Somerset County /

Somerset County is a county located in the state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 77,742. Somerset County was created on April 17, 1795, from part of Bedford County and named for Somerset, United Kingdom. Its county seat is Somerset. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,081 square miles (2,800 km²), of which 1,075 square miles (2,783 km²) is land and 7 square miles (17 km²) (0.60%) is water. Somerset County is one of the snowiest inhabited locations in the United States, with the highest elevations of the county averaging 200+ inches of snow each winter. The county's elevation and proximity to the ocean causes snow from both Nor'easters and lake effect upslope snow events to fall from late October through early April. Snow has been recorded in Somerset County in every month except July, although local lore has it that even July saw snow in 1816, "the year without a summer." Mount Davis, the highest natural point in the state of Pennsylvania at 3,213 feet (979 m), is located in the southern part of the County. As of the census of 2000, there were 80,023 people,