Palo Alto is a
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
in
Schuylkill County,
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. Bacon Street is the main street of town.
This borough stretches along the south bank of the
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It f ...
, and maintains its own fire department and police department, but shares its zip code, telephone exchanges and school district with the city of
Pottsville.
The population was nine hundred and seventy-one at the time of the 2020 census.
History
Heavily forested until the mid-1870s, the land which became the community of Palo Alto was the site of a log cabin and wooden blacksmith's shanty earlier in the nineteenth century. As more and more settlers arrived in the region, the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad
The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail.
Commonly called ...
and the Schuylkill Navigation Company (later known as the
Schuylkill Canal) opened stops here. In response, the neighboring land was surveyed and plotted out by John G. Hewes between late 1844 and early 1845 to create the town of Palo Alto.
As more boatmen and other laborers arrived to work on the canal and railroad, mining companies continued to increase their hiring of miners to work deep underground in their anthracite coal collieries that were operating across Schuylkill County, which sparked the opening of stores and other businesses to serve the town's growing population.
A public school was established sometime during this phase of the community's expansion; it was situated in the town's eastern section.
Officially incorporated as a borough in 1854, Palo Alto may have been given its name because of "very high timber
hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
grew on the mountain above it," according to historians.
The borough's first elected officials were Burgess Waters S. Chillson, William. M. Stellwagon, clerk, and borough council members Wiiliam Bensinger, Allen Enison, John Griner, Jacob Lime, David Riley, and William Stellwagon. A second public school was then opened in the borough's western section. Both schools were two-room structures with stone exteriors.
Between 1854 and 1855, William Harris erected and began operating a large rolling mill plant, which produced railroad iron. That plant was subsequently purchased by Benjamin Haywood, who built a second rolling mill in the town in 1863. The two-plant operation was known as the Palo Alto Rolling Mill. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, which was one of the company's major customers, operated a roundhouse and repair facility roughly a mile west of both rolling mills.
By 1856, a stable water system was in place with water supplied by the Pottsville Water Company.
In 1866, community leaders designed and built a Methodist Episcopal church on Union Street at a cost of thirteen hundred dollars.
The borough's first post office opened in 1870, but it ceased operations in 1873. Mail service was subsequently provided by a post office branch in Pottsville.
In 1878, borough leaders built a new, two-story public school in the center of the community. Equipped with mountain spring-supplied water and steam heat, it delivered multiple grades of education in four classrooms while the two older schools focused on providing primary school instruction. Roughly three hundred students were educated annually at this time
[''History of Schuylkill County, Pa: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers,'' p. 202.]
Geography
Palo Alto is located at .
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 t ...
, the borough has a total area of , all of it land.
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 in ...
of 2000, there were 1,052 people, 444 households, and 306 families living in the borough.
The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...
was 995.9 people per square mile (383.2/km
2). There were 478 housing units at an average density of 452.5 per square mile (174.1/km
2).
The racial makeup of the borough was 98.86%
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 o ...
, 0.10%
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 ...
, 0.29%
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 ...
, and 0.76% from two or more races.
There were 444 households, out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.2% were
married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.9% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the borough the population was spread out, with 18.7% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 91.3 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $35,729, and the median income for a family was $41,667. Males had a median income of $30,449 compared with that of $21,042 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 borough was $16,806.
Roughly 3.5% of families and 6.9% 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 4.3% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over.
Notable person
Eddie Delker
Edward Alberts Delker (April 17, 1906May 14, 1997) was a former Major League Baseball infielder. Delker made his debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on April 18, 1929. After playing for the Cardinals in parts of three major league seasons, his contr ...
, baseball infielder
Gallery
File:Bacon St, Palo Alto PA 01.JPG, Bacon Street.
File:Palo Alto Borough Hall, Schuylkill Co PA 02.JPG, Palo Alto Borough Hall.
File:Citizens Fire Co, Palo Alto PA.JPG, Citizens Fire Co.
File:Charles St, Palo Alto PA 01.JPG, View from Charles Street.
File:Fox St, Palo Alto PA 02.jpg, House on Fox Street.
References
{{authority control
Populated places established in 1844
Boroughs in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
1854 establishments in Pennsylvania