Ferguson Township, was so named in honor of Thomas Ferguson who was a pioneer settler and built the first mill at what is now the village of Pine Grove Mills. The township was erected at January Sessions, 1801, out of Patton. Captain Gray Meek, a Revolutionary soldier, (ancestor of Hon. P. Gray Meek, editor of the Democratic Watchman) was also a pioneer settler in Ferguson township territory. In 1810 William Patton, son of Col. John Patton, built Tussey Furnace at Pine Grove Mills. It ceased operation in 1815. Ferguson Township is remarkable now for its numerous beds of iron ore, developed and undeveloped, though there are no furnaces now within it borders. Large amounts of ore have been mined about Gatesburg, which was settled at an early period by the Gates, Rider and Rumberger families.
(SOURCE: Eleventh Census of the Population of the United States Published by Boroughs and Townships, in Connection with a Business Directory of the Same, Bellefonte, Pa., 1890.)
FERGUSON TOWNSHIP CENSUS FIGURES
1850--1,601 1860--1,784 1870--2,111 1880--1,817 1890--1,748 1900--1,512 1910--1,558 1920--1,639 1930--1,549 1940--1,936 1950--2,388 1960--3,832 1970--6,351 1980--8,105 1990--9,368 2000--14,063
(SOURCE: U.S. Census of Population, Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce.)
TOWNS & VILLAGES
Villages and towns within Ferguson Township include Baileyville, Bloomsdorf, Circle View, Fairbrook, Struble, Pine Hall, Gatesburg, Rock Spring, Pennsylvania Furnace, Pine Grove Mills, Pattonville, Marengo, Hostler, Musser, Tadpole, White Hall, Overlook Heights, North Hills and Erbtown. For a further discussion of these, see Paul M. Dubbs, Where to Go and Place-Names of Centre County, 1961.
TAX ASSESSMENT RECORDS
Tax assessment records for Ferguson Township from 1801 forward can be found in the basement of the Centre County Library and Historical Museum in Bellefonte. Persons wishing to use these records must first sign the Guest Researcher register in the Pennsylvania Room.