When it comes to population, it appears that Loyalsock Township has ousted South Williamsport from second place among political subdivisions in Lycoming County.

The Loyalsock school board has released the results of a recent census of all residents of the township and the total population reported is 8,331.

This is a spectacular increase over the township’s 1950 census figures of 5,535 and the 1955 population of 6,900. The 1955 figure is from a school census from that year.

Although no figures exactly comparable are available for South Williamsport, it seems that the borough’s growth does not match that of Loyalsock’s.

According to the 1950 federal census, South Williamsport’s population was 6,364. School-age population and voter-taxpayer lists indicate a growth of 12 percent for the South Side from 1950 to last year. On this basis, the borough’s population would be 7,128 — or 1,203 less than Loyalsock’s.

Loyalsock’s rapid growth grew during the period after the Second World War when there was a great demand for new housing. Little suitable land remained in Williamsport and the most logical direction for expansion was east into Loyalsock, where preparations for just such growth had been made by land companies in the previous decades.

Here is how the largest political subdivisions in Lycoming County have changed by population. The first figure is the 1920 census, the second the 1930 population, the third the 1940 population and the fourth the 1950 population.

Williamsport, 36,198, 44,355 and 45,047. South Williamsport, 4,341, 6,058, 6,033, 6,484. Loyalsock Township, 5,268, 2,522, 3,103, and 5,135. Jersey Shore, 6,103, 5,781, 5,432 and 5,595.

Loyalsock’s loss in population between 1920 and 1930 resulted from the annexation of the most populous part of the township by Williamsport. These are the sections of the city known as the East End, and Vallamont-Grampian.