Larimer 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
Somerset 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 543 at the
2020 census.
It is part of the
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...
,
Metropolitan Statistical Area. Larimer Township was named for
General William Larimer, Jr., president of the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad.
History
Brigadier General John Forbes's
Expedition of 1758 passed through the area that became Larimer Township, near Will's Creek, as they hacked
Forbes Road
The Forbes Road, a historic military roadway in what was then British America, was initially completed in 1758 from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to the French Fort Duquesne at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now d ...
out of the western Pennsylvania wilderness.
(The reference that it was
Major General Edward Braddock's
Expedition of 1755 that passed through this area
seems to have mixed up these two expeditions, since
Braddock's Road
The Braddock Road was a military road built in 1755 in what was then British America and is now the United States. It was the first improved road to cross the barrier of the successive ridgelines of the Appalachian Mountains. It was construc ...
passes through the extreme southwest corner of Somerset County.) Jonathan Long arrived in the area as early as 1783, and Richard Geiger was another early settler, possibly around the same time as Long.
Daniel Lepley moved into Larimer Township in 1849 and built a gristmill here in 1850.
The township was officially organized in 1854.
A portion of the township's land was used to incorporate the borough of
Callimont in 1972 to build a ski resort. The resort was never completed and the borough used a lot of the township's resources during its history, including the use of the township's municipal building to hold the borough council meetings. In 2024, voters of Callimont and Larimer Township approved a referendum to merge Callimont back into Larimer Township effective January 1, 2026.
Geography
It is located approximately at 39.8015 by -78.9488.
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 , all land. Larimer Township is bordered by
Northampton Township to the northeast,
Southampton Township to the southeast,
Greenville Township to the southwest, and
Summit
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...
&
Brothersvalley Townships to the northwest.
Pennsylvania Route 160 passes through Larimer Township, heading northwest from
Wellersburg &
Southampton Township on its way to
Northampton Township &
Brothersvalley Township.
The
Eastern Continental Divide
The Eastern Continental Divide, Eastern Divide or Appalachian Divide is a drainage divide, hydrological divide in eastern North America that separates the easterly Atlantic Seaboard drainage basin, watershed from the westerly Gulf of Mexico wat ...
passes through Larimer Township, along the mountain summit above Sand Patch Tunnel.
Wills Creek begins in the township and flows into
Northampton Township, passing through Glencoe and Fairhope on its course eastward.
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 590 people, 213 households, and 172 families living in the township. The population density was . There were 257 housing units at an average density of 15.4/sq mi (5.9/km
2). The racial makeup of the township was 99.32%
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 ...
, 0.51%
Native American, and 0.17% from two or more races.
There were 213 households, out of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.9% 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, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.8% were non-families. 16.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the township the population was spread out, with 27.3% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.3 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $31,333, and the median income for a family was $35,500. Males had a median income of $27,422 versus $18,417 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 $13,301. About 11.0% of families and 15.1% 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 18.2% of those under age 18 and 25.0% of those age 65 or over.
References
{{coord, 39, 44, 00, N, 78, 53, 59, W, type:city_region:US-PA_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title
Townships in Somerset County, Pennsylvania