Bastress 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 ...

Lycoming County Lycoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 114,188. Its county seat is Williamsport. The county is part of the North Central region of the commonwealth. Lycoming County compris ...

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 ...

, United States. The population was 528 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Bastress Township was formed from part of Susquehanna Township on December 13, 1854, by the Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace of Lycoming County. The township is named in honor of Solomon Bastress of

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

, who was a former member of the legislature and an associate judge. The first settlers were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

farmers. They migrated to the area beginning in 1837 under the leadership of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary Father Nicholas Steinbacher. Together they built the first Church of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

in 1838. The current stone church building was erected in 1860. The parish also established a cemetery and

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

soon after the settlement of Bastress. Immaculate Conception parish and school stand today as a reminder of the German Catholic heritage of the residents of Bastress Township. Bastress has changed very little since its founding. The community is largely rural, and many of the residents are descendants of the first settlers. Since the 1890 census it has grown from a population of 236 to just 574.

Geography

Bastress Township is bordered by Susquehanna Township to the north, Armstrong Township to the east, Limestone Township to the south, and Nippenose Township to the west. Pennsylvania Route 654 passes through the center of the township, leading northeast to Williamsport and south to its terminus at

Pennsylvania Route 44 Pennsylvania Route 44 (PA 44) is a -long state highway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route, which is signed north-south, is designated from Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania, Interstate 80 (I-80) and Pennsylvania Route 42, PA 42 in Buckhor ...

west of Collomsville in Limestone Township. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the township has a total area of , of which , or 0.08%, are water. The crest of

Bald Eagle Mountain Bald Eagle Mountain – once known locally as Muncy Mountain – is a stratigraphic ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of central Pennsylvania, United States, running east of the Allegheny Front and northwest of Mount Nittany. It lies alo ...

forms the township's northern border. Two streams, Big Run in the west and Bender Run in the east, rise in Bastress Township and flow north, cutting through Bald Eagle Mountain to reach the

West Branch Susquehanna River The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the ex ...

. The southernmost part of the township drains south to the Nippenose Valley in Limestone Township, which is drained by Antes Creek, a north-flowing tributary of the West Branch. Bear Pen Hollow is a ravine in the southeast corner of Bastress Township which drains east to Mosquito Creek, which also flows north to the West Branch of the Susquehanna.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 574 people, 188 households, and 150 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 201 housing units at an average density of 23.2/sq mi (9.0/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 99.13%

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 ...

, and 0.87% 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 0.87% of the population. There were 188 households, out of which 40.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.5% 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, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.7% were non-families. 17.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.05 and the average family size was 3.50. In the township the population was spread out, with 31.7% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 102.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.0 males. The median income for a household in the township was $50,125, and the median income for a family was $54,844. Males had a median income of $34,306 versus $20,250 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 $17,880. About 2.6% of families and 4.0% 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 ...

, including 5.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

References

{{Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Townships in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1837 1837 establishments in Pennsylvania

History

Geography

Demographics

See also

References