Wilson 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 Northampton 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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The population was 8,259 at the 2020 census. Wilson is located adjacent to the city of Easton and is part of the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.

Geography

There is more than one Wilson in

. This borough is in the far east of Pennsylvania, in Northampton County; there is a neighborhood named Wilson in Clairton, south of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

in Allegheny County, and another in Clarion County. Wilson is located at (40.684648, -75.239626). 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 ...

, the borough has a total area of , of which is land and 0.80% is water.

History

Wilson Borough is named after former U.S. President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

. First formed as a township on February 10, 1913 during the first half of 1920, a number of property owners solicited the courts to change the form of government from a township to that of a borough. According to the 1920 book, ''History of the Northampton County (Pennsylvania) and the Grand Valley of Lehigh'', by the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

, supervised and revised by William J. Heller, the township was consummated by the courts in 1914, but the court case of ''Palmer School District v. Wilson School District'' indicates the township's formation occurred on February 10, 1913. There are two very early court cases soon after the creation of the new township in 1913. The first, ''Palmer School District v. Wilson School District'', related to Wilson owing Palmer for a certain amount of indebtedness caused by the township's creation. The second, ''Township of Wilson v. Easton Transit Co.'' in 1916, related to Wilson officials suing the transit company for performing work without first obtaining necessary permissions. The township lost this case, but in an appeal to

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Judiciary of Pennsylvania, Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as ...

on May 22, 1917, then Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Walling ruled, "The assignments of error are overruled and the decree is affirmed at the cost of the appellant."

Demographics

At the 2010 census, there were 7,896 people living in the borough. The racial makeup of the borough was 84.1%

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 ...

, 6.5%

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 ...

, 0.2% Native American, 2.1% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 3.0% from other races, and 4.1% 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 10.6% of the population.

Transportation

As of 2010, there were of public roads in Wilson, 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 22 and Pennsylvania Route 248 are the numbered highways passing through Wilson. US 22 follows the Lehigh Valley Thruway along a southwest-northeast alignment along the western and northern edges of the borough, with an interchange with PA 248 located just west of the borough in Palmer Township. PA 248 follows Northampton Street along an east-west alignment through the center of the borough.

Education

The borough is served by the Wilson Area School District. Students in grades nine through 12 attend Wilson Area High School in the borough.

References

External links

* {{authority control Boroughs in Northampton County, Pennsylvania Boroughs in Pennsylvania Populated places established in 1860