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Welcome to Decatur ...

Decatur is located in Mifflin County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Decatur, you might consider that their post office opened in 1850.

When the people of Decatur refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Decaturian<2>

Decatur is 670 feet [204 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Decatur lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Decatur: 717 & 223<4>

Communities Also Named Decatur ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 20 communities that are also named Decatur - they are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri (2), Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia (2).

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Decatur.

Communities near Decatur ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Decatur.

  • Lewistown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Burnham
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Centre Hall
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Beavertown
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • McClure
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Mifflintown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Port Royal
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Millheim
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Millerstown
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
  • Thompsontown
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Decatur. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Decatur.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Decatur. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Decatur.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Decatur. See our Newspapers Page for Decatur.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Decatur ...

Looking for more information about Decatur? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Decatur, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Decatur.

Adding Decatur to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Decatur in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Decatur was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Decatur post office opened in 1850. The Decatur post office closed in 1903.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Decatur.

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties, including Mifflin, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Decatur refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Decatur may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Decatur - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 717 code has been Overlayed with the 223 area code. New phone numbers in the Decatur area will be assigned with one of these codes: 717 or 223. As a result, placing a call in the Decatur area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<6>A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/