Smithfield Township is a township in
Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe:
* Monroe County, Alabama
*Monroe County, Arkansas
* Monroe County, Florida
* Monroe County, Georgia
*Monroe County, Illinois
*Monroe County, Indian ...
,
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 8,001 at the 2020 census.
History
"In 1746, the first action was taken for the formation of Smithfield Township, the first municipal division north of the Blue Mountains. The petition contained the names of twenty-seven landholders."
[Luther S. Hoffman, ''The Unwritten History of Smithfield Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania'' (East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania: The Artcraft Press, 1938), p. 4.] The township comprised all the settlements above the mountains. Originally in Bucks County, Smithfield Township was erected in 1748.
["Local History Articles," database, ''Monroe County ennsylvaniaHistorical Association'' (http://www.monroehistorical.org/articles_files/022211_smithhamtwp.html: accessed 24 September 2018), Our earliest townships: Smithfield and Hamilton, by Amy Leiser, February 02, 2011.] "In 1752, when Northampton County was set off from Bucks County, it comprised all of Smithfield which included what is now Lehigh, Carbon, Monroe, Pike and Wayne" Counties.
The
Shawnee-Minisink Site was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2007.
Worthington Hall was listed in 1978 and delisted in 1986 after being demolished.
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 23.9 square miles (61.8 km
2), of which 23.2 square miles (60.0 km
2) is land and 0.7 square mile (1.8 km
2) (2.93%) is water.
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 5,672 people, 2,084 households, and 1,535 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 244.7 people per square mile (94.5/km
2). There were 3,028 housing units at an average density of 130.6/sq mi (50.4/km
2). The racial makeup of the township was 87.78%
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 ...
, 5.62%
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 ...
, 0.44%
Native American, 0.95%
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 ...
, 0.02%
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 ...
, 3.00% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 2.19% 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 ...
or
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 7.39% of the population.
There were 2,084 households, out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.8% 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, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.3% were non-families. 20.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.07.
In the township the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.9 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $51,607, and the median income for a family was $57,526. Males had a median income of $40,863 versus $28,772 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 $23,627. About 5.2% of families and 9.0% 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 7.7% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.
Climate
According to the
Trewartha climate classification
The Trewartha climate classification (TCC) or the Köppen–Trewartha climate classification (KTC) is a climate classification system first published by American geographer Glenn Thomas Trewartha in 1966. It is a modified version of the Köppen ...
system, Smithfield Township has a Temperate
Continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
(''Dc'') with warm summers (''b''), cold winters (''o'') and year-around precipitation (''Dcbo''). ''Dcbo'' climates are characterized by at least one month having an average mean temperature ≤ , four to seven months with an average mean temperature ≥ , all months with an average mean temperature < and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. Although most summer days are slightly humid in Smithfield Township, episodes of heat and high humidity can occur with
heat index
The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is als ...
values > . Since 1981, the highest air temperature was on July 22, 2011, and the highest daily average mean
dew point
The dew point is the temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor, assuming constant air pressure and water content. When cooled below the dew point, moisture capacity is reduced and airborne water vapor will cond ...
was on August 1, 2006. July is the peak month for
thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
activity, which correlates with the average warmest month of the year. The average wettest month is September, which correlates with tropical storm remnants during the peak of the
Atlantic hurricane season
The Atlantic hurricane season is the period in a year from June through November when tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic Ocean, referred to in North American countries as hurricanes, tropical storms, or tropical depressions. In addition ...
. Since 1981, the wettest calendar day was on October 8, 2005. During the winter months, the
plant hardiness zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
is 6a, with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of .
Since 1981, the coldest air temperature was on January 21, 1994. Episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with
wind chill
Wind chill or windchill (popularly wind chill factor) is the lowering of body temperature due to the passing-flow of lower-temperature air.
Wind chill numbers are always lower than the air temperature for values where the formula is valid. When ...
values < . The average snowiest month is January, which correlates with the average coldest month of the year.
Ice storm
An ice storm, also known as a glaze event or a silver storm is a type of winter storm characterized by freezing rain. The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least of ice on ex ...
s and large snowstorms depositing ≥ of snow occur once every couple of years, particularly during
nor’easter
A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use of ...
s from December through March.
Ecology
According to the
A. W. Kuchler August William Kuchler (born ''August Wilhelm Küchler''; 1907–1999) was a German-born American geographer and naturalist who is noted for developing a plant association system in widespread use in the United States. Some of this database has bec ...
U.S.
potential natural vegetation
In ecology, potential natural vegetation (PNV), also known as Kuchler potential vegetation, is the vegetation that would be expected given environmental constraints (climate, geomorphology, geology) without human intervention or a hazard event ...
types, Smithfield Township would have a dominant vegetation type of Appalachian
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
(''104'') with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern
Hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
Forest (''25'').
The peak spring bloom typically occurs in late-April and peak fall color usually occurs in mid-October. The
plant hardiness zone
A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
is 6a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of .
See also
*
Mountain Lake House
Smithfield SDA Church
References
External links
Township website
{{authority control
Populated places established in 1725
Townships in Monroe County, Pennsylvania
1725 establishments in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania populated places on the Delaware River