Conyngham is a borough in

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

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 1,820 at the 2020 census.

History

The first settler of Conyngham was George Drum (in the late 1700s) who served in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and was elected justice of the peace in 1811. George Drum was an entrepreneurial businessman and was a large landowner who also owned the Drums Hotel, a shoe shop, tavern, and the Drums Post Office. He and his family developed the adjacent village of

Drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, of which the village is named after the family, along with helping the development of Conyngham. Drums is a sister village to Conyngham. The George Drum residence remains standing in impeccable condition on Conyngham's Main Street. The Sugarloaf Massacre of September 11, 1780, was one of a series of bloody engagements fought in the frontier of northeastern Pennsylvania between

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

(allies of British troops) and settlers loyal to the cause of American independence. Today, this event is commemorated by a historic monument with a bronze plaque bearing the names of the fifteen men who lost their lives near modern-day Conyngham. In 1815, Redmond Conyngham represented Luzerne County in the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

. In 1820, he served a term in the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

. Captain

Gustavus Conyngham Gustavus Conyngham (about 1747 – 27 November 1819) was an Irish-born American merchant sea captain, an officer in the Continental Navy and a privateer. As a commissioned captain fighting the British Empire, British in the American Revolutionar ...

was his cousin. He was an unsung hero of the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

. He commanded a privateer and was the first to carry the American flag in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. The townspeople suggested naming the village after Redmond Conyngham, but he replied that the town should be named in honor of his cousin, Gustavus, who frequently made trips to England to obtain military supplies for revolutionary colonists. In the 1800s, the Lehigh-Susquehanna Turnpike traveled through the middle of modern-day Main Street in Conyngham.

PA 93 Pennsylvania Route 93 (PA 93) is a state route located in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, Carbon, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne, and Columbia County, Pennsylvania, Columbia counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at ...

was later constructed as another route through the town. It was not until 1921 when Conyngham became a borough.

Geography

Conyngham is located at (40.990051, -76.061655). 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 borough has a total area of , all land. Sugarloaf Township encircles Conyngham.

Pennsylvania Route 93 Pennsylvania Route 93 (PA 93) is a state route located in Carbon, Luzerne, and Columbia counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 209 (US 209) in Nesquehoning, about halfway from PA just north of the 180 ...

runs through the borough. Conyngham is located near

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

(to the north) and 81 (to the south and east).

Attractions

Conyngham has a town park called Whispering Willows. At the park, there is a community pool owned by the Conyngham Valley Civic Organization (CVCO). The Hazleton Area Library, Conyngham Branch, is also located nearby.

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 1,958 people, 793 households, and 574 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 817 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 97.40%

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 ...

, 0.05%

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 ...

, 2.25% Asian, and 0.31% 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 0.72% of the population. There were 793 households, out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.9% 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, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.95. In the borough the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $48,529, and the median income for a family was $59,083. Males had a median income of $49,732 versus $22,226 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 $26,352. About 2.1% of families and 3.8% 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 8.1% of those under age 18 and 1.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The school district is the

Hazleton Area School District Hazleton Area School District is a large, rural public school district in Pennsylvania, stretching across portions of Luzerne, Schuylkill, and Carbon Counties. Its headquarters are in Hazle Township. Students in grade nine through 12 attend H ...

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References

External links

* {{authority control Populated places established in 1806 Boroughs in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania 1921 establishments in Pennsylvania