Lehman 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 ...

Luzerne County 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 ...

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 township is part of the Back Mountain (a 118 square mile region in northern Luzerne County). The campus of Penn State Wilkes-Barre is located at the Hayfield Farms on Old Route 115 in Lehman Township. The township population was 3,342 at the 2020 census.

History

Native American raids

On March 28, 1780, John Rogers and Asa Upson were producing sugar a short distance above the mouth of Hunlock Creek, when they were suddenly surrounded and captured by Native Americans. Upson was killed and Rogers was carried off. The attackers then proceeded to where Abram Pike was making sugar (near the modern-day Village of Pikes Creek); they captured Pike and his wife. The following day, the Native Americans advanced on the Village of Orange, where they captured Moses Van Campen, his father, and Peter Pence. The captors killed Moses’ father. They transported the prisoners to the mouth of Wysox Creek, where John Rogers managed to steal a knife from one of the Native Americans; he cut his fellow prisoners loose. The detainees proceeded to attack their captors. Some Native Americans were killed in the struggle while others managed to escape.

Establishment

Nehemiah Ide and Jeremiah Brown are believed to be the first white settlers in modern-day Lehman Township; they moved to the region in 1801. Lehman Township was formed from a section of Dallas Township in 1829; it is named in honor of Dr. William Lehman.

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 5.47%, is water. 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 ...

via Harveys, Hunlock, and

Huntsville Huntsville is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the 100th-most populous city in the U.S. The Huntsville metropolitan area had an estimated 525,465 ...

creeks. Other bodies of water include Lake Silkworth, Pikes Creek Reservoir, and Huntsville Reservoir. The township consists of several small villages: Huntsville (also in Jackson Township), Lehman, Meeker, and Silkworth. PA 29, PA 118, and PA 415 are a few major routes in the community. Most of the municipality consists of hills, thick

forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

, and

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

Neighboring municipalities

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

(east) * Dallas Township (east and northeast) * Harveys Lake (north) * Lake Township (northwest) * Ross Township (west) * Hunlock Township (southwest) * Plymouth Township (south) * Jackson Township (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 3,206 people, 1,226 households, and 924 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 1,403 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.35%

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 ...

, 0.47%

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 ...

, 0.28% Native American, 0.53% Asian, and 0.37% 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 0.16% of the population. There were 1,226 households, out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.1% 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, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% were non-families. 20.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 2.99. In the township the population was spread out, with 22.9% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.2 males. The median income for a household in the township was $43,060, and the median income for a family was $46,708. Males had a median income of $34,256 versus $25,710 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 $20,312. About 7.8% of families and 8.3% 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 8.4% of those under age 18 and 13.0% of those age 65 or over. The census of 2000 also reported that residents of Lehman, Pennsylvania had the longest commute in the country of communities with at least 1,000 workers. The mean travel time for commuters was 60 minutes.

Notable people

* Lisa Baker, state senator *

Raye Hollitt Raye Hollitt (born April 17, 1964) is an American actress and bodybuilder, also known by her stage name Zap, one of the original cast members of '' American Gladiators''. Biography Hollitt graduated from Lake-Lehman High School in 1982, then wo ...

, American actress; one of the original cast members of American Gladiators * Jay McCarroll, fashion designer; season one winner of ''

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. It was created by Eli Holzman and was hosted by Heidi Klum from 2004 to 2017. It has a varied airi ...

'' on

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels * Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 * Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...

References

External links

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