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City in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States

Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 27,754. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of about 114,000. Williamsport is the larger principal city of the Williamsport Lock Haven Combined Statistical Area, which includes Lycoming and Clinton counties. The city is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of North Central Pennsylvania. It is 131 mile (211 km) from Philadelphia, 166 mile (267 km) from Pittsburgh and 85 mile (137 km) from Harrisburg. It is known for its sports, arts scene and food. Williamsport was settled by Americans in the late 18th century, and began to prosper due to its lumber industry. In 1930, the city's population reached a high of 45,729 but since the great depression it has declined by approximately 40 percent to 27,754 in 2020. As county seat, Williamsport has the county courthouse, county prison, sheriff's office headquarters and federal courthouse, all downtown. It is also home to two institutions of higher learning, the Pennsylvania College of Technology, also known as Penn College, and Lycoming College. Williamsport is the birthplace of Little League Baseball. South Williamsport, a town across the West Branch Susquehanna River, is the headquarters of Little League Baseball and annually hosts the Little League World Series in late summer. Other points of interest include the Hiawatha riverboat, Millionaires' Row, Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum, the Community Arts Center, the Genetti Hotel, the Susquehanna Riverwalk, and The Gallery at Penn College. Williamsport is located 129.2 mile (208 km) northwest of Allentown and 86.3 mile (139 km) north of Harrisburg.

In 1763, the Battle of Muncy Hills took place during the French and Indian War. It was a clash between the Native Americans and colonists seeking homestead sites in Native American territory. In 1768, at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the British purchased the land that became Lycoming County from the Iroquois Nation who controlled the lands. On April 13, 1795 Lycoming County was formed from Northumberland County. It encompassed all the lands of Northumberland County situated west of Muncy Hills and was a domain of 12500 square miles (32,375 km2), comprising most of north central Pennsylvania. From 1830 until 1865, the underground railroad, a system of safe houses and routes for slaves escaping to freedom, operated in Lycoming County; many local abolitionists, including Daniel Hughes, served as conductors and agents. During his trips transporting logs to Maryland, he brought escaped slaves back on foot from Baltimore, over Bald Eagle Mountain and hid them at his home and in the caves on Freedom Road. Mamie's grandfather, Robert, helped his father, Daniel Hughes, hide escaped slaves in the caves behind their home on Freedom Road. They fed them, nursed the sick back to health and delivered them safely to the next "station", The Apker House in Trout Run. Williamsport was the birthplace of the national newspaper Grit in 1882. Williamsport purportedly once had more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the world. For this reason, the area's local high school, the Williamsport Area High School, uses "Millionaires" as its team mascot.

The Flood of March 17–18, 1936 caused the river to crest at 33.9'. Flood waters reached High Street. It was known locally as the Hello, Al flood because Al Glaes, operating a short wave radio station from his home on High Street, kept the city in touch with the rest of the world after the flood disrupted electricity and telephone service. and is bordered by the West Branch Susquehanna River to the south (with Armstrong Township, South Williamsport, Duboistown and Susquehanna Township south of the river), Loyalsock Township to the east and north, Old Lycoming Township to the north and Woodward Township to the west. As the crow flies, Lycoming County is about 130 mile (209 km) northwest of Philadelphia and 165 mile (266 km) east northeast of Pittsburgh.

Williamsport operates on a "Strong Mayor" form of government, meaning the mayor is given almost total administrative authority and a clear, wide range of political independence with the power to appoint and dismiss department heads without council approval and little need for public input. The mayor is Derek Slaughter. Williamsport is located in Pennsylvania's 23rd senatorial District, Pennsylvania's 83rd House District, and Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district.

Williamsport Bureau of Fire was established in 1874 after a devastating fire that destroyed much of the cities down town in 1871. It has a cooperative agreement with the Old Lycoming Volunteer Fire Department. Since the late 1980s, it contracts with Susquehanna Regional EMS for ambulance service.

Williamsport's top ten employers are UPMC Susquehanna, the Pennsylvania State Government, the Pennsylvania College of Technology, Williamsport Area School District, Brodart Company, Springs Window Fashions, Weis Markets, West Pharmaceuticals, and Textron Lycoming Engines. Williamsport is noted for the Lycoming aircraft engines which is a division of Avco Corporation and a subsidiary of Textron. Brodart, a library supplies company, is also based in Williamsport. Overhead Garage Door is also located in Newberry. Bethlehem Wire Rope, a manufacturing complex in Williamsport, with over under roof, is the single largest wire rope manufacturing facility in North America. Unreliable source: date=November 2014

Recently, interest has grown in extracting natural gas in the Williamsport area. Williamsport has become a key area in the Marcellus Shale drilling. Lonza Group, a Swiss biotechnology and pharmaceutical company, has a large manufacturing site on the western fringes of the city, where a number of specialty chemicals are made that go into a wide array of oilfield, nutritional, personal care, and industrial applications. The Williamsport Downtown Gateway Revitalization Project began in 2004 in order to attract more people (both citizens of the Williamsport community and visitors) to the downtown Williamsport area. The construction on the Carl E. Stotz Memorial Little League Bridge, the first of many projects, began in June 2004 and was completed in 2008.

The James V. Brown Library is Williamsport's public library. The library has a staff of nearly 50 full and part time employees, and offers volunteer opportunities for youth and adults. With a collection of nearly 150,000 units it offers books, DVDs, CDs, and other resources, while the library offers wireless Internet access, local history archives, and premium online reference resources. As the headquarters for the county library system, the Brown Library serves almost 87,000 patrons, some years circulating upwards of 550,000 books both in house and through its traveling Storymobile.

Williamsport Regional Airport (IPT), located several miles east of the city in the borough of Montoursville, currently lacks commercial flights after American Eagle exited the market in 2021. Fullington Trailways provides daily long distance bus service from a station in the downtown to Elmira, New York, Harrisburg, New York City, and Philadelphia. Local bus service within Williamsport and to other places in Lycoming County is offered by River Valley Transit. Williamsport is served by several major highways, including Interstate 180, U. S. Route 15, and U. S. Route 220. I 180 and US 220 run together northeast/southwest through Williamsport, and US 15 joins (in the opposite direction) for two miles. Once completed, Interstate 99 will enter Williamsport from the southwest on US 220 and continue north on US 15, joining only one at a time. Until the mid 20th century, Williamsport was a major transfer point between the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and Reading Railroad to Jersey City, New Jersey and Philadelphia, and on New York Central Railroad to Lyons, New York via Corning, New York. The longest enduring trains service was the Buffalo Day Express to New York City, Buffalo, Harrisburg, Washington, D. C., and Philadelphia, the Dominion Express to the north, the Washington Express and Dominion Express to the south, and to the Northern Express to Erie and west, and the Southern Express, which reached southern destinations. Freight rail service west to Avis and east to Muncy is provided by the Lycoming Valley Railroad, which has its main yard in the Newberry section of Williamsport, and offers connections to the Norfolk Southern and Canadian Pacific railroads. The West Branch Susquehanna River is not navigable, but a dam at Hepburn Street provides a large lake for recreational boating, including outings on the mock paddlewheeler Hiawatha from Susquehanna State Park.

The Williamsport Crosscutters, a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League, play their home games at Bowman Field. Each year, the field also hosts the MLB Little League Classic. The Little League World Series is held annually on the south side of the West Branch Susquehanna River in South Williamsport, where Little League Baseball now has its headquarters. The Susquehanna 500 Mini Indy Gokart Racing Series was held annually in Brandon Park. During the 2014 race, a fatal crash involving one of the go kart operators marked the end to the yearly tradition.

Local newspapers include the Williamsport Sun Gazette, Webb Weekly and The Williamsport Guardian. The local news/talk radio stations are WRAK/WRKK (1400/1200 kHz), WWPA 1340 kHz and WXPI Community Radio 88.5 FM. Williamsport has an all sports station, ESPN (AM) (1500 kHz). Williamsport is ranked #260 by Arbitron in terms of its radio market. TV stations in Williamsport are served by the Scranton/Wilkes Barre market. A new multiplex movie theater on West 4th Street, opened May 2, 2008.