Lock Haven, Pennsylvania

== Economy ==
Lock Haven's economy, from the city's founding in 1833 until the end of the 19th century, depended heavily on natural resources, particularly timber, and on cheap transportation to eastern markets.<ref name="plan" /> Loggers used the Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek to float timber to sawmills in Lock Haven and nearby towns. The West Branch Canal, reaching the city in 1834, connected to large markets downstream, and shorter canals along Bald Eagle Creek added other connections.{{sfn|Miller|1966|pp=44–46}} In 1859, the first railroad arrived in Lock Haven, spurring trade and economic growth.<ref name="plan"/>

By 1900, the lumber industry had declined, and the city's economic base rested on other industries, including a furniture factory, a paper mill, a fire brick plant, and a silk mill. In 1938, the [[Piper Aircraft Corporation]], maker of the [[Piper J-3|Piper Cub]] and other light aircraft, moved its production plant to Lock Haven. It remained one of the city's biggest employers until the 1980s, when, after major flood damage and losses related to Hurricane Agnes in 1972, it moved to Florida.<ref name="plan"/> The loss of Piper Aircraft contributed to an unemployment rate of more than 20% in Lock Haven in the early 1980s, though the rate had declined to about 9% by 2000. Another large plant, the paper mill that had operated since the 1880s{{sfn|Wagner|1979|p=134}} in Castanea Township, closed in 2001.<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press | title = Plan to Close Paper Mill Staggers Lock Haven | work = Reading Eagle | via = Google News| date =October 18, 2000 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=20001019&id=OIs0AAAAIBAJ&pg=5678,1067302 |access-date=September 10, 2019}}</ref> By 2005, 32% of the city's labor force was employed in health care, education, or social services, 16% in manufacturing, 14% in retail trade, 13% in arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation, and food services, and smaller fractions in other sectors. The city's biggest employers, [[Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania]] and [[University of Pittsburgh Medical Center|UPMC Susquehanna]] Lock Haven hospital, are among the seven biggest employers in Clinton County.<ref name="plan"/>