North East 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 North East Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania,

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, northeast of Erie. Its name comes from its position in the northeastern corner of Erie County, despite being near the extreme northwest of

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 ...

. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census, down from 4,294 in 2010. Fruit growing was an early economic endeavor, and is still to this day, as this is a popular area especially for cherries and grapes. There is an annual Cherry Festival in the summer and an annual Wine Country Harvest Festival in autumn. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the northernmost town in Pennsylvania.

History

Before 1650, the area was settled by the Eriez, a relatively peaceful tribe; however, they were destroyed by the Seneca. As part of the Erie Triangle, it was only in 1792 that the locale became part of Pennsylvania. However, North East did not receive its first settlers until 1794, still, several years before the county (Erie) and township (North East) was organized. Originally the North East Township was called "Lower Greenfield" being downstream from Greenfield Township. The first road was built in 1797 from present-day Freeport at the mouth of Sixteenmile Creek to present-day Colt Station now in Greenfield Township. That road was extended in 1798 to where French Creek forks (present-day Wattsburg). In 1800 a road from the village of North East to Wattsburg was opened, it paralleled, but ran east of, the first one from Freeport. This first recorded settler of the region was Joseph Shadduck from Brattleboro, Vermont in 1795. The land that the borough occupies was originally purchased from the state by a Mr. Brown, who sold it to a land speculator, a Mr. Gibson. William Dundas was the first to settle in the borough area, whose property was later sold in 1806 to Henry Burgett, who turned the dwelling into a tavern. This property, prior to the sale, is claimed to be the site of the first sacrament to the Lord's Supper in Erie County on Sunday the 27th of September 1801. A more "pretentious" tavern was built in 1808 by Lemuel Brown, located where the Haynes House is today. Originally called Burgettstown, the name was changed in 1819 to Gibsonville until it was incorporated in 1834 as the borough of North East. In 1798 the first school was formed. Its first high school, Lake Shore Seminary, was established in 1870 as a collaborative effort of the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches. In 1884, a fire destroyed two-thirds of the town's business district. In 1983, Short's Hotel was 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 ...

. In 1990 the entire old

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

was added to the register.

Government

The Borough of North East is incorporated as a

under Pennsylvania law.''The Pennsylvania Manual'', p. 6–5. The borough is governed by a

mayor–council government A mayor–council government is a system of local government in which a mayor who is directly elected by the voters acts as chief executive, while a separately elected city council constitutes the legislative body. It is one of the two most comm ...

. The government consists of a mayor, and a six-member borough council. They are elected to four-year terms, with the terms of the council designed to be overlapping. The borough council prepares legislation and conducts oversight. The council meets in North East Borough Hall. Bobbi Jo Morey is the mayor of the Borough of North East. , the North East Borough Council consists of: * Amber Belson - President * Ryan D. McGregor - Vice-president * Bill Beardsley * Todd Luke * Heather Jones * Nancy Anderson North East is in Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district and is currently represented in Congress by Republican Mike Kelly, who was elected 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 ...

. Republican Dan Laughlin of the 49th District represents North East in the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

and Republican Jake Banta of the 4th District represents North East in the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

Geography

North East is located in northeastern Erie County at (42.213385, -79.833711). It is surrounded by North East Township. 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 has a total area of , all land.

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 4,601 people, 1,730 households, and 1,162 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 1,795 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 97.65%

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 ...

, 0.80%

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, 0.59% from other races, and 0.78% 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 1.87% of the population. There were 1,730 households, out of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% 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, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.12. In the borough, the population was spread out, with 27.5% under the age of 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $36,431, and the median income for a family was $43,250. Males had a median income of $33,939 versus $21,921 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 $16,132. About 10.0% of families and 13.6% 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 18.3% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.

Culture

North East has the Lake Shore Railway Museum, housed in its former railroad station.

Schools

The North East School District includes Earle C. Davis Primary School, Intermediate Elementary School, North East Middle School, and North East High School. From 1991 to 2021, Mercyhurst North East operated in North East as a branch of Mercyhurst University.

Notable people

* Cooper Boone,

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist * Samuel Myron Brainerd,

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

* Julius C. Burrows, U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

* Frank Hamilton Cushing, anthropologist and ethnologist * Winifred Davidson, writer of children's short stories and poetry * Charles Fehrenbach,

Redemptorist The Redemptorists, officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (), abbreviated CSsR, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brothers). It was founded by Alphonsus Liguori at Scal ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, author, translator, and host of a local religious radio program in the Philadelphia area *

Laura de Force Gordon Laura de Force Gordon (née Laura de Force; August 17, 1838 – April 5, 1907) was a California lawyer, newspaper publisher, and a prominent suffragette. She was the first woman to run a daily newspaper in the United States (the ''Stockton Daily ...

, lawyer, newspaper publisher, and a prominent

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

* Cody Matthew Johnson, composer * Frank A. Gough, orthodontist * Jesse More Greenman, botanist * Ish Kabibble, comedian and cornet player * Clement O. Miniger, industrialist and philanthropist * Richard Lowell Nygaard, Senior United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...

* Tom Scrimenti,

* Halli Reid, first woman to swim across Lake Erie

References

External links

* {{authority control Populated places established in 1800 Boroughs in Erie County, Pennsylvania