Lower Swatara 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 Dauphin County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Daffin Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 286,401. The county seat is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capital and ninth-most populous city. ...

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 9,528 at the 2020 census.

Harrisburg International Airport Harrisburg International Airport is a public airport in Middletown, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Harrisburg. It is owned by the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority., effective September 16, 2022 The airport code MDT r ...

and

Penn State Harrisburg Penn State Harrisburg, officially Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg—Capital College and also called The Capital College, is an undergraduate college and graduate school of the Pennsylvania State University located in Lower Swatara ...

are located within the township. It shares a ZIP Code with the nearby borough of Middletown, and all locations in the township have Middletown addresses.

History

Lower Swatara Township is bordered 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 ...

on the south and

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 ...

to the east. The township name is derived from a Native American language. The word is thought to be from a

Susquehannock The Susquehannock, also known as the Conestoga, Minquas, and Andaste, were an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian people who lived in the lower Susquehanna River watershed in what is now Pennsylvania. Their name means “people of the muddy river.” T ...

word meaning "Where we fed on eels." The Native Americans established a network of pathways through the area.

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

settlers from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

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 ...

were followed by settlers from the German Palatinate. The first settlers erected their log homes along the banks of the Susquehanna and Swatara. In 1729, Paxtang Township of Lancaster County was established. The spelling "Paxtang" is from the original Native name ''Peshtank'', which meant "standing water". On March 4, 1785, Dauphin County was formed from Lancaster County, named for the

Dauphin of France Dauphin of France (, also ; ), originally Dauphin of Viennois (''Dauphin de Viennois''), was the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830. The word ''dauphin'' is French for dolphin and ...

, heir apparent to the French throne, whose country the area government wanted to honor for its assistance in the Revolutionary War. In August 1787, the legislature separated Paxtang Township into Upper Paxtang, Middle Paxtang and Lower Paxtang townships. Lower Paxtang Township embraced the areas now occupied by Lower Swatara, Swatara, Lower Paxton,

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

and Susquehanna townships. Lower Swatara Township was incorporated from Swatara Township on November 7, 1961, as a first class township. Within Lower Swatara is the Conrad and Margaret Allerman House, 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 ...

. The township formerly housed the Star Barn Complex, which moved to neighboring Lancaster County in 2017.

Geography

Lower Swatara Township is in southern Dauphin County, bordered by York County to the southwest across the

, by the boroughs of Highspire and Steelton to the west, by Swatara Township to the northwest and north, by Derry Township to the northeast across Swatara Creek, and by Londonderry Township and the borough of Middletown to the southeast. Unincorporated communities in Lower Swatara Township include Ebenezer in the north, Freys Grove in the east along Swatara Creek, Greenwood Hills near the center, and Meade Heights and Jednota in the south.

occupies the southernmost land in the township, along the Susquehanna River. 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 16.79%, is water. Most of the water area is in the Susquehanna River.

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 8,149 people, 3,003 households, and 2,201 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 3,124 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 93.70%

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 ...

, 3.07%

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 ...

, 0.05% Native American, 1.53% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.58% from other races, and 1.06% 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 1.91% of the population. There were 3,003 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.3% 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, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.94. In the township, the population was spread out, with 23.4% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 25.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.7 males. The median income for a household in the township was $48,940, and the median income for a family was $58,203. Males had a median income of $39,980 versus $29,436 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 $23,271. About 3.0% of families and 5.1% 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 6.9% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The

US Airways US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it ...

subsidiary

Allegheny Airlines Allegheny Airlines was a local service carrier that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979, with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which i ...

had its headquarters on the grounds of

in the township.

References

External links

Lower Swatara Township official website
{{Coord, 40, 14, N, 76, 45, W, type:city_region:US-PA_source:GNIS-enwiki, display=title Populated places established in 1717 Townships in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania 1717 establishments in Pennsylvania