Shillington, Pennsylvania
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Shillington 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
Berks County, Pennsylvania Berks County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the coun ...
, United States. With a population of 5,475 at the time of the 2020 census the borough is nestled amongst other suburbs outside
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
. It is perhaps best known for being the location of the homestead to Pennsylvania's first governor,
Thomas Mifflin Thomas Mifflin (January 10, 1744January 20, 1800) was an American merchant, soldier, and politician from Pennsylvania, who is regarded as a Founding Father of the United States for his roles during and after the American Revolution. Mifflin sig ...
, and as the childhood home of American author
John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...
. Many of Updike's stories take place in the fictional town of Olinger, a lightly-disguised version of Shillington, and in its environs.


History

Shillington began in 1860 as part of Cumru Township, when local landowner and borough namesake Samuel Shilling sold some of his lots for residences. The area had an inn, originally built in 1762, called the Three Mile House because it was from Reading on the Lancaster Pike. The inn was a popular stop for farmers going to the city's markets, and later it sat near a horse racing track built by Aaron Einstein in 1868. A
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
opened in Shillington in 1884. On August 18, 1908, the Quarter Session Court officially incorporated the
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 ...
of Shillington as a separate municipality from Cumru Township with a population of 450. Later that year Shillington elected its first official, Adam Rollman, as chief burgess. Borough council meetings were held in various locations over the years until the present
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
was completed in 1932 by order of town election commissioner Steven Myers. Much of the borough's present land was occupied by Angelica Farm which would be established as an almshouse, or
poorhouse A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), "workhouse" has been the more ...
, in 1824. The alms house was replaced by Bern Township's Berks Heim in 1952. The buildings of the Governor Mifflin School District now occupy most of land that was once part of the almshouse. The most notable current visible remnant of the poorhouse is a stone wall that is within short walking distance down the road from
John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...
's old home. Updike's first novel, ''
The Poorhouse Fair ''The Poorhouse Fair'' (1959) was the first novel by the American author John Updike. A second edition (New York : Knopf, 1977) included an introduction by the author and was slightly revised. Plot The residents of the Diamond County Home for t ...
'', is set in a fictional building based on Shillington's poorhouse. Many of Updike's earliest stories were set in the fictional version of Shillington named Olinger, and some of them were collected in the volume ''
Olinger Stories Olinger Stories: A Selection is a collection of 11 works of short fiction by John Updike published by Vintage Books in 1964. The short stories, set in the fictional town of Olinger, Pennsylvania are in large part autobiographical, about a boy gr ...
.'' Angelica Farm was also the historical home of
Thomas Mifflin Thomas Mifflin (January 10, 1744January 20, 1800) was an American merchant, soldier, and politician from Pennsylvania, who is regarded as a Founding Father of the United States for his roles during and after the American Revolution. Mifflin sig ...
, the first governor of Pennsylvania and 11th
President of the Continental Congress The president of the United States in Congress Assembled, known unofficially as the president of the Continental Congress and later as president of the Congress of the Confederation, was the presiding officer of the Continental Congress, the con ...
.


Education

Shillington borough is home to the Governor Mifflin School District. Within Shillington Borough there are two schools:
Governor Mifflin Senior High School Governor Mifflin Senior High School is the only high school in the Governor Mifflin School District. Named for the Revolutionary War major and first governor of Pennsylvania, Thomas Mifflin, it is located in Shillington, Berks County, Pennsyl ...
and the Governor Mifflin Middle School. GMSD also has other elementary schools in Cumru Township and Brecknock Township.


Notable people

*
Kenny Brightbill Kenny Brightbill (born January 20, 1948), nicknamed "the Shillington Slingshot" and "Mr. Excitement" is an American former NASCAR and professional dirt modified driver from Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania. He has won 441 career professional races ...
, race car driver *
Chip Kidd Charles Kidd (born 1964) is an American graphic designer known for Cover art, book covers. Early childhood Born in Shillington, Pennsylvania, Shillington in Berks County, Pennsylvania, Kidd grew up being fascinated and heavily inspired by Am ...
, book designer *
Thomas Mifflin Thomas Mifflin (January 10, 1744January 20, 1800) was an American merchant, soldier, and politician from Pennsylvania, who is regarded as a Founding Father of the United States for his roles during and after the American Revolution. Mifflin sig ...
, first governor of Pennsylvania *
John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...
, author *
Nicholas Singleton Nicholas Sean-Gaylor Singleton (born January 6, 2004) is an American college football running back for the Penn State Nittany Lions. He was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2022. Early life Singleton attended Governor Mifflin High Sc ...
,
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
running back


Geography

Shillington is located at (40.304342, -75.966855). It is situated in southeastern
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 ...
, adjacent to
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
, the county seat, and about northwest of
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 ...
.
Wyomissing Creek Wyomissing Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Schuylkill River in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It joins the Schuylkil ...
, a tributary of 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 ...
, runs along the western border of Shillington. Cumru Township largely surrounds Shillington, except for the border with
Wyomissing Wyomissing is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, adjacent to Reading. The borough was incorporated on July 2, 1906. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,114, compared to 10,461 at the 2010 census. The growth was s ...
in the northwest. 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 , of which , or 0.57%, 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 5,059 people, 2,238 households, and 1,405 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 2,321 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the
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 ...
was 97.11%
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 ...
, 0.49%
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 ...
, 0.10% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.75% from other races, and 1.01% 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 2.10% of the population. There were 2,238
household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...
s, out of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.0% 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, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.2% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.84. In the borough the population was spread out, with 21.5% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $43,833, and the median income for a family was $52,500. Males had a median income of $35,318 versus $27,179 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 $22,322. About 2.2% of families and 3.7% 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 2.4% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.


Transportation

As of 2007, there were of public roads in Shillington, of which 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 borough. U.S. Route 222 Business and
Pennsylvania Route 724 Pennsylvania Route 724 (PA 724) is a road in the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania that runs from U.S. Route 422 (US 422) in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, Sinking Spring southeast to Pennsylvania Route 23, PA 23 near Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, ...
are the numbered highways serving Shillington. US 222 Business follows Lancaster Avenue along a southwest-northeast alignment through the borough. PA 724 follows Lancaster Avenue and Philadelphia Avenue along a northwest-southeast alignment through the borough, with a short concurrency with US 222 Business.


Gallery

File:Shillington Town Hall Area, BerksCo PA 03.JPG, Corner of Philadelphia and Lancaster Avenues. War Memorial. File:St Lukes Evangelical Church, Shillington PA.JPG, St. Luke's Evangelical Church File:W Lancaster Ave 201, Shillington PA.JPG, W. Lancaster Ave. File:Mifflin Community Library, Shillington PA.JPG, Mifflin Community Library


References


Shillington Borough
(PDF). Published by the ''
Reading Eagle The ''Reading Eagle'' is the major daily newspaper in Reading, Pennsylvania. A family-owned newspaper until the spring of 2019, its reported circulation is 37,000 (daily) and 50,000 (Sundays). It serves the Reading and Berks County region of P ...
'' on August 5, 2002.


External links


Borough of Shillington official website

WEEU Community Salutes: Shillington
includes pictures

{{authority control 1860 establishments in Pennsylvania Boroughs in Berks County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1860