Summit Hill 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 ...

Carbon County, Pennsylvania Carbon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,749. The county is part of the Northeast region of the commonwealth. The county borders Lehigh and Northampton counties in the state ...

, United States. It is part of

Northeastern Pennsylvania Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA or Nepa) is a region of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that includes the Pocono Mountains, the Endless Mountains, and the industrial cities of Scranton (the area's largest city), Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Ha ...

. The population was 3,034 at the 2010 census. Summit Hill was the western terminus of the United States' second operational railway, the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway. It was the site of some of the earliest

coal mines Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

developed in North America, where the

Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company was a mining and transportation company headquartered in Mauch Chunk, now known as Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. The company operated from 1818 until its dissolution in 1964 and played an early and influential role in ...

began mining in 1792, establishing the town initially as little more than a mining camp with stables and paddocks.

History

Anthracite coal Anthracite, also known as hard coal and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic lustre. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the highe ...

was discovered on the ridgeline of Sharpe Mountain (now known as

Pisgah Mountain Pisgah Mountain, or Pisgah Ridge on older USGS maps, is a ridgeline running from Tamaqua to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania from the Little Schuylkill River water gap to the Lehigh River water gap. The mountain runs north-northeast to south-so ...

) in 1791 by a hunter. News of the find led to the founding of the Lehigh Coal Mining Company, which in 1792 began exploring the area in earnest and buying up promising land. Coal was found in 1794 by Phillip GinterThe Early Days of Summit Hill
accessed: 7 September 2013 along the northeast-to-southwest-running ridgeline of Pisgah Mountain lying several hundred feet below the ridge on the north slope in an area that became the boroughs of Summit Hill and Lansford. Summit Hill High School was added to 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 2001.

Geography

Summit Hill is located in western Carbon County at (40.827420, -75.865892). The main development of the borough is on the crest of

, but the borough limits extend north to the ridgecrest of Nesquehoning Mountain, south to the far side of Mauch Chunk Mountain, and east to cover most of Mauch Chunk Lake. Also on the northern border is the borough of Lansford, while Tamaqua in Schuylkill County is on the western border. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, Summit Hill borough has a total area of , of which is land and , or 4.54%, is water. Summit Hill is located southwest of

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe (; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete who won Olympic gold medals and played professional American football, football, baseball, and basketball. A citizen of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was ...

and 1 mile south of Lansford. Summit Hill's elevation varies from above sea level in the borough center to at the highest point on Pisgah Mountain to at Mauch Chunk Lake.

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 2,974 people, 1,291 households, and 844 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 1,451 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 98.99%

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 ...

, 0.07%

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, 0.17% Asian, 0.07% from other races, and 0.61% 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 0.40% of the population. There were 1,291 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% 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, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.86. In the borough the population was spread out, with 20.1% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 22.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $37,287, and the median income for a family was $44,500. Males had a median income of $36,627 versus $23,507 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 $21,166. About 4.0% of families and 7.5% 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 8.4% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over. Summit Hill is part of the Panther Valley School District, along with the neighboring towns of Lansford, Nesquehoning and Coaldale (Coaldale is located in Schuylkill County).

Transportation

As of 2008, there were of public roads in Summit Hill, 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. Pennsylvania Route 902 is the only numbered highway serving Summit Hill. It follows North Street, Pine Street, Amidon Street and Laurel Drive along a northwest-southeast alignment through the middle of the borough.

Notable people

* Thomas F. Breslin,

Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March was the Death march, forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of around 72,000 to 78,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war (POWs) from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp ...

prisoner * Francis James Furey, Archbishop of San Antonio * Joe Gormley,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player * Keith McCall, former Speaker of 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 ...

* Samuel McLean, congressman * Maria Zuber, planetary scientist

References

External links

Borough of Summit Hill official websiteSummit Hill history book
{{authority control Populated places established in 1880 Boroughs in Carbon County, Pennsylvania 1880 establishments in Pennsylvania 1818 establishments in Pennsylvania Municipalities of the Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania