Borough of Mifflinburg

A photograph of employees at the William A. Heiss Coach Works during the late 1800s. From the collection of the Mifflinburg Buggy Museum.

Elias and Catharina Jungman (also spelled “Youngman”) and their two children George and Thomas came from Reading, Pennsylvania, to the Buffalo Valley to settle on land given to them by Catharina’s father. By 1792 they had surveyed and divided the land into 60’ by 120’ plots that were sold to settlers, many of them German, and the village of Youngmanstown was formed.

A few years later George Rote (also spelled “Rhoade”) plotted a village known as Greenville, or Rotestown after George’s death, just east of Youngmanstown.

By 1810 the German Reformed and Lutheran congregations had erected the Elias Church and the Methodists were gathering in a small log house in Youngmanstown, which also had a German school and an English school.

The Lewisburg-Youngmanstown Turnpike, the Bellefonte-Arronsburg-Youngmanstown Turnpike, and later the Lewisburg /Tyrone Railroad increased the traffic through the area and promoted growth, and in 1827 the two villages combined and were incorporated. The borough was named Mifflinburg, in honor of Thomas Mifflin, the first Governor of Pennsylvania.

In 1845, George Swentzel set up Mifflinburg’s first buggy business. Soon other buggy manufacturers set up their own shops in Mifflinburg, and by 1855, with a population of 800, Mifflinburg was home to 13 coachmakers.

By the 1880s, with more than fifty buggy and sleigh factories, Mifflinburg became known as “Buggytown” because its buggy makers produced more horse-drawn vehicles per capita than any other town in the state.

Prosperity from the buggy industry led to the building of fine houses which are still a part of Mifflinburg’s heritage.

For more information about the area's buggy history, visit the Mifflinburg Buggy Museum.  The community holds an annual festival called "Buggy Days."  To find out about community events, visit the Mifflinburg Heritage and Revitalization Association's Web site at http://www.mifflinburgpa.com/

Mifflinburg Area School District

The borough is part of the Mifflinburg Area School District and contains Mifflinburg Area High School (grades 9 through 12), Mifflinburg Area Middle School (grades 6 through 8), an Mifflinburg Area Intermediate School (grades 4 and 5), and Mifflinburg Area Elementary School (kindergarten through grade 3). Outside the borough are three elementary schools that make up the rest of the Mifflinburg Area School District. These are: New Berlin Elementary, Laurelton Elementary, and Buffalo Crossroads Elementary.

Mifflinburg’s official colors are blue and white, and the mascot is the Wildcat. The district is a member of the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference for all athletics and participates under the rules and guidelines of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit 16, based in Montandon, provides specialized services to the district such as professional development and special education support. The CSIU’s primary service area consists of Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties in central Pennsylvania. It includes 17 school districts, 3 technical schools, 73 nonpublic schools, 4,630 instructional, administration and support employees, 36,400 public school students and 4,210 nonpublic school students.

SUN Area Career & Technology Center in New Berlin is a regional school that provides area students with skills needed to compete in today’s job market and receive consideration for advanced college placement. SUN Tech also offers adult education classes, vocational education, and technical career training.