Saltlick Township is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

that is located in Fayette 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. The population was 3,037 according to the

2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, a decline of twelve percent from the 2010 census, and eighteen percent from the 2000 census. It is served by the Connellsville Area School District. Indian Head, Millertown, Champion, Maple Grove, White, Clinton, and Melcroft are unincorporated communities in the township.

Geography

Saltlick Township occupies the northeastern corner of Fayette County, with Westmoreland County to the north and Somerset County to the east. Pennsylvania Routes

381 __NOTOC__ Year 381 ( CCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Syagrius and Eucherius (or, less frequently, year 1134 ...

and

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cross the center of the township, following the

Indian Creek Indian Creek may refer to the following: Communities * Indian Creek, Orange Walk District, Belize, a village in Belize * Indian Creek, Toledo, a village in Belize * Indian Creek, Florida, U.S. * Indian Creek, Illinois, U.S. * Indian Creek No. 7 Pr ...

valley. The western side of the township sits on the crest of Chestnut Ridge, while the eastern side is on the parallel and higher Laurel Hill. 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 , or 0.01%, is water.

Demographics

As of the decennial census of 2020, there were 3,037 people in the township, of which 97% were White, none were Black and 0.4 were Hispanic or Latino alone. There were 1,597 housing units, of which 79% were occupied. In 2019, nearly two-thirds of the children in Saltlick Township were living in poverty, according to the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''.

History

According to historian Franklin Ellis, the first settlers arrived in what is now Saltlick Township around the time of the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, with a few possibly arriving earlier. At that time, the area was heavily timbered. The township was originally part of Bullskin Township until the two were separated, and Saltlick (or Salt Lick, as Ellis refers to it) Township created, in 1797. The name referred to numerous salt licks along Indian Creek.

Industry

Agriculture was the major industry in the township's early days. Farmers mined coal on their own land for local use. The first industrial building was probably a mill, erected by Christian Perkey around 1780. The first store was probably that of Andrew Trapp, which may have been in operation as early as 1799. Over the next several decades, a number of sawmills and small distilleries were established.
Robindale Energy's
Rustic Ridge No. 1 Mine extracts coal beneath Saltlick Township and neighboring Donegal Township under a five-year permit granted in 2016. The underground deep mine employed about 100 people as of January 2022. Attempts to extend the permit and expand operations in 2022 met with controversy.

References

External links

Saltlick Township official website
{{Coord, 40, 03, 00, N, 79, 22, 59, W, type:city_region:US-PA_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Pittsburgh metropolitan area Townships in Fayette County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania