Bedford Township was formed in 1767 within Cumberland County. Frankstown Township was formed in 1775 out of the northern third of Bedford Township and the western half of Barre Township. Woodberry Township was then formed out of the southern third of Frankstown Township in 1785. The part of Woodberry Township that lay west of Dunnings Mountain was removed in 1798 to form Greenfield Township. In the meantime, in 1794, St. Clair Township had been formed from a portion of Bedford Township; its eastern boundary with Bedford Township lay along the summit of Wills Mountain in the south and Dunnings Mountain in the north. A portion of the northern part of St. Clair Township was removed in 1834 to form Union Township along with a portion of Greenfield Township that had been formed out of Woodberry Township.
Two decades prior to Union Township's formation, St. Clair was divided in 1812 along a surveyed diagonal line that left two-thirds in the north remaining as St. Clair and one-third in the south as the new township of Napier.
The township of Napier was divided in two in 1840 by an east-west line that followed the course of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River. The northern half, which retained the name of Napier Township, was at that point essentially triangular shaped. The north boundary was defined by a surveyed line from the southeast to the northwest. The south boundary was defined by the Juniata River which flowed from the southwest to the northeast. The western boundary was basically a north to south line. The southern portion took the name of Harrison Township.
In the year 1853, Harrison Township was divided into east and west halves, with the east retaining the name of Harrison and the west being named Juniata. The division resulted in the west half being quite a bit smaller than the east half. To increase the size, in fact to double the size of the new Juniata Township, a portion of Napier Township's southwest corner was removed from it and added to Juniata's north end.
The township that would eventually be known as Juniata, named for the river's branch that has its start in the west side of the township, was originally intended to be named Buena Vista Township. The petition requesting that was submitted to the Court of Quarter Sessions on 07 May 1851.
At a Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace held at Bedford in and for the County of Bedford, on the 7th day of May, Anno Domini 1851 Upon the petition of Sundry inhabitants of the townships of Napier & Harrison in said County, being read setting forth, that they labour under great inconveniences and disadvantages for the want of a new township to be called Buena Vista, to be formed from parts of said townships of Napier & Harrison ~ And praying the Court to erect a new township accordingly, Whereupon the Court on due consideration do order and appoint Nicholas Kegg, Josiah Miller & Samuel Boore Commissioners to view & examine the lines and boundaries for the division of said townships prayed for, and to consider the Propriety of a division of said townships as aforesaid, who are to make report of their proceedings, together with a plot or draft [illegible] lay out a township to the next Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace according to law.
On the 20th of June, the commissioners returned their report to the Court:
To the Honorable the judges of the Court abve named We Josiah Miller, Nicholas Kegg and Samuel Boor the commissioners appointed by the above order of Court to view and lay out the township of Buena Vista having been tout sworn according to law do report that in pursuance of the above order tow have viewed laid out and do report the following lines to include the said [illegble] Beginning at an elm tree at homers fording on the Raystown Branch of Juniatta thence North twenty one degrees West two hundred and seventy four perches to a Post on the north side of the house of Benjamin Housel thence North thirty eight degrees West two Miles two hundred and forty perches to a Hickory on the Land of Andrew Mowry North fifty eight degrees West three miles and fifty perches to a Post opposite at the Somerset County line thence South twenty five degrees West two miles and ninety perches to a Blueoak on the Somerset County line near the old Breast Works (the last course is according to the county line which has never yet been marked upon the ground) thence by said County line South one degree East four miles two hundred and eighty perches to the Raystown Branch of Juniatta thence down the same along the several courses thereof to the Place of Beginning, a plot or draft thereof is hereunto annexed Witness our hands the twentieth day of June A D 1851.
By 19 November of that same year, the name had been changed to West End Township. The second petition to the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace and Gaol Delivery, requesting the formation of a new township out of Harrison by that name stated:
Upon the Petition of Sundry inhabitants of the Township of Harrison in Said County being read setting forth that they labour under great inconveniences and disadvantages for the want of a new Township to be called West End. Beginning at the mouth of the Dry Run on the Napier Township line thence by the same to the Somerset County line thence by the same to the line of Londonderry Township thence by the same to at or near Kellermans Mill thence through Harrison Township to the place of Beginning ~ and praying the Court to erect a new Township accordingly~ Whereupon the Court on due consideration do order and appoint Michael Reed, John Alstadt and Wm McDonald Commissioners to view and examine the lines and boundaries for the division of said Township prayed for and to consider the propriety of a division of said Township as aforesaid who are to make report of their proceedings, together with a plot or draft thereof in case they lay out a Township to the next Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace according to law.
A post office had been established in 1848 at the village of West End. It was therefore in existence prior to the petition for a new township. And there is no doubt that the intention in naming the new township 'West End' would have been influenced by the village named that.
Two of the commissioners, Michael Reed and John Alstadt, returned a report, including a draft of the proposed boundaries to the Court on 30 January 1852. William McDonald had not been able to give assistance due to bad health. On the 18th day of August 1852, the three commissioners traveled to the home of John Metzgar along the Glade Pike at the summit of Dry Ridge. There they "met a considerable number of the citizens of said township; and after examining into the propriety of the division of said Township by hearing those present . . . [they were] of opinion that the prayer of the petitioners ought to be granted . . . " The dividing line between Harrison and the new township was determined to be a surveyed line oriented in a basically north to south direction that lay a short distance to the east of the Metzgar house. The report was returned to the Court of Quarter Sessions and the township was ready to be formed as far, or so it seemed. But there was, as E. Howard Blackburn noted in his 1906 volume: "considerable controversy . . . over the adoption of a name for the new township." The original choice for the name, West End, was dropped in favor of Juniata when the township was formed the following year. Blackburn noted that the name was appropriate because the river that bears the name has its start in the mountains on the west side of the township and flows through the entire length of the township.
