U.S. Census Series: Bald Eagle, Pennsylvania

Bald Eagle in Clinton County, Pennsylvania is a very small town broadly halfway between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, the state capital. In the 1860s, the Bald Eagle Valley Railroad was completed as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad.  Some of the men from Ireland who worked on the railroad had their county of birth recorded in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census. They are found among farmers and laborers who also had their Irish counties of birth recorded. The same information was also recorded for some female immigrants from Ireland.

It is interesting to note that all those that had their Irish counties of birth recorded were from Munster. However, the enumerator, assistant marshal J.P. Heard, only recorded this information in the first five pages in his enumeration of Bald Eagle. All other immigrants from Ireland just had their country of birth recorded. One wonders if all the other Irish immigrants were also from Munster counties and their presence in Bald Eagle was due to chain migration from the south and south west of Ireland. Of those with counties of birth recorded, Cork and Clare have the largest concentrations.

Irish County of Birth	Number
Cork	21
Clare (incl. Claire)	15
Waterford	3
Kerry (incl. Carry)	3
Limerick	1
Total	43

Browse the enumeration for Bald Eagle by clicking here.