West Nottingham 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 ...

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States ** Chester County Council, boy scout council in Pennsylvania. * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire ...

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. The population was 2,722 at the 2010 census.

History

The township was originally disputed territory between Pennsylvania and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, resolved eventually by the

Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, sometimes referred to as Mason and Dixon's Line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia. It was Surveying, surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason ...

. Established in 1718, West Nottingham Township dates back to 1701 when a group of

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

's followers settled in the Nottingham Area. It is named after

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England. The township also formed part of the northern section of Susquehanna Manor later known as New Connaught, a large settlement tract established by Maryland and named after the western province of

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

in Ireland that courted Irish settlement into the area. The dispute led to heavy Quaker and Scotch-Irish settlement of the area.

Geography

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 township has a total area of , of which , or 0.29%, is water.

Demographics

At the 2010 census, the township was 88.0% non-Hispanic White, 2.0% Black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.3% Asian, and 2.0% were two or more races. 8.3% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. At the 2000 census there were 2,634 people, 956 households, and 741 families living in the township. The population density was . There were 1,007 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 94.68% White, 1.94% African American, 0.38% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 1.67% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.18%. There were 956 households, 38.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.4% were non-families. 18.2% of households were made up of individuals, and 7.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.07. The age distribution was 28.0% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.0 males. The median household income was $45,142 and the median family income was $49,630. Males had a median income of $33,450 versus $23,406 for females. The per capita income for the township was $17,975. About 3.3% of families and 5.0% 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 2.3% of those under age 18 and 20.2% of those age 65 or over. West Nottingham is home to Nottingham County Park. The 651 acre park sits atop an out-cropping of serpentine stone greater than one square mile in size – one of the largest serpentine barrens on the East Coast. West Nottingham is also home to several mobile home communities.

Transportation

As of 2009, there were of public roads in West Nottingham Township, 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 township.

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ...

is the main highway serving West Nottingham Township. It follows a north-south alignment along the Baltimore Pike and Kennett-Oxford Bypass across the eastern portion of the township.

Pennsylvania Route 272 Pennsylvania Route 272 (PA 272) is a highway in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Lancaster area. The southern terminus of the route is at the Mason–Dixon line southeast of Nottingham, Pennsylvania, Nottingham, where ...

is the only other numbered road serving the township. It follows Christine Road along a northwest-southeast alignment across the northeastern portion of the township.

References

External links

West Nottingham Township official site
{{authority control Townships in Chester County, Pennsylvania Townships in Pennsylvania