Lansford, Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
 St. Katharine Drexel Church in theLansford Historic District in July 2013 | |
 Location of Lansford inCarbon County, Pennsylvania | |
  Lansford Location in the United States Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:40°49′53″N75°53′0″W / 40.83139°N 75.88333°W /40.83139; -75.88333 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Carbon |
| Borough (Pennsylvania) | c. 1827 along withCoaldale, Pennsylvania |
| Area | |
• Total | 1.54 sq mi (3.98 km2) |
| • Land | 1.54 sq mi (3.98 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,145 ft (349 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 4,141 |
| • Density | 2,695.3/sq mi (1,040.68/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Code | 18232 |
| Area codes | 570 |
| FIPS code | 42-41464 |
| Website | www |
Lansford is acounty-borderborough (town) inCarbon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part ofNortheastern Pennsylvania. It is located 37 miles (60 km) northwest ofAllentown and 19 miles south ofHazleton in thePanther Creek Valley about 72 miles (116 km) fromPhiladelphia and abutting the cross-county sister-city ofCoaldale inSchuylkill County.
The whole valley was owned and subdivided into separate lots by the historically importantLehigh Coal & Navigation Company, locally called the Old Company, which likely settled some structures on the lands by 1827.[a]
Lansford grew with the development of localanthracitecoal mines and was named afterAsa Lansford Foster, who was an advocate for merging the small patch towns that developed in the area surrounding the anthracite coal mines.
The population was 3,941 at the2010 census, a steep decline from a high of 9,632 at the1930 census common to many mining towns inNortheastern Pennsylvania.[4]
Lansford's first school was opened in 1847 on Abbott Street. Lansford's first church, the Welsh Congregational, was built in 1850 and still stands today on West Abbott Street.
The old No. 9 Mine and Museum in Lansford, a deep mine which operated from 1855 to 1972, is now open as atourist attraction offering tours of the mine and a wealth of information on local mining history. Amuseum occupying the mine's former Wash Shanty building on the site displays a large collection of mining artifacts.
One of the local mine bosses, John P. Jones, was murdered in Lansford, reportedly in connection with labor union strife, attributed to members of a secret society known as theMolly Maguires, many of whom were put on trial and hanged in Carbon and Schuylkill Counties during the mid- to late 1870s.
Lansford was the home of the firstCommercial Cable Television system in the United States.
TheLansford Historic District was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 2012.[5]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km2), all of it land. The town shares the border of Carbon and Schuylkill County with the abutting neighboring community of Coaldale, which isde facto, a suburban bedroom neighborhood. Lansford is 1 mile north ofSummit Hill (where the first anthracite deposits mined by theLehigh Coal Company were discovered in the 1780s); 10 miles west ofLehighton, and 6 miles northeast ofTamaqua. Lansford's elevation is 1145 feet above sea level. It is also 36 miles northwest ofAllentown and 9 miles south ofHazleton. It is located on the northwestern fringe of theLehigh Valley and is at the southern end of theCoal Region and thePocono Mountains.
Lansford sits on the north slope ofPisgah Mountain above and along the south bank of thePanther Creek tributary of theLittle Schuylkill River, athwartUS-209 west ofJim Thorpe,Nesquehoning, and the eastern extent of theLehigh-Schuylkill drainage divide, down slope and below historicSummit Hill and east of abuttingCoaldale andTamaqua, Pennsylvania, both farther downstream and west.Nesquehoning Mountain dominates the north bank across the Panther Creek and the rich coal mines of the valley shipped coal through the 3,800 feet (1,158.2 m) longHauto Tunnel of theCentral Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) competing for the rich trade with New York City and Philadelphia.
Hugh Vrablic is the Mayor of Lansford and is assisted by a council. The town also has a fire department and a police force.
Lansford is part of the Panther Valley School District and is the home of their newly remodeled football stadium and walking track.
_at_Jones_Street_in_Lansford%2c_Carbon_County%2c_Pennsylvania.jpg)
As of 2007, there were 15.45 miles (24.86 km) of public roads in Lansford, of which 2.15 miles (3.46 km) were maintained by thePennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and 13.30 miles (21.40 km) were maintained by the borough.[6]
U.S. Route 209 is the main highway serving Lansford. It follows Patterson Street along a southwest-northeast alignment through the center of town.Pennsylvania Route 902 begins at US 209 and heads southeastward along Spring Garden Street.
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 2,206 | — | |
| 1890 | 4,004 | 81.5% | |
| 1900 | 4,888 | 22.1% | |
| 1910 | 8,321 | 70.2% | |
| 1920 | 9,625 | 15.7% | |
| 1930 | 9,632 | 0.1% | |
| 1940 | 8,710 | −9.6% | |
| 1950 | 7,486 | −14.1% | |
| 1960 | 5,958 | −20.4% | |
| 1970 | 5,168 | −13.3% | |
| 1980 | 4,466 | −13.6% | |
| 1990 | 4,583 | 2.6% | |
| 2000 | 4,230 | −7.7% | |
| 2010 | 3,941 | −6.8% | |
| 2020 | 4,141 | 5.1% | |
| Sources:[7][8][9][2] | |||
As of thecensus[8] of 2000, there were 4,230 people, 1,878 households, and 1,098 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,710.0 inhabitants per square mile (1,046.3/km2). There were 2,228 housing units at an average density of 1,427.4 per square mile (551.1/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.18%White, 0.35%African American, 0.07%Native American, 0.31%Asian, 0.07%Pacific Islander, 0.28% fromother races, and 0.73% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino people of any race were 1.42% of the population.
There were 1,878 households, out of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.4% weremarried couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.5% were non-families. 37.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the borough the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 25.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $27,478, and the median income for a family was $37,773. Males had a median income of $30,405 versus $22,255 for females. Theper capita income for the borough was $14,347. About 10.9% of families and 14.3% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.
WLSH is a locally owned 5,000-watt station at 1410 on the AM dial which signed-on December 24, 1952. The call letters stand for Lansford and neighboringSummit Hill.
Municipalities and communities ofCarbon County, Pennsylvania,United States | ||
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| Other communities | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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