Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
.JPG) View of Beaver Falls from across theBeaver River. | |
 Seal  Logo | |
| Nicknames: BF, Birthplace of College Basketball | |
 Location in Beaver County, Pennsylvania | |
  Beaver Falls  Beaver Falls | |
| Coordinates:40°45′32″N80°19′11″W / 40.75889°N 80.31972°W /40.75889; -80.31972 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Pennsylvania |
| County | Beaver |
| Incorporated | November 9, 1868 (borough) December 3, 1928 (city) |
| Government | |
| • Type | Home rule charter |
| • Mayor | Kenya Johns |
| • City manager | Charles Jones Jr. |
| Area | |
• Total | 2.36 sq mi (6.11 km2) |
| • Land | 2.14 sq mi (5.53 km2) |
| • Water | 0.22 sq mi (0.58 km2) |
| Population | |
• Total | 9,005 |
| • Density | 4,216.9/sq mi (1,628.15/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Code | 15010 |
| FIPS code | 42-04792 |
| Website | beaverfallspa |
Beaver Falls is acity inBeaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 9,005 at the2020 census.[3] Located 31 miles (50 km) northwest ofPittsburgh, the city lies along theBeaver River, six miles (9 km) north of its confluence with theOhio River. It is a part of thePittsburgh metropolitan area.
The area of present-day Beaver Falls was first mentioned in 1770 in the journals of David Zeisberger, aMoravian Churchmissionary who eventually settled in present-dayLawrence County. ALenape chief namedPakanke took Zeisberger to the valley surrounding theBeaver River, where the Lenape owned a large tract of open land which Zeisberger was given access to.[4] In April 1770, Zeisberger and his followers set out in 16 canoes down theAllegheny andOhio rivers, reaching the mouth of the Beaver three days later. They made their way up to what was called the “Falls of the Beaver," where they encamped.[4] The town originally formed around the middle falls area was named Brighton afterBrighton, England, which was the hometown of the area's surveyors.[4]
Despite early promise through thecanal business on the falls, the town fell behind neighboringNew Brighton after repeated poor economic periods. The earlier proprietors sold the land to theHarmony Society in 1859.[4] The Harmonists immediately brought in surveyors to re-plan Brighton, laying out a town twice the size of the original, paving several main streets with brick and officially changing the name of the community to Beaver Falls.[4] The rapid revitalization of the community allowed it to gain borough status on November 9, 1868. In the 1870s, Beaver Falls had aChinatown and had up to 225 Chinese residents, brought in to work atBeaver Falls Cutlery Company moved in to the borough by the Harmonists.[5][6]
In 1932, the Borough ofCollege Hill merged with the city, nearly doubling its size.[7]
On May 31, 1985, an F3tornado hit just north of the city as it went across northern portions of Beaver County, as part of the1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak.[8]
The population declined nearly 50% between 1940 and 2000, which is attributed mostly to its central location in theRust Belt.[9][10][11]
Beaver Falls experiences ahumid continental climate with cold winters and hot summers. The hottest month is July with a mean temperature of 72.1 °F (22.3 °C) and the coldest month is January with a mean temperature of 27.6 °F (−2.4 °C).
| Climate data for Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania (Beaver Falls 1NE) 1991–2020 normals (records 2011–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 67 (19) | 76 (24) | 77 (25) | 86 (30) | 94 (34) | 92 (33) | 97 (36) | 92 (33) | 95 (35) | 89 (32) | 82 (28) | 69 (21) | 97 (36) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 35.9 (2.2) | 39.0 (3.9) | 48.3 (9.1) | 61.6 (16.4) | 71.5 (21.9) | 78.9 (26.1) | 83.1 (28.4) | 82.2 (27.9) | 75.6 (24.2) | 63.8 (17.7) | 51.0 (10.6) | 40.3 (4.6) | 60.9 (16.1) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 27.6 (−2.4) | 29.1 (−1.6) | 37.6 (3.1) | 49.1 (9.5) | 59.7 (15.4) | 67.7 (19.8) | 72.1 (22.3) | 70.9 (21.6) | 64.3 (17.9) | 52.8 (11.6) | 41.3 (5.2) | 32.4 (0.2) | 50.4 (10.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 19.2 (−7.1) | 19.1 (−7.2) | 26.8 (−2.9) | 36.6 (2.6) | 47.8 (8.8) | 56.4 (13.6) | 61.1 (16.2) | 59.5 (15.3) | 52.9 (11.6) | 41.8 (5.4) | 31.5 (−0.3) | 24.5 (−4.2) | 39.8 (4.3) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −9 (−23) | −12 (−24) | −1 (−18) | 18 (−8) | 28 (−2) | 40 (4) | 49 (9) | 49 (9) | 36 (2) | 29 (−2) | 13 (−11) | 0 (−18) | −12 (−24) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 3.14 (80) | 2.40 (61) | 3.07 (78) | 3.65 (93) | 3.84 (98) | 4.26 (108) | 4.82 (122) | 3.50 (89) | 3.62 (92) | 3.06 (78) | 2.95 (75) | 3.01 (76) | 40.32 (1,024) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 14 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 144 |
| Source: NOAA[12] | |||||||||||||
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(August 2022) |
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 3,112 | — | |
| 1880 | 5,104 | 64.0% | |
| 1890 | 9,735 | 90.7% | |
| 1900 | 10,054 | 3.3% | |
| 1910 | 12,191 | 21.3% | |
| 1920 | 12,802 | 5.0% | |
| 1930 | 17,147 | 33.9% | |
| 1940 | 17,098 | −0.3% | |
| 1950 | 17,375 | 1.6% | |
| 1960 | 16,240 | −6.5% | |
| 1970 | 14,635 | −9.9% | |
| 1980 | 12,525 | −14.4% | |
| 1990 | 10,687 | −14.7% | |
| 2000 | 9,920 | −7.2% | |
| 2010 | 8,987 | −9.4% | |
| 2020 | 9,005 | 0.2% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[13][2] | |||
As of the2000 census,[14] there were 9,920 people, 3,798 households, and 2,259 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,681.6 inhabitants per square mile (1,807.6/km2). There were 4,380 housing units at an average density of 2,067.1 per square mile (798.1/km2). Theracial makeup of the city was 78.82% White, 17.53% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.50% from other races, and 2.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.06% of the population.
Beaver Falls had been athird class city under the Pennsylvania local government structure until ahome rule charter went into effect on January 3, 2022.[15] The city's charter maintains a commissionedmayor-council form of government; a mayor and four city council members constitute the commission and serve as the governing body of the city. Since the 2021 election cycle, the mayor has been Kenya Johns.[15]
Acity manager is employed to oversee day to day operations and oversight of the city’s main departments: Administration, Department of Finance & Taxation, Department of Public Works, Fire Department, Police Department, and Community Development.[15]
Children in Beaver Falls are served by theBig Beaver Falls Area School District.[16] The current schools serving Beaver Falls are:
Beaver Falls has been the home ofGeneva College, aprivateChristianliberal arts college, since 1880. Located in the city'sCollege Hill neighborhood, the college has a student body of approximately 1,400 students.[17] Their sports teams are called the Golden Tornadoes and compete as a member of thePresidents' Athletic Conference.
The city has a public library, theCarnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls, which was the first dedicated library building in Beaver County. It was a financedCarnegie library, opening in 1899.[18]: 5
The closest airport to the city isBeaver County Airport. Though located inAllegheny County,Pittsburgh International Airport is within close proximity of Beaver Falls, and is easily accessible by way ofI-376 (formerPA 60).[19]
The following highways pass through Beaver Falls:
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Texts on Wikisource:Municipalities and communities ofBeaver County, Pennsylvania,United States | ||
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| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties. | |
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