Potter reached the top of Nittany Mountain and "seeing the prairies and noble forest beneath him, cried out to his attendant, 'By heavens, Thompson, I have discovered an empire!'"

[7] Centre County is one of the 423 counties served by the Appalachian Regional Commission,[8] and it is identified as part of the "Midlands" by Colin Woodard in his book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.

In 2006, Governor Ed Rendell and Bob Casey Jr. both carried Centre, and Democrat Scott Conklin decisively won the State House seat left open by the retirement of Republican Lynn Herman in the 77th district.

In 2008, Democrats captured the countywide registration edge, Barack Obama carried the county with 55% of the vote to McCain's 44%, and Democratic statewide winners (Rob McCord for Treasurer and Jack Wagner for Auditor General also carried Centre).

In 2012, Barack Obama won the county in his reelection campaign by a very narrow margin, 48.9% to 48.65%, a difference of just 175 votes.

[20] In the same election, incumbent Republican Senator Pat Toomey beat Democratic opponent Katie McGinty 47.91% to 46.2% in the county.

State College Regional Airport operates daily commercial and general aviation flights.

Alternative newspapers include the Centre County Gazette and State College City Guide.

Newspapers of Pennsylvania State University's main campus include the student-run Daily Collegian.

Some of the more popular stations include WPSU, WKPS, WZWW, WLEJ, WFGE, WNLI, WRSC-FM, WBHV, WOWY, and WBUS.

Johnstown-based WJAC-TV (NBC) and Altoona-based WTAJ-TV (CBS) maintain satellite studios and offices.

These are the municipalities, boroughs and townships in Centre County: Census-designated places are geographical areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data.