Northumberland, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Northumberland is a borough in Northumberland County
, Pennsylvania
, United States
. The population was 3,714 at the 2000 census.
in the first Treaty of Fort Stanwix
in 1768, and the village was laid out in 1772. During the American Revolution
, Northumberland was evacuated during the Big Runaway
in 1778, and only finally resettled in 1784.
Northumberland was the American home of eighteenth-century British theologian, Dissenting
clergyman, natural philosopher
, educator, and political theorist
Joseph Priestley
(1733–1804) from 1794 until his death in 1804. The Joseph Priestley House
still stands on Priestley Avenue and is a National Historic Landmark
on the National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP) and a museum administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
. There is one other property in the borough on the NRHP: the Priestley-Forsyth Memorial Library
, built by a great grandson of Joseph Priestley. Much of the borough is part of the Northumberland Historic District
, which is also on the NRHP.
. It sits at the confluence of the north and west
branches of the Susquehanna River
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the borough has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), all of it land.
of 2000, there were 3,714 people, 1,657 households, and 1,045 families residing in the borough. The population density
was 2,368.2 people per square mile (913.4/km²). There were 1,772 housing units at an average density of 1,129.9 per square mile (435.8/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.38% White, 0.73% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.40% from other races
, and 0.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population.
There were 1,657 households out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples
living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the borough the population was spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $31,891, and the median income for a family was $38,807. Males had a median income of $31,162 versus $22,203 for females. The per capita income
for the borough was $18,229. About 4.5% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.
The local public school system is the Shikellamy School District
, with administrative offices in nearby Sunbury
. Shikellamy High School
has a 78% graduation rate according to the district report card 2005-2006. In 11th grade in the same year, 49% were proficient in math and 62% were proficient in reading. The high school is ranked 384th out of 606 public high schools in Pennsylvania.
In 2007, the Pittsburgh Business Times ranked the Shikellamy School District 434th out of 499 Pennsylvania school districts based on three years of Pennsylvania System of Student Assessment test scores.
The Shikellamy School Board set the budget at $34.62 million for 2007-2008. The board levies a variety of taxes to support its programs. Taxes include 62.5 mills
real estate tax in 2007. Per capita taxes are $5 per resident. An occupational tax, which charges a set amount based on your job title, earns approximately $1.7 million. Many see this tax as particularly unfair, as people classified in the same job title often earn vastly different amounts but have to pay the same amount. An earned income taxes of one-half of 1 percent of income yields a revenue of approximately $1.8 million. Additionally, the real estate transfer tax of one-half percent (Northumberland Borough, Point Township, Rockefeller Township) and one percent (Snydertown borough) is levied on real estate transfers.
Voters rejected a tax referendum in May 2007 which would have increased local earned income tax by 0.5 percent to reduce property taxes for homeowners and farmers by $176 on average.
SUN Area Career & Technology Center is a regional vocational school, offering adult education classes, vocational education, and technical career training. SUN Tech serves over 1500 people annually. ISO9001 and Middle States Accredited. SUN Tech was presented with the Significant Achievement Award in Education for raising their Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program criteria score to 648 points, a 345 point increase from 303 points in August, 2000.
Residents also have a wide selection of alternative schools. By law, the local public school must provide transportation to schools within 10 miles of the borders of the school district at no charge to the student.
Northumberland Christian School has graduated 312 students, beginning in 1978 and continuing each year to the present. 70% of their graduates have gone on to attend four-year colleges, including state universities, independent liberal arts colleges, and four-year Christian colleges; 12% of their graduates attended two-year college programs or two-year nursing schools; and 4% have entered the armed forces.
From their 312 Alumni, they have had 5 National Merit Scholars and 11 students who received Letters of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The average SAT score of their graduates is well above the national average.
The Central Susquehanna LPN Career Center, located in Sunbury, provides a one year full time program to prepare the individual to enter a career in licensed practical nursing. Classroom instruction and laboratory experience are offered in Sunbury. Affiliated hospitals, nursing care facilities, doctors' offices and childcare settings provide clinical experience.
lived in Northumberland for the last decade of his life, until his death in 1804. The Joseph Priestley House
remains standing, and operates as a museum.
Northumberland is also notable for the fact that two individuals intimately involved with the end of World War II are from the town. Major Gen. Uzal Girard Ent
, who had led the August, 1943, raid on the Romanian oil refineries in Ploesti, chose Col. Paul Tibbets
to lead the 509th Composite Group, asking him to organize and lead a combat force to deliver a new type of explosive device that is so powerful, its full potential was unknown. Tibbets did so, and was the commander and pilot of the Enola Gay
, the plane that delivered the first atomic bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945. The Enola Gay's navigator on the mission was Capt. Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk
, also a native of Northumberland, who was among the men hand-selected by Tibbets to accomplish the mission.
Daniel McFarlan Moore
born in Northumberland (February 27, 1869 - June 15, 1936) Moore was a U.S. electrical engineer and inventor. He developed a novel light source, the "Moore lamp", and a business that produced them in the early 1900s. The Moore lamp was the first commercially viable light-source based on gas discharges instead of incandescence; it was the predecessor to contemporary neon lighting and fluorescent lighting.[1] In his later career Moore developed a miniature neon lamp that was extensively used in electronic displays, as well as vacuum tubes that were used in early television systems.
Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
There were 38,835 households out of which 27.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.40% were married couples living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.10% were non-families. 30.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.50% had...
, 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 3,714 at the 2000 census.
History
Northumberland was founded in 1772. The land that became Northumberland was purchased from the IroquoisIroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
in the first Treaty of Fort Stanwix
Treaty of Fort Stanwix
The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was an important treaty between North American Indians and the British Empire. It was signed in 1768 at Fort Stanwix, located in present-day Rome, New York...
in 1768, and the village was laid out in 1772. During the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, Northumberland was evacuated during the Big Runaway
Big Runaway
The Big Runaway occurred in 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, when settlements throughout the West Branch Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania in what became the United States were attacked by Loyalists and Native Americans allied with the British...
in 1778, and only finally resettled in 1784.
Northumberland was the American home of eighteenth-century British theologian, Dissenting
English Dissenters
English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....
clergyman, natural philosopher
Natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science...
, educator, and political theorist
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
(1733–1804) from 1794 until his death in 1804. The Joseph Priestley House
Joseph Priestley House
The Joseph Priestley House was the American home of 18th-century British theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher , educator, and political theorist Joseph Priestley from 1798 until his death. Located in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, the house, which was designed by Priestley's wife...
still stands on Priestley Avenue and is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(NRHP) and a museum administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage...
. There is one other property in the borough on the NRHP: the Priestley-Forsyth Memorial Library
Priestley-Forsyth Memorial Library
For the 1794 structure known as the Joseph Priestly House, also in Northumberland, see the Joseph Priestley HouseThe Priestley-Forsyth Memorial Library, also known as the Dr...
, built by a great grandson of Joseph Priestley. Much of the borough is part of the Northumberland Historic District
Northumberland Historic District
The Northumberland Historic District is a historic district listed in the US government's National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The "gem" of the district is a National Historic Landmark, the Joseph Priestley House. It includes one other separately Registered Historic Place, the Dr. Joseph...
, which is also on the NRHP.
Geography
Northumberland is located at 40°53′38"N 76°47′46"W (40.893935, -76.795975), about 60 miles northeast of Harrisburg, PennsylvaniaHarrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
. It sits at the confluence of the north and west
West Branch Susquehanna River
The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the extension of the main branch, with the shorter West Branch...
branches of the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United 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 borough has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), all of it land.
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 3,714 people, 1,657 households, and 1,045 families residing in the borough. 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 2,368.2 people per square mile (913.4/km²). There were 1,772 housing units at an average density of 1,129.9 per square mile (435.8/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.38% White, 0.73% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.40% 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 0.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population.
There were 1,657 households out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% 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, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the borough the population was spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $31,891, and the median income for a family was $38,807. Males had a median income of $31,162 versus $22,203 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 borough was $18,229. About 4.5% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Shikellamy School District
Shikellamy School District is a suburban, public school district in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. It serves Northumberland Borough, Point Township, Rockefeller Township, Snydertown Borough, the City of Sunbury, and Upper Augusta Township with 4 elementary schools, two middle schools, and one...
, with administrative offices in nearby Sunbury
Sunbury, Pennsylvania
Sunbury is a city in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, just downstream of the confluence of its main and West branches. The population was 9,905 at the 2010 census...
. Shikellamy High School
Shikellamy High School
Shikellamy High School is a public high school located in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, USA. it is part of the Shikellamy School District. It is the senior high school for the communities of Northumberland, Point Township, Rockefeller Township, Snydertown Borough, the City of Sunbury, and Upper Augusta...
has a 78% graduation rate according to the district report card 2005-2006. In 11th grade in the same year, 49% were proficient in math and 62% were proficient in reading. The high school is ranked 384th out of 606 public high schools in Pennsylvania.
In 2007, the Pittsburgh Business Times ranked the Shikellamy School District 434th out of 499 Pennsylvania school districts based on three years of Pennsylvania System of Student Assessment test scores.
The Shikellamy School Board set the budget at $34.62 million for 2007-2008. The board levies a variety of taxes to support its programs. Taxes include 62.5 mills
Mill (currency)
The mill or mille is a now-abstract unit of currency used sometimes in accounting. In the United States, it is a notional unit equivalent to of a United States dollar...
real estate tax in 2007. Per capita taxes are $5 per resident. An occupational tax, which charges a set amount based on your job title, earns approximately $1.7 million. Many see this tax as particularly unfair, as people classified in the same job title often earn vastly different amounts but have to pay the same amount. An earned income taxes of one-half of 1 percent of income yields a revenue of approximately $1.8 million. Additionally, the real estate transfer tax of one-half percent (Northumberland Borough, Point Township, Rockefeller Township) and one percent (Snydertown borough) is levied on real estate transfers.
Voters rejected a tax referendum in May 2007 which would have increased local earned income tax by 0.5 percent to reduce property taxes for homeowners and farmers by $176 on average.
SUN Area Career & Technology Center is a regional vocational school, offering adult education classes, vocational education, and technical career training. SUN Tech serves over 1500 people annually. ISO9001 and Middle States Accredited. SUN Tech was presented with the Significant Achievement Award in Education for raising their Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program criteria score to 648 points, a 345 point increase from 303 points in August, 2000.
Residents also have a wide selection of alternative schools. By law, the local public school must provide transportation to schools within 10 miles of the borders of the school district at no charge to the student.
Parochial schools
- St. Monica's School provides a parochial education program for kindergarten to 8th grades. The school is a member of the National Christian Schools Association. Noncatholics seek admission to this school.
- Sunbury Christian Academy offers pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The campus is located just north of the borough of Northumberland.
- Northumberland Christian School Northumberland Christian School was founded in 1972 and is a ministry of the First Regular Baptist Church of Northumberland, Pa. The school offers a full educational program for students from preschool through high school. High school students must complete a minimum of 26 credits in order to graduate. All students must complete 4 credits in English, 3 credits in social studies, 3 credits in math, 3 credits in science and 2 credits in health and physical education.
Northumberland Christian School has graduated 312 students, beginning in 1978 and continuing each year to the present. 70% of their graduates have gone on to attend four-year colleges, including state universities, independent liberal arts colleges, and four-year Christian colleges; 12% of their graduates attended two-year college programs or two-year nursing schools; and 4% have entered the armed forces.
From their 312 Alumni, they have had 5 National Merit Scholars and 11 students who received Letters of Commendation from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The average SAT score of their graduates is well above the national average.
Charter Public Schools
- Connections Academy provides a form of public school that students can attend from home. This is a unique program that combines strong parental involvement, the expertise and accountability of publicly funded education, and the flexibility of online classes. Centered on meeting students needs and goals. Has a K-11th program. Students are required to take all state mandated, standardized tests in person at locations designated by the school.
- SusQ-Cyber Charter School provides students in grades 9-12 with an electronically delivered accredited high school curriculum.
- 21st Century Cyber Charter School is a state accredited, diploma granting school serving Pennsylvania students in grades 6 through 12. Modifications are made to suit individual student learning styles, varying academic levels and scheduling needs. Most classes are offered in honors, college prep, and career paths. All of the classes are designed to prepare the student for standardized tests such as the PSSAs.
- Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School provides a structured yet flexible, interactive environment in a program for Kindergarten through 10th grade. The rigorous instruction, high standards, informed guidance, and individual attention provide each student with the opportunity to be highly successful. Teachers interact with students via email. Additionally the Elluminate classroom gives the student access to their teachers during the teacher’s office hours to ask questions related to content of a subject. "An independent audit of cyber-charter schools by KPMG Consulting, which was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, praised PAVCS for offering a well-researched program and an appropriate assessment plan."
The Central Susquehanna LPN Career Center, located in Sunbury, provides a one year full time program to prepare the individual to enter a career in licensed practical nursing. Classroom instruction and laboratory experience are offered in Sunbury. Affiliated hospitals, nursing care facilities, doctors' offices and childcare settings provide clinical experience.
Government
A seven-seat Council governs the Borough of Northumberland, with a mayor taking on a largely ceremonial role. Council members serve for four-year terms, as does the mayor. The current mayor, Len Zboray was appointed in July 2011 to complete the term of Past Mayor Gretchen Brosius upon her resignation.Notable people
English chemist and co-discoverer of oxygen Joseph PriestleyJoseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
lived in Northumberland for the last decade of his life, until his death in 1804. The Joseph Priestley House
Joseph Priestley House
The Joseph Priestley House was the American home of 18th-century British theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher , educator, and political theorist Joseph Priestley from 1798 until his death. Located in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, the house, which was designed by Priestley's wife...
remains standing, and operates as a museum.
Northumberland is also notable for the fact that two individuals intimately involved with the end of World War II are from the town. Major Gen. Uzal Girard Ent
Uzal Girard Ent
Uzal Girard Ent was an American Army Air Force officer who served as the commander of the Ninth and the Second Air Forces during World War II.-Biography:Ent was born on March 3, 1900, in Northumberland, Pennsylvania...
, who had led the August, 1943, raid on the Romanian oil refineries in Ploesti, chose Col. Paul Tibbets
Paul Tibbets
Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force, best known for being the pilot of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare. The bomb, code-named Little Boy, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima...
to lead the 509th Composite Group, asking him to organize and lead a combat force to deliver a new type of explosive device that is so powerful, its full potential was unknown. Tibbets did so, and was the commander and pilot of the Enola Gay
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
, the plane that delivered the first atomic bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945. The Enola Gay's navigator on the mission was Capt. Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk
Theodore Van Kirk
Theodore Van Kirk is a former United States Army Air Force navigator. He is famous as the navigator of the Enola Gay when it dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima...
, also a native of Northumberland, who was among the men hand-selected by Tibbets to accomplish the mission.
Daniel McFarlan Moore
Daniel McFarlan Moore
Daniel McFarlan Moore was a U.S. electrical engineer and inventor. He developed a novel light source, the "Moore lamp", and a business that produced them in the early 1900s...
born in Northumberland (February 27, 1869 - June 15, 1936) Moore was a U.S. electrical engineer and inventor. He developed a novel light source, the "Moore lamp", and a business that produced them in the early 1900s. The Moore lamp was the first commercially viable light-source based on gas discharges instead of incandescence; it was the predecessor to contemporary neon lighting and fluorescent lighting.[1] In his later career Moore developed a miniature neon lamp that was extensively used in electronic displays, as well as vacuum tubes that were used in early television systems.