Bedford Township, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Bedford Township is a township in Bedford County
, Pennsylvania
, United States
. The population was 5,417 at the 2000 census.
is located in northern Bedford Township, north of the borough of Bedford. The site of a village of the Monongahela tribe
, it is currently occupied by Old Bedford Village, a living history museum
.
, the township has a total area of 68.6 square miles (177.7 km²), of which, 68.6 square miles (177.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1035995244 km²) of it (0.04%) is water.
valley, with Evitts Mountain
forming the eastern limb and Wills Mountain
forming a part of the western limb. The northern end of Wills Mountain is known as Kinton Knob
and the knob is the crest of a plunging anticline
. The Silurian
Tuscarora Formation
, a hard sandstone
, outcrops at the crests of these ridges and is stratigraphically
lower and thus older than the rest of the bedrock
in the township. The overlying formations are either Silurian or Devonian
in age, and include (in ascending order) the Clinton Group
, the Bloomsburg Formation
, the Mifflintown Formation, the Wills Creek Formation
, the Tonoloway Formation
, the Keyser Formation
, the Old Port Formation
, the Onondaga Formation, and the Hamilton Group
, which is composed of the Marcellus Shale and the Mahantango Formation
. It is the Ridgeley Member
of the Old Port Formation, another sandstone and conglomerate
, that forms the low ridge in the center of the township south of the town of Bedford, as well as Stiffler Ridge in Dunning Cove. Dunning Cove itself is a structural basin.
of 2000, there were 5,417 people, 2,144 households, and 1,560 families residing in the township. The population density
was 79.0 people per square mile (30.5/km²). There were 2,403 housing units at an average density of 35.0/sq mi (13.5/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 97.14% White, 1.33% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.48% Asian, 0.24% from other races
, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.
There were 2,144 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.8% were married couples
living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the township the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $36,395, and the median income for a family was $43,235. Males had a median income of $28,833 versus $21,177 for females. The per capita income
for the township was $18,676. About 5.3% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.
Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Bedford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 49,762. The county seat is Bedford. It is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 5,417 at the 2000 census.
History
The Bedford Village Archeological SiteBedford Village Archeological Site
The Bedford Village Archeological Site is an archaeological site in central Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in Bedford Township north of the borough of Bedford, it was once occupied by a Monongahela village...
is located in northern Bedford Township, north of the borough of Bedford. The site of a village of the Monongahela tribe
Monongahela tribe
The Monongahela culture were a Native American cultural manifestation of Late Woodland peoples in present-day western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and West Virginia from AD 1050 to 1635...
, it is currently occupied by Old Bedford Village, a living history museum
Open air museum
An open-air museum is a distinct type of museum exhibiting its collections out-of-doors. The first open-air museums were established in Scandinavia towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the concept soon spread throughout Europe and North America. Open-air museums are variously known as...
.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the township has a total area of 68.6 square miles (177.7 km²), of which, 68.6 square miles (177.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square mile (0.1035995244 km²) of it (0.04%) is water.
Adjacent municipalities
- Harrison TownshipHarrison Township, Bedford County, PennsylvaniaHarrison Township is a township in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,007 at the 2000 census.-History:The Diehls Covered Bridge and Heirline Covered Bridge were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980....
(southwest) - Napier Township (west)
- East Saint Clair Township (northwest)
- South Woodbury Township (north)
- Snake Spring Township (east)
- Colerain TownshipColerain Township, Bedford County, PennsylvaniaColerain Township is a township in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,147 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Adjacent municipalities:*Bedford...
(southeast) - Cumberland Valley Township (south)
- Borough of BedfordBedford, PennsylvaniaBedford is a borough in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, west of the State Capital, Harrisburg. It is the county seat of Bedford County. Bedford was established in the mid-18th century. Population counts follow: 1890, 2,242; 1900, 2,167; 1910, 2,385. The population was 3,141 at the 2000...
(surrounded)
Geology
Bedford valley is a synclinalSyncline
In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger layers closer to the center of the structure. A synclinorium is a large syncline with superimposed smaller folds. Synclines are typically a downward fold, termed a synformal syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold, with younger...
valley, with Evitts Mountain
Evitts Mountain
Evitts Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in the Ridge and Valley region of the Appalachian Mountains, located in Bedford County, Pennsylvania and Allegany County, Maryland-Geography:...
forming the eastern limb and Wills Mountain
Wills Mountain
Wills Mountain is a quartzite-capped ridge in the Ridge and Valley physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania and Maryland, USA, extending from near Bedford, Pennsylvania to near Cumberland, Maryland...
forming a part of the western limb. The northern end of Wills Mountain is known as Kinton Knob
Kinton Knob
Kinton Knob is a peak in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Kinton Knob marks the north end of Wills Mountain where it abruptly ends just southwest of the town of Bedford. The mountain has an array of communication towers on its summit. Limited views are available from the top, especially in the winter...
and the knob is the crest of a plunging anticline
Anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. The term is not to be confused with antiform, which is a purely descriptive term for any fold that is convex up. Therefore if age relationships In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is...
. The Silurian
Silurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
Tuscarora Formation
Tuscarora Formation
The Silurian Tuscarora Formation — also known as Tuscarora Sandstone or Tuscarora Quartzite — is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.-Description:...
, a hard sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, outcrops at the crests of these ridges and is stratigraphically
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
lower and thus older than the rest of the bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
in the township. The overlying formations are either Silurian or Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
in age, and include (in ascending order) the Clinton Group
Clinton Group
The Silurian Clinton Group is a mapped bedrock unit in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. It contains the Rochester Shale, Rose Hill Formation and the ridge-forming Keefer Formation...
, the Bloomsburg Formation
Bloomsburg Formation
The Silurian Bloomsburg Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Maryland. It is named for the Town of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania for which it was first described. The Bloomsburg marked the first occurrence of red sedimentary rocks in the Appalachian Basin...
, the Mifflintown Formation, the Wills Creek Formation
Wills Creek Formation
The Silurian Wills Creek Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.-Description:The Wills Creek is defined as a moderately well bedded greenish-gray shale containing local limestone and sandstone zones, or more specifically as an olive to...
, the Tonoloway Formation
Tonoloway Formation
The Late Silurian Tonoloway Formation is a mapped limestone bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.-Description:The basal 50 m consists of medium-dark-gray laminated to thin-bedded calcisiltite with shale partings and interbeds. Overlying 5 m are light-yellowish-gray to...
, the Keyser Formation
Keyser Formation
The Late Silurian to Early Devonian Keyser Formation is a mapped limestone bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.-Description:...
, the Old Port Formation
Old Port Formation
The Devonian Old Port Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. Members of the unit are also mapped in New Jersey and Virginia as parts of other formations or groups.-Description:...
, the Onondaga Formation, and the Hamilton Group
Hamilton Group
The Devonian Hamilton Group is a mapped bedrock unit in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. In Virginia, it is known as the laterally equivalent Millboro Shale.The group is named for the village of Hamilton, New York...
, which is composed of the Marcellus Shale and the Mahantango Formation
Mahantango Formation
The Devonian Mahantango Formation is a mapped bedrock "unit" in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Maryland. It is named for the North branch of the Mahantango Creek in Perry and Juniata counties in Pennsylvania. It is a member of the Hamilton Group, along with the underlying the Marcellus...
. It is the Ridgeley Member
Ridgeley sandstone
The Ridgeley sandstone is a sandstone or quartzite of Devonian age found in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, USA. The Ridgeley is fine-grained, siliceous, calcareous in its lower strata, sometimes fossiliferous, and sometimes locally pebbly or...
of the Old Port Formation, another sandstone and conglomerate
Conglomerate (geology)
A conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...
, that forms the low ridge in the center of the township south of the town of Bedford, as well as Stiffler Ridge in Dunning Cove. Dunning Cove itself is a structural basin.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 5,417 people, 2,144 households, and 1,560 families residing in the township. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 79.0 people per square mile (30.5/km²). There were 2,403 housing units at an average density of 35.0/sq mi (13.5/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 97.14% White, 1.33% African American, 0.06% Native American, 0.48% Asian, 0.24% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.
There were 2,144 households out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.2% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the township the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $36,395, and the median income for a family was $43,235. Males had a median income of $28,833 versus $21,177 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the township was $18,676. About 5.3% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.