At the time of the creation of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, from a portion of Lancaster County, 4 April 1785, there was only one township in the upper part of the county north of Peter’s Mountain. Upper Paxton Township, or as it was called then, Upper Paxtang Township, therefore can be considered the “mother township” of all the townships now encompassing the greater Lykens Valley area of Dauphin County.
The current township boundaries are shown as black lines on the above map. The green area represents the original Upper Paxton Township. The southern boundary is the ridge line of Peter’s Mountain. The northern boundary is Mahantongo Mountain and the Mahantongo Creek.
The townships of the Lykens Valley area were created from the Upper Paxton Township as follows:
1804 – Halifax Township
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1810 – Lykens Township
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1819 – Mifflin Township
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1828 – Jackson Township
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1840 – Wiconisco Township
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1842 – Jefferson Township
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1846 – Washington Township
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1849 – Reed Township
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1869 – Williams Township
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1878 – Wayne Township
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