Plymouth 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 in Montgomery 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 ...

. The township has been governed by a home rule charter since 1976 and is no longer subject to the Pennsylvania Township Code. The population was 16,525 at the 2010 census. It is serviced by the Colonial School District and is home to the Plymouth Meeting Mall.

History

Plymouth Meeting, a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) that straddles Plymouth and Whitemarsh Townships, was settled by English

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

in 1686. The Cold Point Historic District 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 1983.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 8.5 square miles (22.1 km²), of which 8.4 square miles (21.8 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.3 km²) (1.41%) is water. Plymouth Township straddles the boundary between a hot-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfa'') and a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa''). The

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

is 7a. It is drained by the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

, which forms most of its southwestern boundary.

Transportation

As of 2018 there were of public roads in Plymouth Township, of which were maintained by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC), were maintained by the

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) oversees transportation issues in the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The administrator of PennDOT is the Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation, Michael B. Carroll. PennDOT ...

(PennDOT) and were maintained by the township. Plymouth Township is the location of one of the major highway junctions of the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

metropolitan area, the interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-276) and the "Blue Route" and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension (I-476). The east-west Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-276) traverses the central portion of the township on a southwest-northeast alignment. The "Blue Route" (I-476) enters the far southern corner of the township on a southwest-northeast as well, but turns more northerly and meets the east-west Turnpike in the eastern portion of the township. From there, I-476 follows the turnpike's Northeast Extension on a southeast-northwest alignment up to the northern corner of the township before exiting.

SEPTA SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

provides bus service to Plymouth Township along

City Bus A transit bus (also big bus, commuter bus, city bus, town bus, urban bus, stage bus, public bus, public transit bus, or simply bus) is a type of bus used in public transport bus services. Several configurations are used, including low-fl ...

routes and and Suburban Bus routes , and , serving points of interest in the township and offering connections to

and other suburbs. SEPTA Regional Rail's Manayunk/Norristown Line passes through the township but does not have any stations within it; the nearest stations are Conshohocken station and Norristown Transportation Center.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, Plymouth Township was 83.1% White, 7.0% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 7.2% Asian, and 1.7% were two or more races. 2.6% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. As of the 2000

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 ...

, there were 16,045 people, 6,512 households, and 4,363 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 6,703 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 89.26%

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 ...

, 4.17%

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, 5.22% 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 ...

, 0.37% from other races, and 0.89% 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 1.25% of the population. There were 6,512 households, out of which 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% 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, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.97. In the township, the population was spread out, with 20.1% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males. The median income for a household in the township was $54,069, and the median income for a family was $66,938. Males had a median income of $45,953 versus $35,089 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 $28,862. About 2.4% of families and 4.3% 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 3.3% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

Plymouth Township is governed by a five-member Council, elected to staggered four-year terms; four Council members are elected by district and one is elected at-large. Council establishes the policies, goals and objectives for the Executive, Administrative, and Advisory functions. Council Members are limited by the Home Rule Charter to two consecutive terms plus the balance of an unexpired term. The township is part of the Fourth Congressional District, represented by Madeleine Dean. It is in the 54th State House District, represented by Greg Scott, and the 12th State Senate District, represented by Maria Collett.

Education

Colonial School District is the local school district. Holy Rosary Regional Catholic School in Plymouth Meeting and Plymouth Township is the area Catholic school. It was formed in 2012 by the merger of Epiphany of Our Lord School in Plymouth Meeting, Our Lady of Victory in East Norriton Township, and St. Titus in Norristown.

References

External links

Plymouth Township
{{authority control Home Rule Municipalities in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Townships in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania