New Bethlehem ( ) is a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

in Clarion 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. The population was 979 at the 2020 census. The borough is situated at the southwestern corner of th
Pennsylvania Wilds Conservation Landscape
Its main street, PA Route 28-66, is a major thoroughfare between the Pittsburgh metropolitan region and northcentral Pennsylvania. The designated tourism agency for Clarion County i
Discover Clarion County

Geography

New Bethlehem is located along the southern border of Clarion County at (41.003302, -79.330935). It is in the valley of

Redbank Creek Redbank Creek is a tributary of the Allegheny River in Clarion, Armstrong, and Jefferson counties, Pennsylvania in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Keystone Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2004. Redbank Creek is born at the confluence of Sandy ...

, which separates the borough from South Bethlehem, Armstrong County to the south.

Pennsylvania Route 28 Pennsylvania Route 28 (PA 28) is a major state highway, which runs for from Anderson Street in Pittsburgh to U.S. Route 219 (US 219) in Brockway in Pennsylvania in the United States. From Pittsburgh to Kittanning, it is a limited acc ...

passes through the borough, crossing Redbank Creek into South Bethlehem, then leading southwest to Kittanning on the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...

. To the northeast, PA 28 leads to Brookville and

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

Pennsylvania Route 66 Pennsylvania Route 66 (PA 66) is a state highway in Western Pennsylvania. Its southern terminus is at U.S. Route 119 (US 119) near Interstate 70 (I-70) near New Stanton. Its northern terminus is at US 6 in Kane. The southernmost of t ...

intersects PA 28 in the center of New Bethlehem and leads north to I-80 and to

Clarion Clarion may refer to: Music * Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages * The Register (music), register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6 * A Trumpet (organ stop), trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave abov ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. PA 66 travels with PA 28 southwest to Kittanning.

Pennsylvania Route 861 Pennsylvania Route 861 (PA 861) is a state highway located in Clarion County, Pennsylvania, Clarion County in Pennsylvania. The western terminus is at Pennsylvania Route 68, PA 68 in Rimersburg, Pennsylvania, Rimersburg. The eastern terminus ...

leads west from New Bethlehem to Rimersburg. 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 borough of New Bethlehem has a total area of , of which is land and , or 9.92%, is water.

History

One of the prominent early settlers of the borough was Henry "Gum" Nolf (alternative spellings include Nulph), who built the first store, grist-, and saw-mill. The town was first referred to as "Gumtown" in honor of Nolf, but subsequently was named "Bethlehem", and later "New Bethlehem" to distinguish it from

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

, in the eastern part of the state.

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 1,057 people, 489 households, and 274 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 575 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 98.49%

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 ...

, 0.76%

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 ...

, 0.09% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.09% from other races, and 0.47% 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 0.57% of the population. There were 489 households, out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.0% 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, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.8% were non-families. 40.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.80. In the borough the population was spread out, with 19.0% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 26.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 81.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.4 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $25,069, and the median income for a family was $38,750. Males had a median income of $30,750 versus $20,469 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 borough was $17,796. About 13.9% of families and 16.0% 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 20.0% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

Peanut Butter Festival

The city is home to an annual

Peanut Butter Peanut butter is a food Paste (food), paste or Spread (food), spread made from Grinding (abrasive cutting), ground, dry roasting, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, ...

Festival, celebrating its 23rd year in 2018. Though the town is home to the

Smucker's The J.M. Smucker Company, also known as Smuckers, is an American manufacturer of food and beverage products. Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, the company was founded in 1897 as a maker of apple butter. J.M. Smucker currently has three major bu ...

peanut butter factory, the company does not sponsor the festival. However, the company does provide peanut butter for sale by the case or jar in a variety of flavors including ''Honey and Peanut Butter'' and ''Chocolate and Peanut Butter''. J.M. Smucker also provided a $2,000 and $1,000 savings bond to the winner and first runner-up, respectively, of the Peanut Butter Festival Queen competition in 2018. The Peanut Butter Festival is a Redbank Valley Chamber of Commerce-sponsored event and is mainly set in the Gumtown Park.

Flood of 1996

On July 19, 1996, a flood hit New Bethlehem as well as other parts of Pennsylvania. Reports state that the

was over seven feet above flood stage, and much of the downtown area was underwater. Redbank Valley High School was shut down. It took a few months to clean and fix the damage until students were allowed to attend again. On a garage east of the Redbank Valley High School there is a line that shows how high the water level was at its highest point. File:RVHS Football Field July 1996.jpg, The football field at Redbank Valley Junior/Senior High School in July 1996 at 920 Broad St, New Bethlehem, PA. The announcer's booth can be seen at the left. File:Toms Riverside Grocery Store New Bethlehem PA 1996.jpg, Tom's Riverside, a grocery store at 632 Broad Street, in New Bethlehem, PA, in July 1996 during the flooding. File:VFW Broad Street New Bethlehem PA 1996.jpg, Flooding along east Broad Street in New Bethlehem, PA, in July 1996 showing the VFW Hall (526 Broad St, New Bethlehem, PA 16242) and automotive dealership and service garage.

Redbank Valley Trail

New Bethlehem is one of the towns through which th
Redbank Valley Trail
passes. The trail extends 41 miles from the

, winding along the Redbank Creek to Brookville. The trail was chosen as Trail of the Year in 2014 by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The trail is built on a former rail corridor with the final train traveling through New Bethlehem on November 5, 2007, removing the tracks as it moved toward Brookville.

Education

New Bethlehem is home to the

Redbank Valley School District Redbank Valley School District (RVSD or Redbank) is a public school district in Western Pennsylvania. Spanning 165 square miles of the mountainous terrain of the Allegheny Plateau, the district rests on the southern boundary of thPennsylvania ...

and two of the districts school buildings, its baseball fields and football and soccer fields. Redbank Valley Junior/Senior High School and Redbank Valley Primary School are both within borough limits. The district's third school building, Redbank Valley Intermediate School, is located in Hawthorn, PA.

Notable person

Ossee Schreckengost Ossee Freeman Schreckengost (April 11, 1875 – July 9, 1914), born F. Osee Schrecongost, was an American professional baseball catcher and first baseman. He played for seven Major League Baseball (MLB) teams between 1897 and 1908. Between 19 ...

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player, born in New Bethlehem (1875)

References

External links

Redbank Valley Chamber of Commerce

Redbank Valley School District

Peanut Butter Festival
from the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

'' {{authority control Populated places established in 1840 Boroughs in Clarion County, Pennsylvania 1840 establishments in Pennsylvania