Limestone Township is a township in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,136 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Limestone Township is bordered by Washington Township to the south and east, Armstrong Township to the east, Bastress and Nippenose Townships to the north, and Clinton County to the west. Rauchtown Run sinks underground in Limestone Township only to emerge as Antes Creek several miles away.
Limestone Township was established on 4 December 1824 by a decree of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. It was formed from parts of Nippenose and Wayne Townships. Limestone Township was originally known as Adams Township in honor of United States President John Adams until 14 April 1835 when the name as changed to what was deemed to be a more appropriate title.
The first European settlers in the Limestone Township area arrived as early as 1789. The early settlers thought that the land was barren because the base of valley was largely free of trees. It was covered by dense thickets of thorny bushes. At first the land sold for as little as fifty cents an acre. After the initial settlers cleared the shrubbery and planted wheat, the land was found to be quite fertile and the price of the land rose dramatically to $5.00 per acre and by the 1890s the land was selling for as much as $100.00 an acre. Later settlers to Limestone Township established the communities of Collomsville, Oriole and Oval. These small towns were the locations of small taverns, general stores and sawmills. Much of the farmland in the southeastern portion of Limestone Township was purchased by the Williamsport Water Authority in the early 1900s as part of its watershed. Visitors to the "water company" lands can see the stone remains of the early settlers homesteads spread throughout the watershed.
