Somerset County (Pennsylvania German: Somerset Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 74,129.^[1] Its county seat is Somerset.^[2] The county was created from part of Bedford County on April 17, 1795, and named after the county of Somerset in England. The county is part of the Southwest Pennsylvania region of the state.^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Quick Facts Country, State ...

Somerset County
County
Somerset County Courthouse
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 39°58′N 79°02′W
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Founded	April 17, 1795
Named for	Somerset
Seat	Somerset
Largest borough	Somerset
Area
• Total	1,081 sq mi (2,800 km2)
• Land	1,074 sq mi (2,780 km2)
• Water	6.6 sq mi (17 km2)  0.6%
Population  (2020)
• Total	74,129
• Density	69/sq mi (27/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	14th
Website	www.co.somerset.pa.us

Close

Somerset County comprises the Somerset, PA micropolitan statistical area, which is included in the Johnstown–Somerset, PA combined statistical area.

The county is famous for being the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93, one of the four flights involved in the September 11 attacks, which crashed near the village of Shanksville after the flight's passengers struggled with Al-Qaeda hijackers for control of the plane, which terrorists intended to fly into either the U.S. Capitol or the White House.^[3]

The Somerset County Amish community is the second oldest Amish community in the world that still exists, established in 1772. It is located in the South of the county around Meyersdale and Springs.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,081 square miles (2,800 km²), of which 1,074 square miles (2,780 km²) is land and 6.6 square miles (17 km²) (0.6%) is water.^[10] Somerset County is one of the far southern counties of Pennsylvania, along its straight southern edge. The county borders Garrett and Allegany Counties in Maryland, and the Pennsylvania counties of Fayette, Westmoreland, Cambria, and Bedford.

Somerset County is situated along the eastern border of the Allegheny Plateau physiographic province, which is characterized by gently folded to flat-lying sedimentary rocks of middle to late Paleozoic age. The eastern border of the county is approximately at the Allegheny Front, a geological boundary between the Allegheny Plateau and the Ridge and Valley Province (characterized by folded and faulted sedimentary rocks of early to middle Paleozoic age).^[13]

The stratigraphic record of sedimentary rocks within the county spans from the Devonian Scherr Formation to the Pennsylvanian Monongahela Formation. Most of these rocks are clastics (conglomerate, sandstone, shale), and there is little or no limestone exposed at the surface. No igneous or metamorphic rocks of any kind exist within the county.

Structurally, Somerset County has many gentle folds, the axes of which trend roughly north-northeast. Synclines include the Youghiogheny Syncline, New Lexington/Johnstown Syncline, Somerset Syncline, Berlin Syncline, and Wellersburg Syncline (called the George's Creek Syncline in Maryland). The southern end of Wilmore Syncline is at the town of Windber. Anticlines include the Laurel Hill Anticline, Centerville Dome, Boswell Dome, Negro Mountain Anticline, and an unnamed anticline between the Berlin and Wellersburg Synclines.

The primary mountains within the county are (from west to east) Laurel Hill (which forms part of the western border), Negro Mountain, Meadow Mountain, Savage Mountain, and Allegheny Mountain. Negro Mountain also includes Mount Davis, the highest peak in Pennsylvania. Each mountain trends northeast.

All of Somerset County lies far to the south of the terminal moraine, and thus it was never glaciated.^[14] However, during the Pleistocene epoch (the Ice Age), periglacial processes dominated. Most of the county was most likely a tundra during the Pleistocene. Patterned ground typical of tundra is still visible at Mount Davis, although it is somewhat obscured by vegetation.

The main drainages in southwestern Somerset county are the Casselman River and Laurel Hill Creek which flow into the Youghiogheny River along the southwest border. In the northwest, Stonycreek River, Shade Creek, and Quemahoning Creek (which flows into the Quemahoning Reservoir) are tributaries of the Conemaugh River. All these drainages are part of the Mississippi River Watershed. In the southeast, Wills Creek flows east into Bedford County and then into Maryland where it joins the Potomac River. Also, the headwaters of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River are to the east of the town of Somerset. Both the Potomac and Juniata rivers are part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Coal fields exist within Somerset County. The coal is entirely bituminous, and much of it has been mined or is being mined by Strip mining. Most of the coal is within the Main Bituminous Field, which stretched north and west to adjacent counties and southward into Maryland and West Virginia. The rest is within the Georges Creek Field.^[15]

There are many abandoned mines in the county, and acid mine drainage is an environmental problem in many areas. Fishless streams exist as a result of the discharge from the abandoned mines. These include parts of the Casselman River, Shade Creek, Stonycreek River, and Quemahoning Creek, as well as many of their tributaries.^[16]

There are many small, deep natural gas fields in the northwestern part of the county.^[17]

As of the census^[24] of 2000, there were 80,023 people, 31,222 households, and 22,042 families residing in the county. The population density was 74 people per square mile (29 people/km²). There were 37,163 housing units at an average density of 35 units per square mile (14/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.39% White, 1.59% Black or African American, 0.08% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.31% from other races, and 0.40% from two or more races. 0.66% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 41.5% were of German, 10.4% American, 7.4% Italian, 6.4% Irish, 6.4% Polish and 5.8% English ancestry.

There were 31,222 households, out of which 29.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.30% were married couples living together, 8.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.40% were non-families. 26.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.30% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 18.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 99.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.90 males.

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget^[26] has designated Somerset County as the Somerset, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2010 U.S. Census^[27] the micropolitan area ranked 7th most populous in the State of Pennsylvania and the 77th most populous in the United States with a population of 77,742. Somerset County is also a part of the Johnstown-Somerset, PA Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which combines the population of both Somerset County and the Cambria County areas. The combined statistical area ranked 10th in the State of Pennsylvania and 130th most populous in the United States with a population of 221,421.

As of September 25, 2023, there are 47,835 registered voters in Somerset County.^[29]

• Republican: 31,340 (65.52%)
• Democratic: 11,715 (24.49%)
• Independent: 3,920 (8.19%)
• Third Party: 860 (1.80%)

The Mountain Playhouse in Jennerstown, Pennsylvania, was one of the nation's first "summer-stock" theaters. The Mountain Playhouse has maintained a full schedule of live theater productions nightly from May through October each year for the last sixty years.

Laurel Arts is one of the few, full-service arts centers in rural Pennsylvania. Centered in Somerset borough, it serves all of Somerset County through two locations: one at the Philip Dressler Center for the Arts, and the second, an Education and Dance Center located in the Georgian Place. Founded in 1976, Laurel Arts is a 501(c)(3) that offers art classes, music lessons and dance classes, as well as hosting exhibits by local and regional artists throughout the year.

The Rockwood Opera House is located in Rockwood, Pennsylvania. The building is a historic landmark restored to reflect original design from 1890. Since reopening, Rockwood Opera House has hosted dinner theater since 2000. Productions vary from Tribute Artists of classic performers to community theater.

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

• Jeremiah S. Black, Attorney General of the United States (1857–1860) and U.S. Secretary of State (1860–1861), under President James Buchanan;
• Transportation pioneer George Chorpenning.
• Alexander Hamilton Coffroth (1828–1906), 19th-century Democratic U.S. Representative and Abraham Lincoln's final pallbearer to die
• Larry Critchfield (1908–1965), NFL player
• Joseph Darby, former US Army sergeant who was the first soldier to take official action against suspected and later confirmed mistreatment of prisoners by other soldiers in Abu Ghraib
• Joseph F. Loy, Wisconsin state senator and lawyer
• Howard Shultz Miller, U.S. Representative from Kansas.^[31]
• Comedian and podcasting pioneer Keith Malley, co-host of the Keith and The Girl podcast
• Edwin S. Porter, silent movie director most famous for The Great Train Robbery
• Joseph C. Pringey, U.S. Representative from Oklahoma
• Rip Engle, head football coach at Brown University (1944-1949) and Penn State University (1950-1965)

• Cambria Somerset Authority – Water supply authority for Cambria County and Somerset County
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Somerset County, Pennsylvania
• Flight 93 National Memorial – unit of the National Park System that protects the crash site of Flight 93 which the final resting place of the passengers and crew.