Scalp Level is a borough in Cambria 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

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...

Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 778 at the 2010 census.

History

According to tradition, the town site was so named after a local property owner ordered his farmhands to "scalp them bushes level". The

Windber Historic District Windber Historic District is a national historic district located at Paint Borough, Scalp Level, and Windber in Cambria County and Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The district includes 944 contributing buildings and 1 contributing site. It ...

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 1991.

Geography

Scalp Level is located on the southern border of Cambria County at (40.250976, -78.839813). It is bordered to the south by the boroughs of

Paint Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...

and Windber in Somerset County. It is in the valley of Paint Creek, a westward-flowing tributary of the

Stonycreek River The Stonycreek River (also referred to as Stony Creek) is a tributary of the Conemaugh River, approximately 45 mi (72 km) long, in southwestern Pennsylvania, United States. Course It rises in the mountains of eastern Somerset Cou ...

, which flows north to form the

Conemaugh River The Conemaugh River is a tributary of the Kiskiminetas River in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Cambria counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The ...

in the center of Johnstown, northwest of Scalp Level. U.S. Route 219, a four-lane expressway, passes northwest of Scalp Level, leading southwest to

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and northeast to Ebensburg, the Cambria County seat.

Pennsylvania Route 56 Pennsylvania Route 56 (PA 56) is a state highway that is located in west central Pennsylvania in the United States. Its western terminus is situated at the eastern end of the C.L. Schmitt Bridge in New Kensington. Its eastern terminus is loca ...

runs through the center of Scalp Level and leads southeast to

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

. 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 Scalp Level 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 851 people, 347 households, and 234 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 375 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 99.53%

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 ...

, 0.24%

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 ...

, and 0.24% 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 0.59% of the population. There were 347 households, out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% 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, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.04. In the borough the population was spread out, with 22.6% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $25,956, and the median income for a family was $30,515. Males had a median income of $26,354 versus $17,216 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 $12,108. About 9.1% of families and 12.9% 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 22.5% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable person

Alexander Ratiu Father Alexander Ratiu (; 4 May 1916 – 25 July 2002) was a Romanian-American priest of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church. While serving in his family's country of origin, he became a political prisoner, and later, after his release, an author. ...

, author, Roman Catholic priest and political activist

References

{{authority control Populated places established in 1835 Boroughs in Cambria County, Pennsylvania