Frankstown 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 Blair 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 Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,399 at the 2020 census. The township was named after Stephen Franks, a pioneer citizen.

Geography

Frankstown Township occupies the center of Blair County. It is bordered by the borough of

Hollidaysburg Hollidaysburg is a borough in and the county seat of Blair County in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located on the Juniata River, south of Altoona and is part of the Altoona, Pennsylvania, metropolitan statistical area. In 1900 ...

and Allegheny Township to the west, Logan Township and Tyrone Township to the northwest, Catharine Township to the northeast, Woodbury Township to the east, Huston Township to the southeast, and Taylor Township and Blair Township to the southwest.

Unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in the township include (from northeast to southwest) Moores Mill, Canoe Creek, Reese, Linds Crossing, Geeseytown, Frankstown, and Sylvan Hills, as well as the east half of Loop. The township is located in the heart of the

Ridge and Valley Province The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands division. The physiographic province is divided into three sec ...

of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

, and a large portion of the township's borders follow ridgecrests: Brush Mountain on the northwest side, and the continuous ridge of Loop Mountain and Lock Mountain on the southwest and southeast. The Frankstown Branch of the

Juniata River The Juniata River () is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed August 8, 2011 in central Pennsylvania. The river is ...

flows from southwest to northeast through the center of the township. U.S. Route 22 passes through the township in the same general direction as the river. 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 township has a total area of , of which are land and , or 0.87%, 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 7,694 people, 2,887 households, and 2,225 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 3,036 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.05%

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 ...

, 0.42%

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 ...

, 0.04% Native American, 1.83% Asian, 0.08% from other races, and 0.58% 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 0.56% of the population. There were 2,887 households, out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.9% 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, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.9% were non-families. 19.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.5% 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 3.01. In the township the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males. The median income for a household in the township was $49,677, and the median income for a family was $54,348. Males had a median income of $40,450 versus $27,389 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 $24,329. About 6.8% of families and 6.5% 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 9.2% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Recreation

Canoe Creek State Park is located in the northeastern part of the township. Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 147 is located east of Canoe Creek State Park on

Dunning Mountain Dunning Mountain is a stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States. The mountain's north end is at McKee Gap, which separates it from Short Mountain, and where Halter Creek flows westward towards the Frankstown Branch of the Juni ...

and a small portion of Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 166 is located in the eastern part of the township, east of Canoe Creek Park.Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 147
retrieved November 14, 2018Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 166
retrieved November 14, 2018

2012 Geeseytown shooting

On December 21, 2012, at Geeseytown, a gunman, identified as 44-year-old Jeffrey Lee Michael, killed two men and a woman. The woman was shot inside the Juniata Valley Gospel Church on Juniata Valley Road, one man was shot outside his residence, and the other man was fatally shot after crashing his vehicle into Michael's pickup truck. In a gunfight with the police, three policemen were injured, and Michael was shot and killed.

Notable person

Harold L. Ickes Harold LeClair Ickes ( ; March 15, 1874 – February 3, 1952) was an American administrator, politician and lawyer. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for nearly 13 years from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold th ...

, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, was born in Frankstown Township in 1874.

References

External links

Frankstown Township official website
{{authority control Populated places established in 1758 Townships in Blair County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania