Girard 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 Erie 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 4,874 at the 2020 census, down from the population of 5,102 at the 2010 census.

History

The Gudgeonville Covered Bridge was listed on 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.

Geography

The township is in western Erie County, bordered by

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

to the north, Fairview Township and Franklin Township to the east, Elk Creek Township and Conneaut Township to the south, and Springfield Township to the west. In addition, Girard Township surrounds the boroughs of

Lake City Lake City may refer to: Places *Lake City, Arkansas * Lake City, California (disambiguation) *Lake City, Modoc County, California * Lake City, Nevada County, California *Lake City, Colorado *Lake City, Florida * Lake City, Georgia * Lake City, I ...

and Girard and is bordered to the south by the borough of Platea. 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 is land and , or 0.79%, is water. Elk Creek flows through the township from the east to its mouth at

in the northwest part of the township.

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

crosses the southeastern part of the township, with access from Exit 9 near Platea.

U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. ...

crosses the center of the township, passing through Girard, and

Pennsylvania Route 5 Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) is a westward continuation of New York State Route 5 (NY 5). Located in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States, it runs from North East, Pennsylvania at the New York-Pennsylvania border ...

crosses the northern section, close to Lake Erie, passing through Lake City.

Pennsylvania Route 18 Pennsylvania Route 18 (PA 18) is a major north–south highway in Western Pennsylvania whose southern terminus is at the West Virginia state line, where it continues as WV 69, while the northern terminus is at PA 5 in Lake City. At a len ...

runs north–south through the township, connecting the three boroughs.

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 5,133 people, 1,955 households, and 1,429 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 2,073 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.93%

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 ...

, 0.19%

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 ...

, 0.16% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.04%

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 ...

, 0.06% from other races, and 0.43% 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 0.27% of the population. There were 1,955 households, out of which 35.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% 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, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% were non-families. 22.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.08. In the township the population was spread out, with 27.1% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males. The median income for a household in the township was $39,125, and the median income for a family was $43,244. Males had a median income of $33,043 versus $24,275 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 $17,222. About 5.5% 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 7.5% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Girard Township website
{{authority control Townships in Erie County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania