Miles Township is a township in Centre 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. It is part of the

State College State College is a borough and home rule municipality in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a college town, home to the University Park campus of The Pennsylvania State University. State College is the largest designated borou ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,013 at the 2020 census, an increase over the figure of 1,983 tabulated in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Miles Township and nearby Milesburg were named after

Samuel Miles Samuel Selden Miles (March 11, 1739 – December 29, 1805) was an American military officer and politician, as well as a wealthy and influential businessman, active in Pennsylvania before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. Mili ...

, who co-owned the Centre Furnace, along with Colonel John Patton.

History

Centre Mills, Simon Pickle Stone House, and the Rebersburg Historic District 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 ...

. Centre Mills Centre Co PA 2.jpg, Centre Mills File:Stone Pickle House Madisonburg PA.jpg, Simon Pickle Stone House

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 , all land. Miles Township is bordered by

Clinton County Clinton County may refer to: *Counties named for George Clinton, first and third Governor of New York, and later the fourth Vice President of the United States: **Clinton County, New York ** Clinton County, Ohio *Counties named for DeWitt Clinton, ...

to the north, Union County to the east, Haines and Penn townships to the south, Gregg Township to the west, and Walker Township to the northwest. It is part of the Penns Valley region of Centre County, bordered by the long ridges of Shriner Mountain to the south and

Nittany Mountain Mount Nittany is the common name for Nittany Mountain, a prominent geographic feature in Centre County, Pennsylvania. The mount is not a mountain but is part of a ridge that separates Nittany Valley from Penns Valley, with the enclosed Sugar Va ...

to the north.

Parks and recreation

Miles Township is home to

McCalls Dam State Park McCalls Dam State Park is a List of Pennsylvania state parks, Pennsylvania state park on in Miles Township, Pennsylvania, Miles Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, Centre County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is in the easternmo ...

. The park is in a remote location on a dirt road between

R. B. Winter State Park R. B. Winter State Park (also known as Raymond B. Winter State Park) is a Pennsylvania state park on in Hartley Township, Union County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is in the ridge and valley region of Pennsylvania and is surrounded ...

Pennsylvania Route 192 Pennsylvania Route 192 (PA 192) is a state highway located in central Pennsylvania. The western terminus of the route is at PA 144 in Centre Hall. The eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 15 (US 15) in Lewisburg. Route description PA 192 begins ...

and Eastville on Pennsylvania Route 880. In the winter months the park can only be accessed by

snowmobiling A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

. McCalls Dam State Park has a small camping area and a small picnic area with a few tables and charcoal grills. There are no modern restroom facilities at the park, and visitors are asked to carry out all trash as there is no trash pick up at the park. The park is named for the

splash dam A splash dam was a temporary wooden dam used to raise the water level in streams to float logs downstream to sawmills. By impounding water and allowing it to be released on the log drive's schedule, these dams allowed many more logs to be brought ...

that Johnny McCall built on

White Deer Creek White Deer Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Centre County, Pennsylvania, Centre County and Union County, Pennsylvania, Union County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through M ...

in 1850. He used the waters that flowed from the dam to power a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

. Sixteen years later the dam was rebuilt to provide water for a series of splash dams that were used to float

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

logs to the sawmills on the

West Branch Susquehanna River The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the ex ...

at Watsontown. The park's facilities were originally constructed by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

in the 1933. The mill and dam are long since gone, but they are remembered along with Johnny McCall in the name of McCalls Dam State Park.

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 1,573 people, 526 households, and 419 families residing in the township. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 693 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.66%

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 ...

, 0.70%

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 ...

, 0.19% Native American, 0.13% Asian, and 0.32% 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 0.13% of the population. There were 526 households, out of which 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.3% 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, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.2% were non-families. 17.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.40. In the township the population was spread out, with 32.5% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males. The median income for a household in the township was $33,074, and the median income for a family was $36,063. Males had a median income of $24,205 versus $23,500 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 $13,180. About 9.4% of families and 15.0% 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 24.5% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Miles Township is in the Penns Valley Area School District.

Notable person

* Daniel Otto,

fraktur Fraktur () is a calligraphic hand of the Latin alphabet and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. It is designed such that the beginnings and ends of the individual strokes that make up each letter will be clearly vis ...

artist

References

External links

Miles Township Fire Company
{{authority control Populated places established in 1791 Townships in Centre County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania