Fairmount Township is a township in

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States. The population was 1,207 at the 2020 census. Fairmount Township is home to

Ricketts Glen State Park Ricketts Glen State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on 13,193 acres (5,280 ha) in Columbia, Luzerne, and Sullivan counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. Ricketts Glen is a National Natural Landmark known for its old-growth fore ...

. The park receives tens of thousands of visitors each year.

History

Early history

Fairmount Township is in Pennsylvania, where humans have lived since at least 10000 BC. The first settlers in the state were Paleo-Indian

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

ic hunters known from their

stone tool A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

s.Kent, Smith, McCann, pp. 4, 7–11, 85–96, 195–201.Wallace (2005), pp. 4–12, 84–89, 99–105, 145–148, 157–164. The

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

s of the Archaic period, which lasted locally from 7000 to 1000 BC, used a greater variety of more sophisticated stone artifacts. The

Woodland period In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 Common Era, BCE to European con ...

marked the gradual transition to semi-permanent villages and

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, between 1000 BC and 1500 AD. Archeological evidence found in the state from this time includes a range of pottery types and styles,

burial mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a ...

, pipes, bows and arrows, and ornaments. Fairmount Township is in the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

drainage basin, the earliest recorded inhabitants of which were the

Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian la ...

-speaking

Susquehannock The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...

s. They were a

matriarchal Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general E ...

society that lived in

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived ...

d villages of large

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...

s, but their numbers were greatly reduced by disease and warfare with the Five Nations of the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

, and by 1675 they had died out, moved away, or been assimilated into other tribes. After the demise of the Susquehannocks, the lands of the Susquehanna River valley were under the nominal control of the Iroquois, who also lived in longhouses, primarily in what is now the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The Iroquois had a strong confederacy which gave them power beyond their numbers.Wallace (1987), pp. 66–72, 130–132. To fill the void left by the demise of the Susquehannocks, the Iroquois encouraged displaced tribes from the east to settle in the Susquehanna watershed, including the

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

and

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

(or Delaware).Donehoo, pp. 154–155, 215–219. The

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

(1754–1763) and subsequent colonial expansion encouraged the migration of many Native Americans westward to the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

basin. On November 5, 1768, the British acquired land, known in Pennsylvania as the New Purchase, from the Iroquois in the

Treaty of Fort Stanwix The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotiated between Sir William J ...

; this included what is now Fairmount Township. After the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, Native Americans almost entirely left Pennsylvania. In 1890, a Native American pot, decorated in the style of "the peoples of the Susquehanna region," was found under a rock ledge on Kitchen Creek by Murray Reynolds.

Township

The first Europeans came to the region in the 18th century. The first settler in the township was John Franklin of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. Additional settlers followed in Franklin's footsteps (e.g., Levi Seward and Nathaniel Goss). Under the Connecticut title—previous to 1776—it was originally known as Bloomingdale Township. The name was changed to Huntington Township in 1799 in honor of Samuel Huntington, a native of Connecticut and one of the signers of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

. Fairmount Township broke away from Huntington Township in the 1830s; it was officially incorporated as a township in 1834.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.07%, is water. It is located in the northwestern corner of Luzerne County. The northern portion of Fairmount Township is mostly made up of mountains, lakes, streams, and thick forests.

is located in this half of the township. The southern half of Fairmount Township consists mostly of farmland and forests; the villages of Mossville and Rittenhouse are located in this part of the township. PA 118 and PA 487 intersect in the western part of the township in the village of Red Rock.

Ricketts Glen State Park

Much of

is in Fairmount Township. The park offers

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

, and

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

Lake Jean Lake Jean is a lake in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County and Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, Sullivan County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It has a surface area of approximately and is situated in Colley Township, Sullivan Coun ...

is used for

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

, and

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

. In winter there is

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

ice fishing Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities. Shelters Longer ...

on the lake, and ice climbing on the frozen falls. Almost all of Kitchen Creek and the 24 named

waterfalls A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

are in the township.

File:Ricketts Glen State Park Map.png, alt=A map showing Kitchen Creek flowing southeast from Ganoga Lake, through Lake Jean, and then through the dry bed of Lake Rose into Ganoga Glen with ten waterfalls. A second branch of the creek flows south through the dry bed of Lake Leigh, then through Glen Leigh and its eight waterfalls. These branches meet at Waters Meet and the creek flows south through Ricketts Glen and its six waterfalls. The South Branch Bowman Creek is east of Lake Leigh and Big Run is west of Lake Rose. Pennsylvania Route 487 runs north-south at left, and Pennsylvania Route 118 runs east-west at the bottom of the map. County borders are also shown. , , 800px, center rect 98 829 184 864

Sullivan County, Pennsylvania Sullivan County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,840, making it the second-least populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Laporte ...

rect 76 987 163 1023

Columbia County, Pennsylvania Columbia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,727. Its county seat is Bloomsburg. The county was created on March 22, 1813, from part ...

rect 121 562 206 601

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

rect 182 454 240 512

Pennsylvania Route 487 Pennsylvania Route 487 (PA 487) is a , north–south state highway running from PA 61 in Shamokin Township, Northumberland County, to PA 87 (near its intersection with US 220) in Dushore, Sullivan County. In Bloomsburg, PA 487 and US 11 ...

rect 674 670 792 692

Pennsylvania Route 118 Pennsylvania Route 118 (PA 118) is a state route located in northeastern Pennsylvania. The western terminus of the route is at PA 405 in Hughesville. The eastern terminus is at PA 415 in Dallas. The road is known briefly as East Wa ...

rect 471 596 543 632 Ricketts Glen rect 655 280 780 319

Bowman Creek Bowman Creek (also known as Bowmans Creek or Bowman's Creek) is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Luzerne County and Wyoming County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Ross Township and Lake To ...

rect 505 6 646 41

rect 477 651 543 690 Kitchen Creek rect 494 750 551 770 Adams Falls rect 366 733 485 753 Kitchen Creek Falls rect 499 546 618 563 Shingle Cabin Falls rect 491 488 632 506 Murray Reynolds Falls rect 487 471 631 488 Sheldon Reynolds Falls rect 480 454 615 470 Harrison Wright Falls rect 413 398 469 437 Waters Meet rect 447 298 494 334 Glen Leigh rect 478 428 556 445 Wyandot Falls rect 483 410 585 427 B. Reynolds Falls rect 485 392 595 408 R. B. Ricketts Falls rect 483 376 539 391 Ozone Falls rect 491 348 545 365 Huron Falls rect 496 326 573 345 Shawnee Falls rect 498 306 604 323 F.L. Ricketts Falls rect 500 287 585 304 Onondaga Falls rect 356 355 421 389 Ganoga Glen rect 427 521 463 538 Erie Falls rect 362 503 447 519 Tuscarora Falls rect 325 487 415 503 Conestoga Falls rect 321 472 394 488 Mohican Falls rect 285 452 367 470 Delaware Falls rect 312 434 377 450 Seneca Falls rect 308 418 373 434 Ganoga Falls rect 286 398 349 414 Cayuga Falls rect 276 383 337 398 Oneida Falls rect 248 365 321 382 Mohawk Falls rect 306 116 352 156

rect 253 295 344 340 Lake Rose rect 564 165 614 209

Lake Leigh Leigh Lake is located in Grand Teton National Park, in the U. S. state of Wyoming. The glacially formed lake is wide and long from north to south. Situated just southeast of Mount Moran, the lake is at the terminus of both Paintbrush and Leigh Ca ...

rect 4 234 78 259 Big Run (Fishing Creek tributary) rect 63 0 130 35

Ganoga Lake Ganoga Lake is a natural lake in Colley Township in southeastern Sullivan County in Pennsylvania, United States. Known as Robinson's Lake and Long Pond for most of the 19th century, the lake was purchased by the Ricketts family in the early 185 ...

desc bottom-left

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 1,226 people, 490 households, and 347 families residing in the township. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 26.9 people per square mile (10.4/km²). There were 598 housing units at an average density of 13.1/sq mi (5.1/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 97.72%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.57%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.98% Native American, 0.16%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.08%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, and 0.49% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 0.33% of the population. There were 490 households, out of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.0% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.99. In the township the population was spread out, with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.4 males. The median income for a household in the township was $37,656, and the median income for a family was $45,208. Males had a median income of $31,979 versus $21,103 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the township was $16,334. About 7.4% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 18.3% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

References

{{authority control Townships in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania