Early History of the Borough of Wellsboro

Opened to white settlers after the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784 after the Seneca Indians ceded all of Tioga County to the Pennsylvania government. Three years after the end of the American Revolution Thomas Tucker first set foot on the soil of Wellsboro. On September 1, 1786, Tucker, Deputy Surveyor General of PA, and his surveying party surveyed these lands as well as Lawrence, Tioga and Middlebury Townships under a Land Warrant issued to James Stuart, a land speculator, in May of 1785.

Stuart, along with other speculators from Philadelphia, together owned about 65,000 acres of land in northern Lycoming County and Tioga County. When taxes became a burden, these owners conveyed to trustees who were tasked with selling the land.

Benjamin W. Morris bought all of Tioga County land on April 7, 1802 and built the first log cabin on the knoll overlooking Wellsboro, at the end of what is now Morris Lane. The name, “Wellsborough” ,tradition says, was after Mary Wells Morris, the wife of Benjamin Morris and the sister of William Hill Wells who, at that time, was one of the most prominent men in the United States.

The Borough of Wellsboro was incorporated on March 16, 1830, and became part of the General Borough Act of 1851 in September of that year.

Wellsboro Divided into wards 7th April 1885.

Dividing Line: From the West the Borough line at the center of Fischler Street, to the centers of Nichols Street to the center of Brewery Lane, to the center of Waln Street out to a post in the line between Charleston Township and the Borough of Wellsboro.

Thereafter all land north of the Dividing line was called Ward Number One
All land south of the Dividing line was called Ward Number Two.

The Borough today

The Borough operates under a 6 member Council form of government and has a Mayor who acts as a tiebreaker and oversees the Police Department. The Borough Manager manages the day to day operations of the Borough and reports directly to the Borough Council.

The Borough provides for police protection, zoning, land use, and subdivision guidance, a garbage collection and recycling program, road and bridge maintenance, street lighting, parks and recreation, and water/sewage facilities.

Additional Information

The Council governs a population of 3348 in a 5.5 square mile radius.

There are 16.67 miles of municipal roads and 10 miles of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation roads.