Washington Township was officially created on 23 January 1840. There was no further division of this township. However, it appears from studying county maps of 1858 and 1862 that some time between those dates, some land (including the village of Loyalton) was taken from Wiconisco Township and added to Washington Township.
Elizabethville Borough was created as a separate government entity within the territory of Washington Township on 28 March 1893. Several villages exist today within Washington Township but were never incorporated to be separate from the township.
The following explanation is from William Henry Egle‘s History of the Counties of Dauphin and Lebanon of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, published in Philadelphia in 1883 by Everts and Peck:
Upon the petition of inhabitants of Mifflin Township asking for a division of that township, the court, on 3 September 1845, issued an order to three commissioners to view and report on the propriety of granting the prayer of said petition, who reported that in their opinion a division of said township was necessary, and that they had laid off the following portion of the same to be called Washington [Township], to wit:
“Beginning at a post on the line dividing said township of Mifflin [Township] from Upper Paxtang [Paxton] Township, on the property belonging to Philip Lenker; thence a straight line bearing north seventy-five and a half degrees east fifteen hundred and six perches, or near four and three-quarter miles, to a post on the line dividing said township of Mifflin [Township] from Lykens Township; thence by said line bearing south seven degrees east and about two and three-quarter miles to the top of Berry’s Mountain; thence along the north side of said mountain westward four and three-quarter miles to a stone heap; thence along the Upper Paxtang [Paxton] Township line north seven degrees west two and three-quarter miles to the place of beginning.”
The report was confirmed by the court on 23 January 1846. As thus erected the township includes the fairest portion of the Lykens Valley. It is well watered by the Wiconisco Creek, and is a highly productive region. The early history of the township is comprised in that of the valley proper, for within the confines of the township Andrew Lycans, the pioneer, settled and lived.
The issue of the addition of a portion of Wiconisco Township to Washington Township between the years 1858 and 1862 is again present below. It is not mentioned in Egle’s account of the formation of the townships, which was written in 1883.
The 1858 map by William J. Barker of Philadelphia, (above) shows the boundary (red line) between Washington Township and Wiconisco Township with the village of Loyalton (not named) in Wiconisco Township.
The 1862 map by A. Pomeroy of Philadelphia, (above) shows the boundary between Washington Township and Wiconisco Township with the village of Loyalton (named Short Mountain P.O.) in Washington Township. The 1858 boundary is shown as a red line.