Susquehanna Depot, often referred to simply as Susquehanna, 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 ...

Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Susquehanna County 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 population was 38,434 Its county seat is Montrose, Pennsylvania, Montro ...

, United States, located on the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( ; Unami language, Lenape: ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeastern United States, Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvani ...

southeast of

Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...

. In the past, railroad

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s and

railroad car A railroad car, railcar (American English, American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and International Union of Railways, UIC), also called a tra ...

s were made here. It is also known for its Pennsylvania Bluestone quarries. The behavioral scientist

B. F. Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, inventor, and social philosopher. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1948 until his retirement in ...

was born in Susquehanna. The American writer John Gardner lived the last few years of his life in Susquehanna, where he died in a motorcycle accident in 1982. The borough population was 1,365 as of the 2020 census.

History

The

New York and Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Northeastern United States, originally connecting Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey, with Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York. The railroad expanded west to Chicago following its 1865 ...

(later reorganized as the Erie Railroad) built a rail line through the county in 1848, including the

Starrucca Viaduct Starrucca Viaduct is a stone arch bridge that spans Starrucca Creek near Lanesboro, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Completed in 1848 at a cost of $320,000 (equal to $ today), it was at the time the world's largest stone railway viaduct an ...

: a monumental stone structure spanning Starrucca Creek. Concurrently, the railroad established

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

s in what would eventually be known as Susquehanna Depot. Initially, 350 workers were employed. The line opened for traffic in 1851.Stracuzzi, Francine A
"Erie Railroad's Effect on the Borough of Susquehanna: Susquehanna Depot."
Accessed August 28, 2011. Susquehanna Shops - Erie RR 1971a

The borough was incorporated on August 19, 1853, from part of Harmony Township. In 1863, the Erie shops were expanded to cover and they employed 700 workers by 1865, and later over 1,000. The complex included a 33-stall roundhouse, a

rail yard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of Track (rail transport), tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for k ...

, a foundry, gas works, oil works and offices.Coppock, Gary F. (1992)
"Borough of Susquehanna Depot Early History."
From Phase I Archaeological Survey Report for the Susquehanna River Bridge Replacement Project. By 1887, the shops were producing five locomotives per month. The Susquehanna railroad station, which included a large hotel called the Starrucca House, opened in 1865.Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, Washington, DC
"Erie Railway, Susquehanna Station & Hotel."
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. Call no. HAER PA,58-SUSQ,3- . Survey No. HAER PA-8. Susquehanna Depot PA

The railroad converted the Starrucca House to offices and staff housing c. 1903.Dahl, John C.(2001)

/ref> A new roundhouse complex was constructed between 1904 and 1911, and other shop buildings were added through the 1920s. In 1928, the railroad relocated its locomotive shops to

Hornell, New York Hornell is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Steuben County, New York, Steuben County, New York, United States. The population was 8,259 at the 2020 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early settlers. The City ...

, and moved other shops out of Susquehanna in 1929, but retained a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

shop with reduced staffing through the 1950s. In 1952, Erie closed the roundhouse as it converted its steam locomotive roster to

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

s. By the end of the decade, Erie had moved all of its remaining shop operations to Meadville. Erie merged into the Erie–Lackawanna Railroad (EL) in 1960, and the latter ended passenger train service through Susquehanna on November 27, 1966. EL went bankrupt in 1972 and was absorbed into

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

in 1976. Most of the railroad shop buildings were demolished in 1980 and 1981. With the demise of the local railroad industry, Susquehanna now has many small resident-owned businesses scattered along Main Street. Recent renovations to several Main Street buildings mark the first significant upturn in the local economy in several decades. The Erie Railroad Station 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 1972.

Geography

Susquehanna Depot is located at (41.944601, -75.604025). 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 is land and (7.23%) 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 2010, there were 1,643 people, 636 households, and 436 families residing in the borough. The population density was . There were 767 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the borough was 97.1%

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 ...

, 0.4%

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 ...

, 0.3% American Indian or Alaska Native, 1% Asian, 0.4% some other race, and 0.8% 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% of the population. There were 636 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.8% 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, 19.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.99. In the borough, the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 60.4% from 18 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. The median income for a household in the borough was $35,197, and the median income for a family was $42,422. Males had a median income of $33,929 versus $27,969 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 $17,637. About 16.6% of families and 20.8% 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 27.8% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Susquehanna Community School District
{{authority control Boroughs in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1794 Pennsylvania populated places on the Susquehanna River 1853 establishments in Pennsylvania