1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Towanda

TOWANDA, a borough and the county-seat of Bradford county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the west bank of the Susquehanna river, about 50 m. N.W. of Wilkes-Barré. Pop. (1890), 4169; (1900), 4663 (322 foreign-born), (1910) 4281. Towanda is served by the Lehigh Valley and the Susquehanna & New York railways. It is situated about 730 ft. above the sea, and is surrounded by high hills. Towanda contains the museum of the Bradford County Historical Society. The borough is in a farming, dairying and stock-raising region, and has various manufactures. The first settlement was made by William Means in 1786, the village was laid out in 1812, became the county seat in the same year, was variously known for some years as Meansville, Overton, Williamson, Monmouth and Towanda, and in 1828 was incorporated as the borough of Towanda. Its name is an Indian word said to mean “ where we bury the dead.”