Amity 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 ...

Berks County, Pennsylvania Berks County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the coun ...

, United States. The population was 13,435 at the 2020 census. Amity Township, especially in the Douglassville area, is seeing growth in development as a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. The township was so named for the cordial relationship, or amity, between

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

settlers and the local Native Americans.

History

The boundaries of Amity Township are almost identical to the boundaries of the original area known as Swedes’ tract. During December 1699, Lutheran pastor Andreas Rudman had met with Governor

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

. Pastor Rudman pointed out that many of the residents of the former Swedish colony of

New Sweden New Sweden () was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a g ...

felt cheated by the preemption of their lands for Quaker settlement. Rudman secured an order from William Penn in October 1701 setting aside up the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

, near

Manatawny Creek Manatawny Creek is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Keystone C ...

, for members of his congregation.''Andreas Rudman and his Family'' (by Dr. Peter Stebbins Craig . Swedish Colonial News, Volume 2, Number 1 . Winter 2000) The George Douglass House, Griesemer-Brown Mill Complex, Old St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church, Mouns Jones House, Rhoads-Lorah House and Barn, Weidner Mill, and White Horse Tavern are listed on 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 ...

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (0.60%) is water. It has a hot-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfa'') and is located mostly in

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 widely ...

6b, with that being 7a near the river, including Douglassville. Adjacent townships * Exeter Township (west) * Oley Township (northwest) * Earl Township (north) * Douglass Township (east) * Union Township (south) The

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

of Amity Gardens and the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

of Douglassville are both located in Amity Township, along the

Demographics

At the 2000 census, there were 8,867 people, 3,219 households, and 2,510 families in the township. The population density was . There were 3,323 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 95.68% White, 2.04% African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.38% from other races, and 1.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.00%. There were 3,219 households, 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.0% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.0% were non-families. 17.1% of households were made up of individuals, and 6.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.12. The age distribution was 27.7% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males. The median household income was $59,595 and the median family income was $67,069. Males had a median income of $47,002 versus $31,389 for females. The per capita income for the township was $24,652. About 2.5% of families and 4.8% 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 3.8% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

As of 2020, there were of public roads in Amity Township, of which were maintained by the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT ...

(PennDOT) and were maintained by the township. U.S. Route 422 is the most prominent highway serving Amity Township. It follows the Benjamin Franklin Highway and Pottstown Expressway along a northwest–southeast alignment across the southern portion of the township.

Pennsylvania Route 562 Pennsylvania Route 562 (PA 562) is a state highway in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The route runs from U.S. Route 422 Business (US 422 Bus.) in St. Lawrence east to PA 73 in Boyertown. PA 562 is a two-lane undivided road its entire length, ...

follows Boyertown Pike along an east–west alignment along the northern edge of the township.

Pennsylvania Route 662 Pennsylvania Route 662 (PA 662) is a state highway located in Berks County in eastern Pennsylvania. Its southern terminus is at U.S. Route 422 (US 422) in Douglassville and its northern terminus is at PA 61 in Shoemakersville. The route is ...

follows Old Swede Road along a north–south alignment across the northern and eastern portions of the township.

Notable person

Anthony Sadowski Anthony Sadowski (c. 1669 – April 22, 1736) was a Poland, Polish-born The Indian Trade, Indian trader and interpreter employed by the List of colonial governors of Pennsylvania, provincial governor of Pennsylvania as an Indian agent in the weste ...

, emigre who became an interpreter, trader and agent with local natives

References

External links

Amity Township Official Website
{{authority control Townships in Berks County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania