Ferguson 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 ...

with home rule status in Centre 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. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 19,009 at the 2020 census. Most of the agricultural research for

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

(Penn State), based in adjacent

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough and Home rule municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park, Pennsylvania, University Park ...

, is taking place at the Russell E. Larson Research Center located in the western part of Ferguson Township. The headquarters of

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are also located within the township. Ferguson Township is served by the Ferguson Township Police Department and the Alpha Fire Company for police and fire protection.

History

In 1801, Ferguson Township formed around a mill at the base of

Tussey Mountain Tussey Mountain is a stratigraphy, stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States, trending east of the Bald Eagle Mountain, Bald Eagle, Brush Mountain (Blair County, Pennsylvania), Brush, Dunning Mountain, Dunning and Evitts Mountai ...

. The area around the mill would be known as Pine Grove Mills. Other small villages that were first established in the early nineteenth century include Gatesburg, a

mining town A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historical mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendig ...

, Pattonville, which would later merge with Pine Grove Mills, Rock Springs, and Baileyville. Ferguson was first connected to the

Bellefonte Central Railroad The Bellefonte Central Railroad was a shortline connecting Bellefonte and State College, Pennsylvania. Constructed in the late 19th century to haul local iron ore to furnaces in the Bellefonte region, it later hauled freight traffic to Penn Sta ...

in 1886 with a station in Struble. In 1896 the Pine Grove Mills Extension connected Struble to Bloomsdorf and Pine Grove Mills. The Fairbrook Branch was built in 1930 connecting Struble to Altoona via Fairbrook. The main line into Struble would eventually cease operations in 1976. The Bucher Ayres Farm 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 1980. The township adopted a home rule charter in May 1974, effective January 5, 1976, retaining "Township of Ferguson" as its official name. Despite the "Township" designation, Ferguson is no longer governed under the state's Township Code.

Geography

The township has a total area of , all land. Ferguson Township is bordered by Halfmoon Township and Patton townships to the northwest, the borough of

State College State College is a borough and home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park campus of The Pennsylvania State University. State College is the largest designated borou ...

and College Township to the northeast, Harris Township to the east and

Huntingdon County Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

to the south.

Neighborhoods

* Baileyville (census-designated place) * Cato * Gatesburg * Marengo * Pine Grove Mills (census-designated place) * Fairbrook * Pine Hall * Park Forest (census-designated place) * Ramblewood (census-designated place) * Rock Springs * Struble *Overlook Heights

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 2020, there were 19,009 people, and 8,057 households residing in the township. The population density was . The racial makeup of the township was 76.0%

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 ...

, 3.5% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 13.4% Asian, 1.4% from other races, and 6.4% from

two or more races Multiracial Americans, also known as mixed-race Americans, are Americans who have mixed ancestry of two or more races. The term may also include Americans of mixed-race ancestry who self-identify with just one group culturally and socially (cf. t ...

. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 3.5% of the population. There were 8,057 households, out of which 18.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49% 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, 23.6% had a male householder with no wife present, 23.2% had a female householder with no husband present. 26.2% of households had someone 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.79. The age distribution was 14.6% under 18, and 16.5% who were 65 or older. 50.5% identified as female. The median income for a household in the township was $57,459, and the median income for a family was $78,305. 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 $47,001. 17.6% of the population lived in poverty. 66.1% had a bachelor's degree or higher. 19.2% spoke a language other than English at home, the most common of being Asian and Pacific Islander languages (11%). 15.1% of the populations foreign born, roughly a third of whom are naturalized U.S. citizens. 3.9% of the population are veterans.

Asian community

Asians are the largest minority in Ferguson. The township has officially recognized

Lunar New Year Lunar New Year is the beginning of a new year based on lunar calendars or, informally, lunisolar calendars. Lunar calendar years begin with a new moon and have a fixed number of lunar months, usually twelve, in contrast to lunisolar calendar ye ...

, Filipino-American Heritage Month, and

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (, officially changed from Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Month) is an annually observed commemorative month in the United States. It is celebrated during the month of May, an ...

. Ferguson Township is home to three Asian supermarkets, and a handful of Asian Restaurants. Approximately 577 out of 2,879 foreign born residents are of Asian descent, and Asian and Pacific Islander languages are the most common kind of languages spoken at home in the township at 11%. Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania, a charter school in Westway, teaches Chinese and Spanish to all students from

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

through eighth grade. The largest Asian ethnic groups in Ferguson are

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

(1,614),

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

(288), Kazakh (187), Filipino (148), Indian (115),

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

(88), Cambodian (44),

Mongolian Mongolian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Mongolia, a country in Asia * Mongolian people, or Mongols * Bogd Khanate of Mongolia, the government of Mongolia, 1911–1919 and 1921–1924 * Mongolian language * Mongolian alphabet * ...

(35), and

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

(26).

Government

The Township of Ferguson is governed by a five-member Board of Supervisors with two serving at-large and three serving by ward. Supervisors each serve four-year terms for a maximum of two-terms before a minimum two-year break. The Supervisors are chosen by

plurality Plurality may refer to: Law and politics * Plurality decision, in a decision by a multi-member court, an opinion held by more judges than any other but not by an overall majority * Plurality (voting), when a candidate or proposition polls more ...

elections every two years alternating between at-large and ward elections. The Township of Ferguson is represented in the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvani ...

by Senate, District 35 and House District 77. Federally, the Township of Ferguson is part of

Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district has been located in Western Pennsylvania, western and central Pennsylvania since 2019. Since 2023, the district includes all of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Armstrong, Cameron County, Pennsylvania, C ...

Transportation

The Centre Area Transportation Authority is headquartered in Ferguson Township in Cato Park. CATA provides local bus service with fixed routes between Ferguson and the borough of State College as well as

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

, and Patton Township. Ferguson Township was first connected to the main line of the

in 1886 at Struble. In 1892 an extension connected State College from Struble. In 1896 an extension was built to Pine Grove Mills via Bloomsdorf from Struble. The Fairbrook Branch was finished in 1930 connecting Struble to Tyrone via Fairbrook and Warriors Mark.

Pennsylvania Route 45 Pennsylvania Route 45 (PA 45) is an state highway that is located in central Pennsylvania, United States. The western terminus of the route is situated at PA 453 in Morris Township near the community of Water Street. The eastern terminus is ...

runs through Ferguson Townships past the communities of Baileyville, Rock Springs, Ramblewood, Fairbrook, and Pine Grove Mills before entering Harris Township at Shingletown.

Pennsylvania Route 26 Pennsylvania Route 26 (PA 26) is a highway in the south-central area of Pennsylvania. Its northern terminus is at PA 150 northwest of Howard; its southern terminus is at the Maryland state line near Barnes Gap in Union Township. Two major des ...

enters Ferguson at

following Slab Cabin Run before passing through Pine Grove Mills, Bloomsdorf, Cato, Pine Hall, and Struble before entering the West End neighborhood of State College. U.S. Route 322 Business briefly passes through Ferguson Township along Park Forest, Overlook Heights, and Cherrytown. Ferguson Township was once the home of the State College Air Depot in Pine Hall.

References

External links

Ferguson Township official websiteParks in Ferguson Township
{{coord, 40, 44, 00, N, 77, 56, 59, W, type:city_region:US-PA_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Home Rule Municipalities in Pennsylvania Home Rule Municipalities in Centre County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1791