Map of the early settlements of Delaware County, PennsylvaniaTheold Chester Courthouse, built in 1724
Delaware County lies in the river and bay drainage area named "Delaware" in honor ofThomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, Governor of the nearby English colony ofVirginia. The land was explored byHenry Hudson in 1609, and over the next several decades it was variously claimed and settled by theSwedes, theDutch, and theEnglish. Its original human inhabitants were theLenape tribe of American Indians.
Once the Dutch were defeated and the extent ofNew York was determined, KingCharles II of England made his grant toWilliam Penn to found the colony which came to be namedPennsylvania. Penn divided his colony into three counties: Bucks, Philadelphia, and Chester. The riverfront land south ofPhiladelphia, being the most accessible, was quickly granted and settled. In 1789, the southeastern portion ofChester County was divided from the rest and named Delaware County for theDelaware River.
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 191 square miles (490 km2), of which 184 square miles (480 km2) is land and 6.8 square miles (18 km2) (3.5%) is water.[5] It is the third-smallest county in Pennsylvania by area.
Delaware County is roughly diamond- or kite-shaped, with the four sides formed by theChester County boundary to the northwest, the boundary with the state ofDelaware, a portion of the "Twelve-Mile Circle") to the southwest, theDelaware River, forming the border with the state ofNew Jersey) to the southeast, and the city ofPhiladelphia andMontgomery County to the east and northeast.
Thelowest point in the state of Pennsylvania is located on the Delaware River inMarcus Hook in Delaware County, where it flows out of Pennsylvania and intoDelaware. The highest point in Delaware County is 500 feet at two points southeast of Wyola in Newtown Township.[6]
Waterways in Delaware County generally flow in a southward direction and ultimately drain into the Delaware River. The waterways are, from west to east: theBrandywine River (forming a portion of the county's western boundary with Chester County),Naaman's Creek, Stoney Creek,Chester Creek,Ridley Creek,Crum Creek, Muckinipates Creek,Darby Creek andCobbs Creek (forming a portion of the county's eastern boundary with Philadelphia). Crum Creek was dammed in 1931 nearPennsylvania Route 252 to fillSprington Lake (also known as Geist Reservoir), an approximately 391-acre (1.58 km2)[7] drinking water reservoir maintained byAqua America, the county's largest lake.
As of the2020 census, the county was 63% White non-Hispanic, 22% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American or Alaskan Native, 6.3% Asian, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 0.1% Native Hawaiian, and 3.5% were two or more races.
As of the2000 census, there were 550,864 people, 206,320 households, and 139,472 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,990 inhabitants per square mile (1,150/km2). There were 216,978 housing units at an average density of 1,178 per square mile (455/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 80.3% White, 14.5% African American, 0.1%Native American, 3.3% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races. 1.5% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race. 24.6% were of Irish, 17.5% Italian, 10.1% German and 6.7% English ancestry.
There were 206,320 households, out of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.8% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 27.6% 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 2.56 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.8% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $50,092, and the median income for a family was $61,590. Males had a median income of $44,155 versus $31,831 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,040. About 5.8% of families and 8.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.0% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.
Map of Delaware County, Pennsylvania with municipal labels showing cities (yellow), boroughs (red), townships (white), and census-designated places (blue)
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities:cities,boroughs,townships, and exactly onetown. There are 49 municipalities in Delaware County:
Census-designated places are geographical areas designated by theU.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.
The county has operated under a home-rule charter with five at-large council-members since 1972.
Until the 1990s, Delaware County was regarded as a classic suburban Republican county. The Delaware County Republicanpolitical machine was controlled by William McClure and his sonJohn J. McClure from 1875 to 1965.[18] Delaware County voted for the Republican candidate all but once from 1860 through 1988, with the exception beingLyndon Johnson's national landslide of1964.
In 1992, however, the county swung from a 21-point win forGeorge H. W. Bush to a narrow one-point win forBill Clinton, who became only the second Democrat to win the county in the 20th century. Clinton won it just under 10 points in 1996, coming up just short of a majority. The county has gone Democratic in every Presidential election since then by 10 points or more by progressively-increasing margins. In the2004 election Democratic presidential candidateJohn Kerry won the county by 14 points.Barack Obama won it by large 21-point margins in each of his bids for president.Hillary Clinton carried it by an equally substantial 22 points in 2016.Joe Biden carried it in 2020 with 62 percent of the vote, his second-strongest performance in Pennsylvania.Donald Trump turned in the worst showing for a Republican in the county in over 160 years.
Driving the county's Democratic shift have been longstanding trends in voter registration advantage and demographics. In 1998, Republicans held a voter registration advantage of about 125,000,[19] but by 2008 that advantage had shrunk to under 20,000 voters.[20] As of theNovember 2021 election, Democrats enjoyed a voter registration advantage of 50,000. Propelling and compounding the voter registration shift has been a change in demographics in the county. Since the2000 Census, the White population of the county has decreased from 80.3% to 68.5% as of the2020 Census, while, the Black population has risen from 14.5% to 22.7%, driven by thegentrification ofPhiladelphia andUniversity City neighborhood and rapid demographic shift inUpper Darby.[21][22][23] Further increasing the shift has been the change in education level demographics in the county, as voters have become more college educated and white collar (and, in turn, less blue collar) over the past few decades.
While the longstanding Republican registration edge has been erased, Republicans still remain competitive with Democrats at the state and local level. Most Republicans from the county tend to be fiscally conservative and socially moderate, as is the case with Republicans from most suburban Philadelphia counties. In the 2004US Senate election, RepublicanArlen Specter defeatedJoe Hoeffel but DemocratBob Casey, Jr. defeatedRick Santorum in the 2006 Senate election. All three Democratic state row office candidates carried it in 2008. In 2016, Delaware County elected all Democrats in national office elections except Republican Patrick Meehan (U.S. Representative).[24]
After the election ofDonald Trump in2016, the county rapidly shifted blue as a result of increased Democratic turnout and less enthusiasm from often less conservative suburban Republicans. In the 2019 elections for the Delaware County Council, Democrats swept the board and elected Monica Taylor, Elaine P. Schaefer, and Christine Reuther, gaining control of the county Council for the first time since theCivil War.[25] This was the first time in history that the county had an all-Democratic Council.[26]
As of 2020, all of Delaware County is located in the state's5th congressional district, represented by DemocratMary Gay Scanlon. Prior to 2019, most of Delaware County had been in the7th congressional district. The district had been held for 20 years by RepublicanCurt Weldon until he was ousted byJoe Sestak, a retired admiral, in the 2006U.S. House of Representatives election. Also in the 2006 election, DemocratBryan Lentz unseated Republican incumbent State RepresentativeTom Gannon in the161st House district. In 2010 Sestak ran for thesenate seat vacated by Arlen Specter and was replaced by RepublicanPat Meehan, who defeated Lentz, the Democratic candidate. Lentz was replaced in the State House byJoe Hackett, a Republican. Meehan represented the 7th district until his resignation on April 27, 2018.[27] Before it was thrown out by aPennsylvania Supreme Court decision in 2018, the 7th Congressional District had been regarded one of the most irregularly drawn districts in the nation.[28]
Row officers, a term unique to Pennsylvania, are a conglomeration of elected officials defined by Article IX, Section 4 of thePennsylvania Constitution. This unit of officers includes the position of controller, District Attorney, treasurer, sheriff, register of wills, recorder of deeds,prothonotaries, clerks of the court, and the coroner. It is thought that this term originated because these positions were arranged in a row on a typical ballot.[31]
In 1963 theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia had 48 Catholic K-8/elementary schools in Delaware County with a total of 39,695 students, which was the highest ever enrollment. From 1971 to 2012, 20 of these schools closed, with ten of them closing from 2003 to 2012. By 2012 there were 28 Catholic K-8/elementary schools in Delaware County with a total of 8,291 students.[36] One notable private school isFriends School Haverford.
Delaware County is bisected north to south byBlue Route Interstate 476, which connectsI-76 just north of the extreme northern corner of the county toI-95, which parallels theDelaware River along the southeastern edge of the county.
The western portion ofPhiladelphia International Airport is located in Delaware County, and the county hosts some airport-related commerce such as Philadelphia'sUPS terminal and airport hotels.
Delaware County is the home of one of oldest baseball leagues in the country, the Delco League, which at one time was known for featuring future, former, and even current major league players who were offered more money than their current teams would pay them.[40][41][42]
Every summer, Delaware County is home to the Delco Pro-Am, a basketball league consisting of current, future, and former NBA players as well as local standout players.[43]
The county is serviced by several newspapers, includingDelaware County Daily Times,News of Delaware County,The Spirit, andThe Suburban and Wayne Times.[citation needed]
The Philadelphia Inquirer also has a significant presence in Delaware County.Delaware County Magazine is the news magazine with the largest circulation in Delaware County, reaching over 186,000 homes.
Delaware County has two physical geographic regions: thePiedmont and theAtlantic Coastal Plain, Most of the county has ahumid subtropical climate (Cfa) while some higher northern areas have a hot-summerhumid continental climate (Dfa.). Thehardiness zone is mostly 7b except for 7a in areas closer to Chester County (except along the Brandywine Creek) and 8a in Ridley Township near the Delaware River.[1]
Climate data for Newtown Square (Elevation: 456 ft; 139 m) 1981–2010 Averages
^Includes Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Chester, Lehigh and Northampton Counties
^"PHMC Historical Markers Search".Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Archived fromthe original(Searchable database) on March 21, 2016. RetrievedFebruary 11, 2015.
^"Chapter 7 7–11Archived March 20, 2012, at theWayback Machine." Comprehensive Zoning Plan. Thornbury Township. Retrieved on September 6, 2011. "The three major institutions found in the Township, the Delaware County Prison, Glen Mills Schools and Cheyney University[...]"
^ab"Delaware County Prison". Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. RetrievedSeptember 7, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)." Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Retrieved on September 6, 2011. "George W. Hill Correctional Facility (Delaware County Prison), which is located on 500 Cheyney Road in Thornbury Township[...]"
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