O'Hara 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 ...

with home rule status

Pennsylvania Code The ''Pennsylvania Code'' is a publication of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, listing all rules, regulations, and other administrative documents from the Government of Pennsylvania. Citation Title 1 section 1.2 of the ''Pennsylvania Code'' su ...

br>Title 302, Section 21.1-101 ''et seq.''
in

Allegheny County Allegheny County ( ) is a county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, after Philadelphia County. Its county seat and most populous city is Pit ...

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, six miles northeast of

Downtown Pittsburgh Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River an ...

. The community was long organized as a township, and retains "Township" in its official name, but adopted a home rule charter in 1973 (taking effect on January 5, 1976) and is no longer subject to the Pennsylvania Township Code. The population was 9,288 at the 2020 census. It is named for James O'Hara, an early American

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...

, and a Revolutionary War general.

Geography

O'Hara Township is located at (40.498001, -79.886789). It consists of five non-contiguous areas, including Sixmile Island, with Sharpsburg, Aspinwall and Fox Chapel separating them. It is bordered by Shaler Township to the west, Harmar Township,

Oakmont Oakmont is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Allegheny River. The population was 6,758 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The borough is best known for the nearby Oakmont ...

, and

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

to the east, and Sharpsburg, Aspinwall, and Blawnox to the south. 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 4.22%, 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 8,856 people, 3,248 households, and 2,536 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 3,381 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 95.25%

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 ...

, 0.84%

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, 3.04% Asian, 0.26% from other races, and 0.58% 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 1.14% of the population. There were 3,248 households, out of which 34.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.5% 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, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.9% were non-families. 19.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.05. In the township the population was spread out, with 25.6% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 27.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 99.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males. The median income for a household in the township was $67,725, and the median income for a family was $77,594. Males had a median income of $58,125 versus $36,458 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 $33,356. About 2.7% of families and 3.6% 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 3.1% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

Presidential Elections Results

Township Council

*Cassandra Ross Eccles, Fifth Ward, President *Paul L. Cullen, At-Large *Shamus Petrucelli, At-Large *Richard S Hughs, First Ward *George Stewart, Second Ward *Mike Hammill, Third Ward, Vice-President *Olivia T Payne, Fourth Ward

Services

The township has two

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respo ...

s that are responsible for portions of the township: Pleasant Valley VFD (Station 217) and Parkview VFD (Station 218). Parkview VFD also provides

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services, pre-hospital care or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to d ...

for the entire township through Parkview EMS (Station 180). The

Police Department The police are a constituted body of people empowered by a state with the aim of enforcing the law and protecting the public order as well as the public itself. This commonly includes ensuring the safety, health, and possessions of citize ...

(3300 units) is supervised by Police Superintendent Jay R. Davis and maintains a full-time police department The Human Services Department is the home of the Township Social Services Coordinator, Jalen Byrd. This individual is charged with assisting the Township Police Department and other Township Departments if they believe an individual may need the assistance of social services. Residents may also seek the assistance of the Social Services Coordinator. Help with social services may include drug and alcohol treatment, mental health treatment, hoarding treatment and obtaining food and shelter. The local Emergency Management Agency for O'Hara Township consist of one Coordinator (James Farringer) and two Deputy Coordinators (Thomas Polczynski and Thomas Heilmann).

Education

K–12 public school students attend the

Fox Chapel Area School District Fox Chapel Area School District is a public school district located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It serves the boroughs of Aspinwall, Blawnox, Fox Chapel, and Sharpsburg, along with Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, stat ...

Culture

O'Hara is home to both the Bayernhof Music Museum and the

RIDC The Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania—known colloquially as the RIDC—is a privately funded non-profit serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area to focus on a regional approach to economic development pri ...

O'Hara Research and Business Park.

References

External links

O'Hara Township
{{PA Home Rule Municipality Townships in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Home Rule Municipalities in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania