Curwensville 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 ...

in Clearfield County,

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, north of Altoona on 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 ...

. Coal mining, tanning, and the manufacture of fire bricks were the industries at the turn of the 20th century. In 1900, 1,937 people lived in the borough, and in 1910, 2,549 lived there. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough had a population of 2,567. The population of the borough at its highest was 3,422 in 1940.

History

Curwensville was named for John Curwen in 1799. Once the Borough was established and local government formed, many improvements were made to this country village, including sidewalks being laid on Filbert, Thompson, and Pine Streets in May 1855, the first bridge constructed in the borough in 1870, and in 1890 the first water system was established. The town began to do well financially because of the lumber trade along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. The leather trade has been and continues to be a large industry in Curwensville, Wickett and Craig. The Clearfield Cheese Company has been producing high-quality cheese out of Curwensville, Pennsylvania since 1938. In 1956, a man named Arnold Nawrocki came up with the idea to invent a method for wrapping cheese slices in cellophane, which drastically increased their shelf life and changed the modern cheese industry. Curwensville became the second borough of Clearfield County in 1851.

Industry

North American Refractories Company (NARCO) was a brick plant in Curwensville. The "Brick Yard" as most called it in the community made many different types of brick. Seneca, acid, and cardic brick were all manufactured in NARCO. They were also noted for hot gun models and specialty shapes. The sandstone quarry owned by Russell Stone Products, Inc. in Curwensville, PA, is a valued asset. Although the site had remained dormant for a lengthy period of time in the 1900s, today it is a viable source that has extensively supplied material for many prominent projects nationwide. Lezzer Lumber founded in 1927, by Michael Lezzer and his cousins, Louie and Charlie Sandri. They specialized in building materials and farm equipment sales and repair. The company has been a source of lumber in the area since, though the original store burnt down in 1971. Lezzer Lumber has been expanding throughout Pennsylvania since, even opening a truss plant in 1999 to manufacture trusses to be shipped ready to install. Lezzer Lumber's main headquarters is still located in Curwensville.

Geography

Curwensville is located near the center of Clearfield County at (40.973408, -78.522318), along the banks of the

. Curwensville Lake on the West Branch is impounded south of the borough and extends southwest to Lumber City. Pennsylvania Route 879 passes through Curwensville, leading northeast (downstream) to Clearfield, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, and west to Grampian. 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 ...

, Curwensville has a total area of , of which is land and , or 4.49%, 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 2,650 people, 1,144

households A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is impo ...

, and 758 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 1,254 housing units at an average density of . The

ethnic An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...

composition of the borough was 99.02%

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 ...

, 0.23% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.00%

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 ...

, 0.04% from other races, and 0.30% from two or more races. 0.30% of the population were

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. There were 1,144

of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% 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, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.7% were not nuclear families. 30.6% of all households were made up of solitary dwellers of varying ages with 15.9% of those being a person who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 people and the average family size was 2.84 people. The ages of persons living in the Curwensville borough were widely varied with 22.8% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 19.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.0 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $27,281, and the median income for a family was $36,197. Males had a median income of $28,145 versus $18,598 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 $14,829. 16.0% of the population and 12.8% of families 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 ...

. Out of the total population, 29.0% of those under the age of 18 and 12.7% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Notable people

* Edward A. Irvin (1838–1908), member of the Pennsylvania Senate *

Charles Emory Patton Charles Emory Patton (July 5, 1859 – December 15, 1937) was a U.S. Representative from the U.S. state, state of Pennsylvania. He was the son of John Patton (1823-1897), John Patton and the brother of John Patton, Jr. Biography Patton was ...

(1859–1937), Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1911 to 1915 * John Patton (January 6, 1823 – December 23, 1897) was a U.S. Representative from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. * John Patton Jr. (October 30, 1850 – May 24, 1907) was a U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan. * Charles Wall (c. 1903–1995), resident superintendent of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

's estate at

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

for 39 years, starting in 1937.Thomas, Robert McG., Jr
"Charles Wall, 91, Long Director of George Washington's Home"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', May 5, 1995. Accessed July 23, 2010.

References

External links

Curwensville Borough official websiteCurwensville Development CorporationCurwensville Lake (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
{{authority control Populated places established in 1799 Pennsylvania populated places on the Susquehanna River Boroughs in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania 1851 establishments in Pennsylvania