Cornwall 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 ...

Lebanon County Lebanon County ( ; ) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 143,257. Its county seat is the city of Lebanon. It lies 72 miles northwest of Philadelphia, which is the nearest m ...

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. It is part of the

Lebanon, PA Lebanon ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,814 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Lebanon was founded by George Steitz in 1740 and was originally named ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,604 at the 2020 census.

History

Cornwall was initially settled by Peter Grubb in 1734. Peter was a

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States ** Chester County Council, boy scout council in Pennsylvania. * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire ...

stonemason who came to, what was then Lancaster County, in search of high quality stone for

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

ing. First building his house and then a store, he discovered

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula . It is one of the iron oxide, oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetism, ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetization, magnetized to become a ...

iron ore nearby and decided to test its quality, he found the ore to be exceedingly pure. Grubb wrote to Philadelphia and in 1734 was granted a warrant to purchase of land. For three years Peter followed veins of ore until he found a large deposit that was easily accessible; however, this ore was not within the bounds of his property. So in 1737 he purchased an additional of land. In 1742, Peter built a cold blast furnace and named it Cornwall, after his father's birthplace in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The Cornwall Iron Mine was, at one time, the largest open-pit mining operation in the world. They were mined continuously until June 30, 1973, totaling 236 years of production. Finding the necessary components nearby for smelting iron (water, limestone and timber for charcoal), Grubb built the

Cornwall Iron Furnace Cornwall Iron Furnace is a designated National Historic Landmark that is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in Cornwall, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The furnace was a leading Pennsylvania ...

and began production in 1742. The operation also included the Hopewell Forges on nearby Hammer Creek. Peter Grubb did not stay long to run the operation, but leased it out in 1745 for 20 years and returned to

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. In 1765, Peter's sons

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from the Old French ''curteis'' (Modern French">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of Fren ...

and Peter Jr. took over the operation, and in 1798 it passed to Robert Coleman and his family. Cornwall Furnace was in production from 1742 until 1883, and appears today much as it was when production ended. In 1932 the Coleman family deeded the property to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and it is now a designated

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

open to the public. Eventually the whole town became known as Cornwall. It was incorporated as a borough on October 11, 1926, after having been a part of Lancaster County and for a while of

Dauphin County Dauphin County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Daffin Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 286,401. The county seat is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capital and ninth-most populous city. ...

. At the time it officially became a borough, it comprised six widely separated villages. Alden Villa 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 2011.

Geography

Cornwall is located at (40.273192, -76.410667). 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 , of which is land and (1.11%) is water.

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 3,486 people, 1,210 households, and 965 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 1,261 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 97.79%

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 ...

, 0.34%

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 ...

, 0.20% Native American, 1.06% Asian, 0.32% from other races, and 0.29% 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 0.75% of the population. There were 1,210 households, out of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.9% 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, 4.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.2% were non-families. 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 2.91. In the borough the population was spread out, with 20.9% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.9 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $59,550, and the median income for a family was $66,964. Males had a median income of $44,926 versus $28,125 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 $27,904. About 1.1% of families and 1.7% 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 1.0% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

* {{authority control Populated places established in 1737 Boroughs in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania 1926 establishments in Pennsylvania