Jenkins 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 the

Greater Pittston Greater Pittston is a region in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in reference to the area in and around Pittston. As of 2010, the total population of Greater Pittston is 48,020. This region includes Avoca, Dupont, Duryea, Exeter Boro, Exeter Town ...

area of

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

, United States. The population was 4,282 at the 2020 census.

History

Settlement

Isaac Gould and Joseph Gardner were the first permanent settlers in modern-day Jenkins Township. The first important settlement in the territory was Joseph Gardner's

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

in 1794 (on Gardner's Creek). The first schoolhouse was built in the early 1810s. Jenkins Township was formed from a section of

Pittston Township Pittston Township is a Township (Pennsylvania), township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The population was 3,179 as of the 2020 census. The township is located within the Greater Pittston region. As of 2010, the to ...

on June 24, 1852. It was named after Col. John Jenkins (who settled the area with his family in 1769). He served as an officer in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

(1775-1782), and as a Representative of Luzerne County in the

Pennsylvania Legislature 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 ...

(elected in 1797).

Coal mining

Logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksfarming 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 the first major employers in the region, but due to the abundance of

anthracite coal Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the highe ...

under the township, the

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

industry quickly expanded. Port Griffith was named in honor of one of the original stockholders of the Pennsylvania Coal Company. Other villages in the township (e.g., Port Blanchard,

Inkerman Inkerman (; ; ) is a city in the Crimean peninsula. It is '' de facto'' within the federal city of Sevastopol within the Russian Federation, but ''de jure'' within the Autonomous Republic of Crimea within Ukraine. It lies 5 kilometres (3 miles ...

, and Sebastopol) also played an important role in the mining industry. On January 22, 1959, the Knox Mine Disaster in Port Griffith, Jenkins Township, claimed the lives of 12 people and essentially shut down the mining industry in

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA or Nepa) is a region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton (the area's largest city), Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Ha ...

Contemporary history

The coal companies left behind a scarred landscape (e.g., culm banks) when they pulled out of the region. Today, Jenkins Township's economy is composed of an expanding

warehousing A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

industry. On September 25, 1982, George Banks killed thirteen people in a

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

rampage Rampage may refer to: People * Rampage (rapper) (born 1974) * Quinton Jackson (born 1978; nicknamed "Rampage"), American mixed martial artist and actor * Randy Rampage (1960-2018), Canadian musician Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional chara ...

in Jenkins Township and Wilkes-Barre City.

Geography

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 2.06%, is water. The township is served by the

Pittston Area School District Pittston Area School District (PASD) is a mid-sized school district located in the Greater Pittston area of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, the north-eastern part of the state, in the United States. The school district serves students from the c ...

. It is drained by the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

, which separates it from

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

and

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. The Eighth Street Bridge links Jenkins Township to Wyoming. The township's villages include Ewen,

, Old Boston, Port Blanchard, Port Griffith, and Sebastopol. Jenkins Township can be divided into two separate regions (connected by a small strip of land). The northwestern portion of the township borders the Susquehanna River; it is mostly made up of homes and businesses. There is a small strip of land connecting the northwestern portion of the township to the southeastern region of the township. This small strip is less than a quarter of a mile wide and is flanked by the Borough of Yatesville (to the north) and the Borough of Laflin (to the south). The southeastern region of Jenkins is the largest by total area.

I-81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Isla ...

I-476 Interstate 476 (I-476) is a auxiliary Interstate Highway of I-76 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The highway runs from I-95 near Chester north to I-81 near Scranton, serving as the primary north–south Interstate corridor through ea ...

, and

PA 315 Pennsylvania Route 315 (PA 315) is an state highway located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at an interchange with the PA 309 freeway and the northern terminus of PA 309 Business (PA 309 Bus.) in Wilkes-Barre. The ...

travel through this section of the municipality; there are a few neighborhoods and

warehouses A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, to ...

located near these highways. Thick forests make up the very southeastern section of the township.

Neighboring municipalities

* Bear Creek Township (south) *

Plains Township Plains Township is a township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States (on the outskirts of Wilkes-Barre). The population was 9,816 at the 2020 census. The municipality is the birthplace of Chicago White Sox hall of famer Ed Walsh and John ...

(southwest) * Laflin (southwest) *

(west) *

(northwest) *

Pittston Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city lies in the Wyoming Valley on the east side of the Susquehanna River and on the south side of the Lackawanna River. It is approximately midway between Wilkes-Barre, Pen ...

(north) * Yatesville (northeast) *

(northeast) * Spring Brook Township, Lackawanna County (east) * Thornhurst Township, Lackawanna County (southeast)

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 4,584 people, 1,715 households, and 1,166 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,843 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.97%

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 ...

, 0.26%

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 ...

, 0.07% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 0.07% from other races, and 0.46% 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 0.50% of the population. There were 1,715 households, out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.9% 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, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.0% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.06. In the township the population was spread out, with 20.0% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.4 males. The median income for a household in the township was $39,103, and the median income for a family was $46,673. Males had a median income of $36,212 versus $23,534 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 $19,693. About 5.7% of families and 7.2% 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 11.7% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over. Jenkins TWP soccer field LuzCo PA.jpg, Soccer field in Jenkins Township House in Jenkins TWP LuzCo PA.jpg, A house near the soccer field Inkerman PA Presby.jpg,

Presbyterian Church

References

External links

* {{authority control Townships in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania