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Pennsylvania County
Pike County, Pennsylvania
The Delaware Water Gap and Milford's Grey Towers - from the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area's 70,000 acres of preserved Appalachian ridge and Delaware River frontage (one of the most visited National Recreation Areas in the US, preserving the dramatic gap where the Delaware River cuts through the Kittatinny Ridge) to Grey Towers National Historic Site in Milford (the Gifford Pinchot estate - Pinchot was America's first professional forester and the founder of the US Forest Service, whose conservation philosophy shaped American environmental policy for a century) and a northeastern Pennsylvania county whose New York City proximity has driven explosive second-home and permanent residential growth.
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Office: Pike County Office of Emergency Management – Milford, PA | (570) 296-1911
Services: Countywide planning, training, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery for floods, fires, storms, hazmat, aircraft accidents, and mass casualty incidents
Related: Pike County Administration Building – 506 Broad St, Milford, PA 18337, (570) 296-7613; Milford Borough Police (24-hour) – non-emergency (570) 296-5959.
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-6 and PA-739 serve Milford, the county seat, along the Delaware River in northeastern Pennsylvania
Transit: Limited; primarily auto-dependent – confirm current regional options directly with the county.
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: No countywide building department – permits are issued at the MUNICIPAL level
Services: Milford Township Zoning/Code Enforcement – (570) 296-5540, Zoning Officer hours Wed 9 AM–1 PM; Lackawaxen Township Building Department – 116 Township Road, Lackawaxen, PA; Milford Borough Zoning – 111 West Catharine Street, Milford, PA
Notes: Confirm the correct jurisdiction for your specific municipality.
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Pike County Veterans Affairs Office – Milford, PA
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Pike County Public Library – 119 E Harford St, Milford, PA 18337 | (570) 296-8211 | Hours: Mon 10 AM–5 PM, Tue–Thu 9:30 AM–6 PM, Fri 9:30 AM–5 PM, Sat 10 AM–3 PM (closed Sun)
Services: Working toward Gold Star Library recognition through the PA Forward program, which centers library programming around five essential literacies (basic, civic & social, financial, health, and information)
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Milford, Pike County’s seat, is genuinely home to GREY TOWERS, the ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot, founder and first Chief of the United States Forest Service and twice-elected Governor of Pennsylvania – making it a genuine birthplace of the modern American conservation movement; the striking French chateau-style mansion, designed by celebrated architect Richard Morris Hunt (with later additions by H. Edwards Ficken), was built in 1886 by Gifford’s father James Pinchot, a successful businessman and philanthropist, on land that had only recently been heavily logged; witnessing the destructive, unsustainable logging practices common across the country at the time, James specifically encouraged his eldest son to pursue a career in forestry – advice Gifford eagerly accepted while a student at Yale; after graduating in 1889 and studying forestry in Europe, Gifford became the first practicing forester in the United States at North Carolina’s Biltmore Estate, was appointed special forest agent for the Department of the Interior in 1897, and in 1898 became Chief of the Division of Forestry for the Department of Agriculture; in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt formally established the U.S. Forest Service and appointed Pinchot as its first Chief, a position he held until being fired in 1910 following a public disagreement with President Taft; Pinchot then turned to politics, winning election as Pennsylvania’s governor in 1922 and again in 1930 (state law at the time barred consecutive terms), during which he helped the state weather the Great Depression through infrastructure and road-paving projects that aided struggling farmers – many local roads near Grey Towers are still informally called “Pinchot roads” today; the estate’s 1,600 surrounding acres later served as the summer camp site for the Yale School of Forestry; after Pinchot’s death, the estate passed to his son Gifford Bryce Pinchot, who in 1963 donated Grey Towers and 102 acres back to the U.S. Forest Service – the very agency his father had founded – and the nonprofit Pinchot Institute for Conservation was established there that same year to carry on the family’s conservation legacy; Grey Towers remains the ONLY National Historic Site managed by the U.S. Forest Service, and today offers house and garden tours, environmental education programming, and conference facilities for natural-resource organizations
Notes: Grey Towers’ genuine, extensively documented status as the ancestral home of the founder of the U.S. Forest Service – and the only National Historic Site the agency manages – makes it a landmark piece of American conservation history.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Pike County GIS – accessible via pikepa.org
Parcel Search: Pike County Assessment Office
Addressing/911: Coordinated through Pike County Office of Emergency Management
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Pike County Humane Society – 189 Lee Road, Shohola, PA 18458 | Mailing: PO Box 255, Milford, PA 18337 | (570) 296-7654 | Email: [email protected] | Hours: Tue–Fri 12–3 PM, Sat–Sun 12–4 PM (closed Mon)
Services: A 501(c)(3) nonprofit safe haven for pets, serving primarily Pike County but providing shelter to animals from across northeastern Pennsylvania; call ahead to inquire about available pets or to schedule a drop-off appointment
Notes: Confirm current surrender-acceptance status directly before visiting, and always call ahead during inclement weather to confirm the shelter is open.
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
Pike County’s seat, Milford, is genuinely home to Grey Towers, the ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot, founder of the U.S. Forest Service and the only National Historic Site the agency manages nationwide. 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 Pike County
Pike County is northeastern Pennsylvania’s Delaware Water Gap and conservation heritage county – a Pocono Mountain community whose proximity to New York City and extraordinary natural assets have driven significant residential growth.
Milford (the county seat, population ~1,100) is the county’s most historically significant community – Grey Towers, the French chateau-style mansion of Gifford Pinchot (two-term Pennsylvania Governor and first Chief of the US Forest Service), is a National Historic Site. Pinchot’s conservation philosophy – “the greatest good for the greatest number for the longest time” – defined American forestry and natural resource management.
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area preserves 70,000 acres of the Delaware River valley along the New Jersey border, drawing millions of visitors for hiking, swimming, canoeing, and wildlife observation.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Pike County Assessment Office at 506 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337, phone 570-296-3407. Appeal to Board of Assessment Appeals.
Courts & Legal
Pike County Register of Wills at 412 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337, phone 570-296-7231, handles probate.
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Pike County Register of Wills, Milford (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above).
Local societies
No dedicated Pike 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, Pike County 412 Broad Street, Milford, PA 18337 (570) 296-3508 Pike County is in the far northeastern corner of Pennsylvania, seated in Milford.
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 Pike 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 Pike 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
506 Broad St, Milford, PA 18337
(570) 296-7231
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
506 Broad St, Milford, PA 18337
(570) 296-7220
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
BOARD OF ELECTIONS
506 Broad St, Milford, PA 18337
(570) 296-3427
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Human Services
506 Broad St, Milford, PA 18337
(570) 296-3419
Assistance Office (DHS)
150 Pike County Blvd, Hawley, PA 18428
(570) 226-9110
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Pike County Public Health / PA Department of Health regional office – Milford, PA
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
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