Venango County is located in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania and was created on March 12, 1800 from parts of Allegheny and Lycoming Counties and was attached to Crawford County until 1805. In 1839, part of the county became Clarion County (some Clarion records from 1800-1839 are found in Venango County). Additionally, part of Venango County was included in Forest County in 1848. The city of Franklin was selected as the county seat on March 26, 1808. It was originally laid out in 1795 at the site of Fort Franklin, which was built in 1787 and named after Dr. Benjamin Franklin. The town was incorporated as a borough in April 1828 and chartered as a city on April 4, 1868. Sheila Helser is coordinator for Venango County. This website is part of the PAGenWeb Project and the USGenWeb Project.