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 ...

Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Dauphin County (; Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: Daffin Kaundi) is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the populati ...

, United States. The population was 4,899 at the 2020 census. The township includes the

Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (abbreviated as TMI), is a shut-down nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, US, on the Susquehanna River just south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. It has two separate un ...

, the location of the largest

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not deliberately caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that the event may have been caused by Risk assessment, unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Many researchers, insurers ...

in the history of the American

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

generating industry, which took place in 1979. The nuclear power plant closed in 2019.

History

Londonderry Township originally was part of Derry Township. Since the township was so large and difficult to govern, the residents petitioned the court in 1767 to subdivide the land into two parts, the eastern section to remain Derry and the western to be Londonderry. It is named after

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

in Northern Ireland. Derry and Londonderry became a part of Dauphin County when it was established in 1785. In 1787, the population of Derry Township was 198. Lebanon County was created in 1813 and created a new Londonderry Township which included the eastern half of the original. Conewago Township was created in 1850 from southern parts of Derry Township and eastern parts of Londonderry Township.

Geography

Londonderry Township is the southernmost township in Dauphin County. Its western boundary is the western shore of 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 ...

, and its southern boundary is formed by Conewago Creek, a tributary. The northwestern boundary of the township follows

Swatara Creek Swatara Creek (nicknamed the Swatty) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in east-central Pennsylvania in the United S ...

, except where the township abuts the borough of Royalton. To the west, across the Susquehanna, is York County, and to the south, across Conewago Creek, is Lancaster County. There are numerous islands in the Susquehanna River within the township, the largest of which are Hill Island, Shelley Island, Three Mile Island, and Bashore Island. 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 15.49%, is water.

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 5,224 people, 2,004 households, and 1,517 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 2,095 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.74%

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 ...

, 0.77%

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 ...

, 0.10% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.11% from other races, and 1.03% 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 0.67% of the population. There were 2,004 households, out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.2% 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, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.3% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 2.99. In the township the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males. The median income for a household in the township was $42,804, and the median income for a family was $52,650. Males had a median income of $38,750 versus $27,719 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 $20,055. About 4.1% of families and 7.0% 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 8.2% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Londonderry Township official website
{{Coord, 40, 12, 00, N, 76, 40, 59, W, type:city_region:US-PA_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Townships in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania