Blakely is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Lackawanna County (; ) is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It had a population of 215,615 in 2022. Its county seat and most populous city is Scranton, Pennsylvania, Scranton. The c ...

, United States. It is part of

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA or Nepa) is a region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton (the area's largest city), Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Ha ...

. The population was 6,657 at the 2020 census. The

Lackawanna River The Lackawanna River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It flows through a region of t ...

flows through Blakely, and within the borough is the village of Peckville.

History

Blakely Township was formed in 1818 from portions of old Providence Township and recently formed Greenfield Township, and named after

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

naval hero

Johnston Blakely Johnston Blakeley (October 1781 – October 1814) was a United States Navy officer who served during the Quasi-War and the War of 1812. He is considered to be one of the most successful American naval officers of the period. Early life Blakel ...

, who captained the sloop ''

Wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

'' in battle against the British Avon in 1814."Blakely Borough"
History of Lackawanna County. Editor: Thomas Murphy. Published 1928. Accessed 30 September 2024. As the first borough established from a portion of old Blakely Township, the Borough of Blakely as created on 27 August 1867 is also named after Capt. Johnston Blakely, one of the most successful naval officers of his era. The "Johnston Blakeley Memorial" in Blakely is a large anchor from the aircraft carrier , decommissioned in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Blakely was home to Masterpiece Inc., the seventh largest manufacturer of artificial Christmas trees.

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 borough has a total area of , all land.

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 2010, there were 6,564 people, 2,816 households, and 1,742 families in the borough. The population density was . There were 3,024 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 96.6%

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 ...

, 1%

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 ...

, 0.1% Native American, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 0.7% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 0.9% 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 1.8% of the population. There were 2,816 households, out of which 23% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.1% 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, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.85. In the borough the population was spread out, with 18.3% under the age of 18, 56.6% from 18 to 64, and 25.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.2 years. The median income for a household in the borough was $38,153, and the median income for a family was $60,341. Males had a median income of $48,170 versus $32,158 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 borough was $23,063. About 6.6% of families and 12.4% 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 14.2% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Parks and recreation

The "Blakely Borough Recreation Complex" is public sports complex located on the bank of the Lackawanna River.

Notable people

* Gino J. Merli, Medal of Honor recipient *

Stan Palys Stanley Francis Palys (May 1, 1930 – February 8, 2021) was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Blakely, Pennsylvania. He appeared in 138 games over all or parts of four seasons in the majors, from 1953 through 1956, for ...

, professional baseball player * Joe Shaute, professional baseball player *

Bill Sienkiewicz Boleslav William Felix Robert Sienkiewicz ( ; ; born May 3, 1958) is an American artist known for his work in comic books—particularly for Marvel Comics' ''The New Mutants (comic book), The New Mutants'', ''Moon Knight,'' and ''Elektra: Assassi ...

, comic book artist

References

External links

* {{authority control Populated places established in 1786 Boroughs in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania 1786 establishments in Pennsylvania