October 8, 1845 – an achievement that drew thousands of spectators to Danville and won the company top honors at the Franklin Institute’s Manufacturing Exhibition in Philadelphia that same year (a rival claim from the Mount Savage Iron Works in western Maryland means some accounts describe Danville’s rails as the first in Pennsylvania specifically, though Danville is frequently credited nationally as well); the achievement’s timing likely influenced why Danville was chosen as the seat of the newly created Montour County in 1850; by 1870, Danville was home to eight blast furnaces, four rail mills, and numerous foundries and machine shops, and by the 1850s the Montour Iron Works operated the single largest rail mill in the entire country; in 1859, the same works rolled the first 30-foot rails made to custom order in the U.S., built for the Sunbury and Erie Railroad; remarkably, a 2007 discovery inside a time capsule opened at Danville’s Trinity United Methodist Church revealed company records confirming that Montour Iron Works-produced T-rails were used to complete the Transcontinental Railroad at the famous “Last Spike” ceremony at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869; Danville still celebrates this heritage each July with its annual Iron Heritage Festival
Notes: Danville’s genuine, extensively documented status as the birthplace of the American iron T-rail – with a direct, documented connection to the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad – is one of the most historically significant industrial achievements found anywhere in this project.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Montour County GIS – accessible via montourcounty.gov
Parcel Search: Montour County Assessment Office
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Montour County Emergency Management Agency
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Pennsylvania SPCA (PSPCA) – Central PA Center, Danville – 1467 Bloom Road, Danville, PA 17821 | (570) 275-0340 | Email: [email protected] | Hours: Daily 12–6 PM (closed New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day)
Services: A 5-acre facility reflecting both urban and rural community needs; provides safe haven for dogs, cats, horses, and barnyard animals – the PSPCA has rescued over 100 horses from cruelty and neglect over the past five years, many requiring extensive medical rehabilitation before finding permanent homes; vaccine appointments available via [email protected]
Environmental & Waste
ENVIRONMENTAL / WASTE MANAGEMENT
Environmental Complaints: PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) – dep.pa.gov
Notes: Contact your specific municipality directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Montour County’s seat, Danville, is genuinely the birthplace of the first iron T-rail manufactured in the United States, with a direct documented connection to the 1869 completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, library, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Montour County
Montour County is Pennsylvania’s smallest county by area – a Susquehanna River community dominated by one of America’s most innovative health systems.
Danville (the county seat, population ~5,000) is defined by Geisinger Medical Center – a regional health system that has grown from a single rural Pennsylvania hospital into a nationally recognized innovator in outcomes-based medicine. Geisinger’s ProvenCare program, electronic health records leadership, and value-based care models have made it a frequent reference point in national healthcare reform discussions.
The Susquehanna River flowing through Danville provides fishing, boating, and scenic recreation in the county’s limited but pleasant landscape.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Montour County Assessment Office at 29 Mill Street, Danville, PA 17821, phone 570-271-3006. Appeal to Board of Assessment Appeals.
Courts & Legal
Montour County Register of Wills at 29 Mill Street, Danville, PA 17821, phone 570-271-3012, handles probate.
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Montour County Register of Wills, Danville (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Montour County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Register of Wills, Montour County Montour County Courthouse, 253 Mill Street, Danville, PA 17821 (570) 271-3012
Montour County is in east-central Pennsylvania, seated in Danville – Pennsylvania’s smallest county by land area.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Pennsylvania has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Probate runs through its own statute, the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries (PEF) Code, Title 20 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. Probate begins at the Register of Wills – an elected county official – in the county where the decedent lived. Routine, uncontested probate happens entirely at the Register of Wills; only disputes escalate to the Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas.
Small Estate Petition (20 Pa.C.S. § 3102) – available when the estate’s personal property (excluding real estate) totals $50,000 or less. This lets an interested party petition the Orphans’ Court directly for approval of a proposed distribution, skipping the need to formally open a full probate estate. Real property is never covered by this simplified process.
Formal Probate – required for estates exceeding $50,000 in personal property, or for any estate involving real property that needs to pass through probate. The Register of Wills validates the will (if any) and issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
Step 2: filing for administration
The personal representative files with the Register of Wills in Montour County, along with the original will if one exists.
The Register of Wills reviews and, if in order, issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.
The personal representative gathers assets, notifies heirs and known creditors, and begins settling the estate.
Pennsylvania has a one-year creditor period running from the date of death, not from any published notice.
A Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return (REV-1500) must be filed with the Register of Wills, regardless of estate size.
Once debts, taxes, and expenses are settled, remaining assets are distributed according to the will or Pennsylvania’s intestacy laws, and the estate is closed.
What it costs
Filing fees vary; check with Montour County directly for current fees.
Pennsylvania has NO separate state estate tax, but its INHERITANCE TAX applies to virtually every estate: 0% to a surviving spouse (and to a parent inheriting from a child 21 or younger), 4.5% to children and other lineal descendants, 12% to siblings, and 15% to everyone else. No dollar exemption.
A 5% early-payment discount applies if paid within 3 months of death; the return and payment are otherwise due within 9 months.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
REGISTER OF WILLS
29 Mill St, Danville, PA 17821
(570) 271-3013
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
29 Mill St, Danville, PA 17821
(570) 271-3040
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
29 Mill St, Danville, PA 17821
(570) 271-3013
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Human Services
435 East Front St, Danville, PA 17821
(570) 271-3029
Assistance Office (DHS)
200 Piper Rd, Danville, PA 17821
(570) 275-9401
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Montour County Public Health / PA Department of Health regional office – Danville, PA
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
Related: Geisinger Medical Center – a major regional hospital headquartered in Danville.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Danville
Population: 18,500
Established: 1850
Tier: 3
Public Records
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