Lansford is a
county-border 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
...
(town) in
Carbon County, Pennsylvania
Carbon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,749. The county is part of the Northeast region of the commonwealth.
The county borders Lehigh and Northampton counties in the state ...
, United States. It is part of
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 ...
. It is located northwest of
Allentown Allentown may refer to:
Places
* Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
* Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia
* Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County
* Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...
and 19 miles south of
Hazleton in the
Panther Creek Valley about from
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
and abutting the cross-county sister-city of
Coaldale in
Schuylkill County.
The whole valley was owned and subdivided into separate lots by the historically important
Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company
Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company was a mining and transportation company headquartered in Mauch Chunk, now known as Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. The company operated from 1818 until its dissolution in 1964 and played an early and influential role in ...
, locally called the Old Company, which likely settled some structures on the lands by 1827.
Lansford grew with the development of local
anthracite
Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a lustre (mineralogy)#Submetallic lustre, submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy densit ...
coal mine
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 ...
s and was named after
Asa Lansford Foster, who was an advocate for merging the small patch towns that developed in the area surrounding the anthracite coal mines.
The population was 3,941 at the
2010 census, a steep decline from a high of 9,632 at the
1930 census common to many mining towns 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 ...
.
History
Lansford's first school was opened in 1847 on Abbott Street. Lansford's first church, the Welsh Congregational, was built in 1850 and still stands today on West Abbott Street.
The old No. 9 Mine and Museum in Lansford, a deep mine which operated from 1855 to 1972, is now open as a
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural beaut ...
offering tours of the mine and a wealth of information on local mining history. A
museum
A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...
occupying the mine's former Wash Shanty building on the site displays a large collection of mining artifacts.
One of the local mine bosses, John P. Jones, was murdered in Lansford, reportedly in connection with labor union strife, attributed to members of a secret society known as the
Molly Maguires
The Molly Maguires was an Irish people, Irish 19th-century secret society active in Ireland, Liverpool, and parts of the eastern United States, best known for their activism among Irish-American and Irish diaspora, Irish immigrant coal miners i ...
, many of whom were put on trial and hanged in Carbon and Schuylkill Counties during the mid- to late 1870s.
Lansford was the home of the first
Commercial Cable Television system in the United States.
The
Lansford Historic District 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 2012.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...
, the borough has a total area of , all of it land. The town shares the border of Carbon and Schuylkill County with the abutting neighboring community of Coaldale, which is ''de facto'', a suburban bedroom neighborhood. Lansford is 1 mile north of
Summit Hill (where the first anthracite deposits mined by the
Lehigh Coal Company were discovered in the 1780s); 10 miles west of
Lehighton, and 6 miles northeast of
Tamaqua. Lansford's elevation is 1145 feet above sea level. It is also 36 miles northwest of
Allentown Allentown may refer to:
Places
* Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California
* Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia
* Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County
* Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...
and 9 miles south of
Hazleton. It is located on the northwestern fringe of the
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...
and is at the southern end of the
Coal Region
The Coal Region is a region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is known for being home to the largest known deposits of anthracite, anthracite coal in the world with an estimated reserve of seven billion short tons.
The region is typically defined ...
and the
Pocono Mountains
The Pocono Mountains, commonly referred to as the Poconos (), are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They overlook the Delaware River and Delaware Water Gap to the east, Lake Wallenpaupack to the nort ...
.
Lansford sits on the north slope of
Pisgah Mountain
Pisgah Mountain, or Pisgah Ridge on older USGS maps, is a ridgeline running from Tamaqua to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania from the Little Schuylkill River water gap to the Lehigh River water gap.
The mountain runs north-northeast to south-so ...
above and along the south bank of the
Panther Creek tributary of the
Little Schuylkill River, athwart
US-209 west of
Jim Thorpe
James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...
,
Nesquehoning, and the eastern extent of the
Lehigh-Schuylkill drainage divide, down slope and below historic
Summit Hill and east of abutting
Coaldale and
Tamaqua, Pennsylvania
Tamaqua (, ) is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in eastern Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Schuylkill County in the Coal Region of Pennsylvania, United States. It had a population of 6,934 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. cens ...
, both farther downstream and west.
Nesquehoning Mountain dominates the north bank across the Panther Creek and the rich coal mines of the valley shipped coal through the long
Hauto Tunnel of the
Central Railroad of New Jersey
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
(CNJ) competing for the rich trade with New York City and Philadelphia.
Hugh Vrablic is the Mayor of Lansford and is assisted by a council. The town also has a fire department and a police force.
Lansford is part of the Panther Valley School District and is the home of their newly remodeled football stadium and walking track.
Transportation
As of 2007, there were of public roads in Lansford, of which were maintained by the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT ...
(PennDOT) and were maintained by the borough.
U.S. Route 209 is the main highway serving Lansford. It follows Patterson Street along a southwest-northeast alignment through the center of town.
Pennsylvania Route 902 begins at US 209 and heads southeastward along Spring Garden Street.
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 4,230 people, 1,878 households, and 1,098 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 2,228 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 98.18%
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 ...
, 0.35%
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, 0.31%
Asian, 0.07%
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 ...
, 0.28% from
other races, and 0.73% 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 people of any race were 1.42% of the population.
There were 1,878 households, out of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.4% 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, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.5% were non-families. 37.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the borough the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 25.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.2 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $27,478, and the median income for a family was $37,773. Males had a median income of $30,405 versus $22,255 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 borough was $14,347. About 10.9% of families and 14.3% 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 20.5% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.
Media
WLSH is a locally-owned 5,000-watt station at 1410 on the AM dial which signed-on December 24, 1952. The call letters stand for Lansford and neighboring
Summit Hill.
Notes
References
External links
Official borough website*
*
*
Benjamin Bloom
Benjamin Samuel Bloom (February 21, 1913 – September 13, 1999) was an American educational psychology, educational psychologist and Didactic method, didactician who made contributions to the classification of educational objectives and to ...
(1913–99), American educational theorist and professor of education
{{authority control
1845 establishments in Pennsylvania
Boroughs in Carbon County, Pennsylvania
Municipalities of the Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania
Populated places established in 1845