Editing Danville, Pennsylvania (section)

===Early 19th century===
Danville was part of [[Northumberland County, Pennsylvania]], when it was founded. In 1813, [[Columbia County, Pennsylvania]] was formed from part of Northumberland Co. Danville became the county seat of Columbia Co. until 1845, when an election moved the seat to [[Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania]]. In 1850, Montour County was formed from part of Columbia. Danville then became the county seat of Montour.

Danville became a transportation center in the mid-19th century as the technology of early railroads developed, allowing accelerated development of inland communities. Danville first serviced canal boats plying the [[canal|navigations]] on the Susquehanna between the coal docks in Pittston and Wilkes-Barre connecting to the Union Canal, and Harrisburg. Subsequently, it became served by several railroads also running along the banks of the [[North Branch Susquehanna River|North Branch of the Susquehanna River]]. Railroads helped local businesses expand their sales as they supplied major cities outside of Danville.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Collection: Colt and Donaldson records {{!}} Archival Collections|url=https://archives.lib.umd.edu/repositories/2/resources/984|access-date=2021-02-11|website=archives.lib.umd.edu}}</ref> [[Coal]] and [[iron]] mines in the surrounding hills and mountains fueled the local economy, and by mid-century Danville was an important iron mill town. Many of the [[Rail tracks|rail]]s of the nation's expanding railroad system were made in Danville, an important contribution to a network which grew explosively for decades. By the 1890s there were 7-8 major railroads running into the [[Wyoming Valley]] for [[Anthracite]]. A local marker claims that the first [[Flanged T rail|T-rail]] rolled in the United States was rolled in Danville, on October 8, 1845 at the Montour Iron Company, though this is claimed for [[Mount Savage, Maryland]], as well.