Northumberland, Pennsylvania

Northumberland was founded in 1772.¹ The land that became Northumberland was purchased from the Iroquois in the first Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768, and the village was laid out in 1772. During the American Revolution, Northumberland was evacuated during the Big Runaway in 1778, and only finally resettled in 1784.²

Geography

Demographics

As of the census⁴ of 2000, there were 3,714 people, 1,657 households, and 1,045 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,368.2 people per square mile (913.4/km²). There were 1,772 housing units at an average density of 1,129.9/sq mi (435.8/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 98.38% White, 0.73% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.40% from other races, and 0.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.62% of the population.

There were 1,657 households out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 32.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the borough the population was spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $31,891, and the median income for a family was $38,807. Males had a median income of $31,162 versus $22,203 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $18,229. About 4.5% of families and 7.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The local public school system is the Shikellamy School District, with administrative offices in nearby Sunbury. Shikellamy High School has a 78% graduation rate according to the district report card 2005-2006. In 11th grade in the same year, 49% were proficient in math and 62% were proficient in reading.⁵ The high school is ranked 384th out of 606 public high schools in Pennsylvania.⁶

In 2007, the Pittsburgh Business Times ranked the Shikellamy School District 434th out of 499 Pennsylvania school districts based on three years of Pennsylvania System of Student Assessment test scores.⁷

The Shikellamy School Board set the budget at $34.62 million for 2007-2008. The board levies a variety of taxes to support its programs. Taxes include 62.5 mills real estate tax in 2007.⁸ Per capita taxes are $5 per resident. An occupational tax, which charges a set amount based on your job title, earns approximately $1.7 million. Many see this tax as particularly unfair, as people classified in the same job title often earn vastly different amounts but have to pay the same amount. An earned income taxes of one-half of 1 percent of income yields a revenue of approximately $1.8 million. Additionally, the real estate transfer tax of one-half percent (Nothumberland borough, Point Township, Rockefeller Township) and one percent (Snydertown borough) is levied on real estate transfers.⁹

Voters rejected a tax referendum in May 2007 which would have increased local earned income tax by 0.5 percent to reduce property taxes for homeowners and farmers by $176 on average.¹⁰

SUN Area Career & Technology Center is a regional vocational school, offering adult education classes, vocational education, and technical career training. SUN Tech serves over 1500 people annually. ISO9001 and Middle States Accredited. SUN Tech was presented with the Significant Achievement Award in Education for raising their Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program criteria score to 648 points, a 345 point increase from 303 points in August, 2000.

Residents also have a wide selection of alternative schools. By law, the local public school must provide transportation to schools within 10 miles of the borders of the school district at no charge to the student.¹¹

Parochial schools

Charter Public Schools

The Central Susquehanna LPN Career Center, located in Sunbury, provides a one year full time program to prepare the individual to enter a career in licensed practical nursing. Classroom instruction and laboratory experience are offered in Sunbury. Affiliated hospitals, nursing care facilities, doctors' offices and childcare settings provide clinical experience.

Government

A seven-seat Council governs the Borough of Northumberland, with a mayor taking on a largely ceremonial role. Council members serve for four-year terms, as does the mayor. The current mayor - Gretchen Brosius was elected in 2001, and reelected in 2005. Her current term ends at the end of 2009.

Panoramic view of Northumberland (left) with the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River (left) and North Branch (center) of the Susquehanna River, along with the borough of Sunbury (far right). Taken from the Shikellamy State Park Overlook, with the state park's Marina unit on Packer Island in the river visible.

Notable residents

English chemist and co-discoverer of oxygen Joseph Priestley lived in Northumberland for the last decade of his life, until his death in 1804. The Joseph Priestley House remains standing, and operates as a museum.

Northumberland is also notable for the fact that two individuals intimately involved with the end of World War II are from the town. Major Gen. Uzal G. Ent, who had led the August, 1943, raid on the Romanian oil refineries in Ploesti, chose Col. Paul Tibbets to lead the 509th Composite Group, asking him to organize and lead a combat force to deliver a new type of explosive device that is so powerful, its full potential was unknown. Tibbets did so, and was the commander and pilot of the Enola Gay, the plane that delivered the first atomic bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945. The Enola Gay's navigator on the mission was Capt. Theodore "Dutch" Van Kirk, also a native of Northumberland, who was among the men hand-selected by Tibbets to accomplish the mission.

References

^ Hirsch, 25; Bell, 517-18.
^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Northumberland Historic District".
^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
^ "Shikellamy School District 2006-2007 Report". Pennsylvania Department of Education. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
^ "School Digger report". Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
^ Valley schools all over the chart, Daily Item June 6, 2007 http://www.dailyitem.com/archivesearch/local_story_163000144.html
^ Shikellamy school board adopts $34.6M budget, Daily Item, June 20, 2007 http://www.dailyitem.com/0100_news/local_story_171003120.html
^ Shikellamy budget approved Daily Item, May 19,2007 http://www.dailyitem.com/archivesearch/local_story_139001649.html
^ Tax reform proposal falls in all Valley school districts, Daily Item, May 19, 2007. http://www.dailyitem.com/archivesearch/local_story_139203055.html
^ 24 PS 17-1726-A Transportation to charter schools http://www.pde.state.pa.us/transportation/lib/transportation/SchoolCode_Transportation_7-17-06.pdf
^ http://www.connectionsacademy.com/state/home.asp?schoolCode=CCA Connections Academy
^ Boss, Shira, "Virtual charters: public schooling, at home", Christian Science Monitor, January 2002.

Contents

History