Fairfield 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 ...

in Lycoming 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. The population was 2,833 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The exact date of the formation of Fairfield Township is not known, but court records point to sometime between August 1825 and December 1826. A petition for the division of Muncy Township was read in court in August 1825. Historical records do not record when the township was formed, but court documents cite Fairfield Township as the residence of a

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...

in a lawsuit in a Columbia County court session in 1826. John Andrew Shulze retired to Fairfield Township following his 1823–1829 term as

governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. Shulze bought in western Fairfield Township, now part of Montoursville, for $12,000. His plan was to spend his retirement farming in the West Branch Susquehanna Valley. Shulze quickly made am impact in Fairfield Township. He built a brick house on his farm and donated an acre of land for the construction of Union Church, which was shared by the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

congregations of Montoursville and Fairfield Township. Ultimately Shulze's time in Fairfield Township can be described as a sad failure. His repeated attempts at

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

were unsuccessful. He also lost a lawsuit filed by William Cameron of Lewisburg for $3,835.49. Shulze was apparently unable to pay the suit, and his property was seized and sold to pay his debt. Governor Shulze then took up residence in Montoursville, lost even more lawsuits and eventually moved to Lancaster in 1846, where he lived until his death in 1852. As of 2007, Schulze's Montoursville home is the "Governor Schulze House"

bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

. Fairfield Township's population has grown since the 1890 census when 468 residents were counted. The census of 2010 counted 2,792 residents. Fairfield Township has many residential neighborhoods that are contiguous with the neighboring

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 ...

of Montoursville.

Geography

Fairfield Township is in southeastern Lycoming County and is bordered by Upper Fairfield Township to the north, Muncy Township to the east, the West Branch Susquehanna River to the south, the borough of Montoursville to the west, and Loyalsock Township to the northwest. Loyalsock Creek forms the boundary between Fairfield and Loyalsock townships. Interstate 180 passes through the township, with access from Exit 20 (Fairfield Road) and Exit 21 ( Pennsylvania Route 87). U.S. Route 220 runs concurrently with I-180 through the township. I-180/US-220 leads westward to Williamsport, the Lycoming

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 I-180 leads southeastward to

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 ...

near Milton. US-220 leads east to Hughesville. PA 87 runs through the northwestern part of the township, leading northeastward up the Loyalsock Creek valley to Forksville. 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 ...

, Fairfield Township has a total area of , of which are land and , or 1.77%, are 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 2,659 people, 1,020 households, and 781 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,100 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.97%

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 ...

, 0.60%

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 ...

, 0.30% Native American, 0.38% Asian, 0.04% from other races, and 0.71% 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 0.53% of the population. There were 1,020 households, out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.3% 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, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.4% were non-families. 18.5% 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 2.61 and the average family size was 2.96. In the township the population was spread out, with 26.2% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males. The median income for a household in the township was $43,438, and the median income for a family was $49,570. Males had a median income of $37,034 versus $22,826 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 $19,807. About 4.1% of families and 6.4% 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 7.9% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Townships in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1742 1742 establishments in Pennsylvania