Stonycreek Township is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. The township takes its name from the stony creek, which flows through it and represents its western boundary. The stream takes its name from the rocky bed over which it flows for a great part of its course. Its Indian name was Sinne-Hanne or Achsin-Hanne. Hanne means a stream and especially a swift mountain stream. The population was 2,087 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Johnstown,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, metropolitan statistical area. Stonycreek Township garnered global attention during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

when United Airlines Flight 93, intended to strike the

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Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, crashed into a field near downtown after civilian passengers on the flight from

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is the primary international airport for the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. Owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco, the airport has a San Francisco mailing ...

rebelled against the flight's al-Qaeda terrorist hijackers.

History

What is now Stonycreek Township was settled in 1762. Most old records call it Stony Creek. The township was incorporated in 1792 from portions of Quemahoning Township as the last of the six original townships of Somerset County. Glessner Bridge was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980.

September 11 attacks

Stonycreek Township gained global attention on

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed there. Flight 93 was one of four airliners hijacked that day as part of the

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

terrorist attack on the United States. It is widely held that the Flight 93 hijackers intended to use the craft to strike the

. The crash occurred when the passengers tried to overpower the hijackers and seize control of the aircraft, prompting the terrorists to deliberately crash it rather than lose their advantage. The passengers learned of the plane's intended fate through cell phone calls to and from family members. All 44 people aboard the plane (including the four hijackers) were dead on impact. The site is now the location of a national memorial honoring the passengers.

Flight 93 National Memorial

The original temporary memorial to the passengers and crew of Flight 93 was located on a hill, about 500 yards (0.46 km) from the crash site. On July 8, 2010, a new temporary entrance and memorial were opened at an area called "The Western Overlook". It is where the FBI set up their command center and where family members first saw the aftermath of the crash, bringing their own memorials, where visitors can leave them today. The initial phase of permanent construction of the Flight 93 National Memorial, including the visitor center, was to be completed by the 10th anniversary in 2011. The first phase of the permanent memorial was completed, opened, and dedicated on September 10, 2011. The current design for the memorial is a modified version of the entry ''Crescent of Embrace'' by Paul and Milena Murdoch. The memorial was built around the crash site, following the plane's flight path, and protects the area of impact, known as the "Sacred Ground", which will remain protected and accessible only to family members of the passengers and crew.

Geography

Stonycreek Township is located approximately at 40.01°N by 78.88°W, about west-southwest of Indian Lake, Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 61.4 square miles (159.0 km²), of which 61.1 square miles (158.3 km²) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.7 km²) (0.44%) is water. It is bordered to the northeast by Shade Township, to the northwest by Quemahoning Township, to the west by Somerset Township, to the southwest by Brothersvalley Township, and to the east by Allegheny Township. Pennsylvania Route 31 runs along the township's southwestern border with Brothersvalley Township and passes into Allegheny Township to the east. U.S. Route 30 / the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

runs along the township's northeastern border with Shade Township. Pennsylvania Route 160 passes through Stonycreek Township as it heads northeast from Brothersvalley Township to Shade Township. Route 160 and Route 31 intersect in Roxbury, and Route 160 and U.S. Route 30/

intersect in Reels Corner.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, of 2000, there were 2,221 people, 820 households, and 634 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,033 housing units at an average density of 16.9/sq mi (6.5/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 98.96%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.09%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.32% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.05% from other races, and 0.45% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.23% of the population. There were 820 households, out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.6% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.10. In the township, the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.5 males. The median income for a household in the township was $33,828, and the median income for a family was $38,418. Males had a median income of $30,236 versus $21,714 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $14,463. About 9.6% of families and 10.8% 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 ...

, including 11.9% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Shanksville-Stonycreek School District is the local school district and operates area public schools.
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References

Blackburn & Welfley's "History of Bedford & Somerset Counties", 1906. Lewis Publishing Co. Vol. II, p. 641-643

External links

Stonycreek Township @ Rootsweb

{{Coord, 39, 59, 00, N, 78, 51, 59, W, type:city_region:US-PA_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Populated places established in 1762 September 11 attacks Townships in Pennsylvania Townships in Somerset County, Pennsylvania United Airlines Flight 93