Londonderry 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 ...

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States ** Chester County Council, boy scout council in Pennsylvania. * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire ...

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 2,149 at the 2010 census.

History

In 1682,

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

deeded 50,000 acres in what is now Londonderry Township to his relative John Fagg. It eventually developed into the crossroads community of

Faggs Manor, Pennsylvania Faggs Manor is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Londonderry Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Londonderry Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The hamlet, at the corner of Street Road (Pennsylvania Route ...

. Londonderry Township was officially created in 1734 when its Scotch-Irish immigrant residents voted to secede from Nottingham Township. It is named after the city of Londonderry,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

which is in present-day

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The township was profiled in a 2007 book, ''Last Harvest: How a Cornfield Became New Daleville'' by

Witold Rybczynski Witold Rybczynski (born 1 March 1943) is a Canadian American architect, professor and writer. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor Emeritus of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania. Early life Rybczynski was born in E ...

, who divided the population into four types: farmers, who made up only 10 percent of the population; large wealthy landowners, who make up another 10 percent and often raise horses; old suburbanites; and new suburbanites. The old suburbanites and new suburbanites have little in common but both oppose new development in the township. The John Ferron House, Moses Ross House, and St. Malachi Church are 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 ...

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 township has a total area of , of which 0.09% is water.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, the township was 91.1% non-Hispanic White, 1.0% Black or African American, 0.8% Asian, and 1.0% were two or more races. 6.2% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of the 2000 census, there were 1,632 people, 525 households, and 410 families living in the township. The population density was . There were 539 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 95.53%

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 ...

, 1.23%

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 ...

, 0.55% Asian, 2.27% 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 9.31% of the population. There were 525 households, out of which 37.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.7% 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, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.9% were non-families. 18.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.33. In Londonderry Township, the population was spread out, with 28.2% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 7.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 106.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.5 males. The median income for a household in the township was $54,750, and the median income for a family was $59,911. Males had a median income of $31,618 versus $31,413 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 $21,773. About 6.4% of families and 8.2% 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 12.1% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

As of 2020, there were of public roads in Londonderry Township, 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 township.

Pennsylvania Route 41 Pennsylvania Route 41 (PA 41) is a state highway located in southeastern Pennsylvania, United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the Delaware state line in Kennett Township, Pennsylvania, Kennett Township, where the road continues ...

, Pennsylvania Route 796 and

Pennsylvania Route 926 Pennsylvania Route 926 (PA 926) is a state route located west of Philadelphia in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester County, Pennsylvania. The western terminus of the route is at Pennsylvania Route 10, PA 10 in Upper Oxford Township, Pennsyl ...

are the numbered highways serving Londonderry Township. PA 41 follows Gap Newport Pike along a northwest–southeast alignment through the central portion of the township. PA 796 heads south from PA 41 along Jennersville Road through the southern portion of the township. Finally, PA 926 follows Street Road along a southwest–northeast alignment through the southern and central portions of the township. File:Doe Run Friends ChesCo PA front.jpg, Doe Run Friends Meeting House File:M Ross House Chesco.JPG, Moses Ross House File:John Ferron House.JPG, John Ferron House File:F Manor PA church 2.JPG, Faggs Manor Presbyterian Church

Notes

References

External links

Londonderry Township
{{Chester County, Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish American culture in Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish American history Townships in Chester County, Pennsylvania