Beaver Meadows, Pennsylvania | |
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![]() Gazebo on Church Street, November 2016 | |
![]() Location of Beaver Meadows in Carbon County | |
Location of Beaver Meadows in Pennsylvania | |
Coordinates: 40°55′42″N75°54′46″W / 40.92833°N 75.91278°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
County | Carbon |
Area | |
• Total | 0.26 sq mi (0.67 km2) |
• Land | 0.26 sq mi (0.67 km2) |
• Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
Elevation | 1,598 ft (487 m) |
Population | |
• Total | 897 |
• Density | 3,476.74/sq mi (1,341.57/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP code | 18216 |
Area code | 570 |
FIPS code | 42-04816 |
Website | beavermeadowspa |
Beaver Meadows is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 897 at the 2020 U.S. census. [4]
Beaver Meadows is located in northwestern Carbon County at 40°55′42″N75°54′46″W / 40.92833°N 75.91278°W (40.928438, -75.912787) along Beaver Creek, [5] amidst a historic transportation corridor dating back to Amerindian Trails through the wilderness area known to the Amerindians as "The Great Swamp". The Great Swamp was part of a vastly greater wilderness once known as “St. Anthony’s Wilderness” and by the Amerindians, the “Towamensing” being an Indian word for “wilderness”— a vast pinewood forest and boggy swamp-plagued valleys watered by springs and mountain creeks such as Quakake Creek, Beaver Creek, Hazel Creek and others from the surrounding mountains. The Amerindians applied the term, “Towamensing” to the entire frontier area above Blue Mountain, which while a valued hunting territory was considered less favorable to Indian settlements.
Beaver Meadow is at an elevation of 1,598 feet (487 m) above sea level in the valley of Beaver Creek, north of Spring Mountain, part of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.26 square miles (0.67 km2), all of it land. [4]
Beaver Meadows began as a recognizable and describable landmar, a meadow where beaver dams dotted the landscape, along a well-known Amerindian Trail, known as the "Warriors' Path", [6] and later as well-known as the trail used by Moravian Missionaries traveling between Berwick and Bethlehem, then became known as a toll gate/rest stop along the Lehigh and Susquehanna Turnpike, a bridle trail and wagon road chartered in 1804 from Jean's Run near the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in the hamlet and township of Lausanne about nine miles south on the other side of Broad Mountain.
In the 1790s, a large tract of land was registered in the name of tbdl and a few farm houses dotted the valley until in 1812, anthracite coal was discovered in the vicinity of Junedale, [6] a bedroom suburb neighborhood a 1.33 miles (2.14 km) [7] west of Beaver Meadows proper.
In 1752, the lands of Carbon County and Beaver Meadows area were part of Northampton County, one of the three original counties of Pennsylvania, a county as big as New Jersey. [8] the 1790s Warrior's Path was widened into a cart road some called the Lausanne-Nescopeck Road as Moravians increased their connections with the St. John's settlement in the Nescopeck Creek valley.
In 1804, business interests desiring to ship timber to energy-hungry settlements raised money for a wagon road that could support timber sledges in winter snows, and the Lehigh and Susquehanna Turnpike was chartered, which is now closely followed by Pennsylvania Route 93 through the borough from over Broad Mountain at Nesquehoning, leading northwest 4 miles (6 km) to Hazleton and southeast 9 miles (14 km) to U.S. Route 209 in Nesquehoning. Weatherly is 4 miles (6 km) to the east via Spring Mountain Road, where Beaver Creek ends in confluence with Hazel Creek begetting Black Creek.
In 1800, Lausanne was created to provide local government for what is essentially all of present-day Carbon County, Pennsylvania; the eventual townships of East Penn, Lausanne, Mahoning, Banks, Towamensing, Lower Towamensing and Penn Forest; Pennsylvania townships being the most rural of organized municipal governments under the commonwealth constitution. In 1826, Mauch Chunk, which is present-day Jim Thorpe, and other townships were split out of Lausanne and the center of that township was moved northwards. In 1843, Banks Township was organized, and incorporated the small settlement of Beaver Meadows within its larger girth. [8]
In 1812, the secrets of burning anthracite were mostly yet to be discovered, revealed, and promoted (widely publicized) by Josiah White and Erskine Hazard but blacksmiths were several decades into knowing how to use it as an auxiliary fuel to complement bituminous or charcoal in forge fires, so by 1813 a modest pit mine was opened to provide coal for Berwick and Bloomington. The settlement's first dwelling was built in 1804 of logs. The first houses were built along the main thoroughfare, today's Broad Street east of the junction between Berwick St. (the continuation of the turnpike and Rt-93 to Hazelton) and Main St. westwards to Junedale, Tresckow, and Tamaqua.
Nathan Beach discovered coal in 1812, and opened a quarry in 1813, [8] shipping his coal initially west by wagon to Berwick and Bloomsburg over the Berwick-Nescopeck Toll Bridge. With road improvements, he was able to ship his coal to Lausanne Landing where arks were being built by the Lehigh Coal Mine Company and coal could be transported to Philadelphia.
In 1817, stymied by the slow movements of the Schuylkill Canal board of directors, White and Hazard began the improvements making the one-way Lehigh Navigations in 1818, and travel Lehigh River downstream grew steadily safer. By the end of 1820, the new Lehigh Canal, still rough and unfinished, nonetheless enabled a record 365 long-tons to be shipped to Philadelphia.
By 1823, steady shipments allowed self-funding and the canal was being re-engineered and a gradual conversion begun into a system with two-way locks; its success in providing the affordable fuel to meet the young nation's energy demands, the Erie Canal opening, followed by the news of railroad events in Britain in 1825 began whole chains of events spurring industrial production and railroads. [9]
In 1826, Colonel William H. Wilson moved to the town and built a tavern. In 1831 James Lamison became citizen No. 3 and also opened a tavern. [8] By that time the Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company had been formed and was subscribing stock. It was chartered on April 13, 1830, and the industrial revolution was about to begin using Beaver Meadows as a center. The company laid tracks down the valleys from Beaver and Black Creeks, the tributaries dumped into the Lehigh below and near Penn Haven Junction where the railroad expected to ship to the Lehigh Canal.
Room Run Railroad was occupying space assumed free by the Beaver Meadows planners assumptions. In 1830, operating managers Josiah White and Erskine Hazard of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N Co.) opened new mines, now freed of immediate or further improvement needs of the Lehigh Canal or the Summit Hill and Mauch Chunk Railroad, in the area of present-day Nesquehoning and building a two-mile funicular railway called the Room Run or Rhume Run Railroad to increase volume shipped by the company. The two railroads contended for the same space. At one point, both companies put armed men into the field, but an amicable settlement was reached but for a rate dispute to break out. This resulted in a resolve to build the railroad all the way to Easton, but a deal was reached after the railroad reached past Mauch Chunk to Parryville, where auxiliary barge loading facilities were built.
The earliest settlement in Banks Township [of 1886] was made in that portion which was in 1897 set off to form the borough of Beaver Meadow. The township was contained within the territory of Lausanne until January, 1842, when it was separately organized, being named in honor of Judge Banks, then on the bench of Northampton county, of which Carbon formed a part until 1843.
— Brenckman, History of Carbon County, Chapter XIII. 1884, 1913 ed.
The Beaver Meadow Railroad & Coal Company bought 200 acres (81 ha) and subcontracted coal operations to A.H. VanCleve and Co. opening their own mines. By 1833 they began local operations and construction of the railway along the surveyed right of way. Getting strong-armed by LC&N Co., the company got a change in charter and continued downstream along the Lehigh until LC&N Co. blinked and granted acceptable shipping rate terms. [6] In 1835 they contracted for the first wood-burning steam locomotives to operate in Northampton and Carbon counties, which began operations in 1836. They also demonstrated that a railroad could be built over 30 miles through mountainous country. The Beaver Meadow Railroad became an operational success, and an inspiration.
In 1846, investors began the “Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad Company” to link New York Harbor at Jersey City via New Jersey to the Susquehanna River and then the great lakes via a line across the Delaware and up the Lehigh Rivers. They were successful, and represented the beginning of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, whose oldest parts, the Beaver Meadows Railroad, were absorbed in 1866.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1880 | 502 | — | |
1900 | 1,378 | — | |
1910 | 1,530 | 11.0% | |
1920 | 1,709 | 11.7% | |
1930 | 1,890 | 10.6% | |
1940 | 2,030 | 7.4% | |
1950 | 1,723 | −15.1% | |
1960 | 1,392 | −19.2% | |
1970 | 1,274 | −8.5% | |
1980 | 1,078 | −15.4% | |
1990 | 985 | −8.6% | |
2000 | 968 | −1.7% | |
2010 | 869 | −10.2% | |
2020 | 897 | 3.2% | |
Sources: [10] [11] [12] [3] |
As of the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 968 people, 404 households, and 258 families in the borough. The population density was 3752/sqmi (1449/km2). There were 458 housing units at an average density of 1775/sqmi (685/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 99.38% White, 0.10% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.21% from other races, and 0.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.24% of the population.
There were 404 households, out of which 24.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.0% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.1% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.04.
The borough population contained 22.3% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 22.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.7 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $31,058, and the median income for a family was $42,500. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $20,417 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $17,296. About 4.4% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.0% of those under age 18 and 15.6% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2013, there were 3.63 miles (5.84 km) of public roads in Beaver Meadows, of which 1.03 miles (1.66 km) were maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and 2.60 miles (4.18 km) were maintained by the borough. [13]
Pennsylvania Route 93 is the only numbered highway serving Beaver Meadows. It follows Berwick Street and Broad Street along a northwest-southeast alignment through the western and southern portions of the borough.
Carbon County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,749. The county is also part of Pennsylvania's Coal Region.
Banks Township is a township in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Jim Thorpe is a borough and the county seat of Carbon County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is historically known as the burial site of Native American sports legend Jim Thorpe.
Lausanne Township is a township in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The township dates back to 1808 when the first Lausanne settlement was organized with a local frontier government.
Lehigh Township is a township in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Berwick is a borough in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located 28 miles (45 km) southwest of Wilkes-Barre. As of the 2020 census, Berwick had a population of 10,355. It is one of the two principal communities of the Bloomsburg–Berwick metropolitan area, which covers Columbia and Montour counties, and had a combined population of 85,562 at the 2010 census.
Pennsylvania Route 93 is a 41-mile-long (66 km) state route located in Carbon, Luzerne, and Columbia counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 209 in Nesquehoning, about halfway from PA just north of the 1800s community of Lausanne Landing, the southern toll station of the Lausanne & Nescopeck Turnpike (1804)—along whose path the highway was built. The northern terminus of the route is at PA 487 in Orangeville, the part of the road west of the Susquehanna and Berwick once being part of the Susquehanna & Tioga Turnpike (1806).
Black Creek is a long source tributary of Nescopeck Creek so part of the Susquehanna River drainage basin. It is also the second & longer stream of the same name recognized by the USGS GNIS system in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in the United States—compared to the Black Creek beyond the ridgeline of the drainage divide, so in the Lehigh River valley and Carbon County. The headwaters of both Black Creeks in Luzerne county are only a few miles apart, and both valleys were traversed by the Lausanne-Nescopeck Turnpike in the first half of the 19th-century.
Black Creek is a 7.6-mile-long (12.2 km) brook tributary of the Lehigh River in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, in the United States,. Its waters start at the very south edge of Weatherly, Pennsylvania at the confluence of Beaver and Hazle Creeks, then runs nearly due east to its mouth on the Lehigh River in Maple Hollow at the former railroad depot of Penn Haven Junction just east of Hinkles Valley. The confluence was a waypoint along the 19th-century Lehigh & Susquehanna Turnpike Black Creek has two major tributaries joining within Weatherly, the 7 miles (11 km) long Beaver Creek The tributary Quakake Creek, is the more dispersed and disorganized source waters, originating in over half-a-dozen small streams; it is also listed by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) as a variant name for Black Creek.
Lehigh Gorge State Park is a 4,548 acres (1,841 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Luzerne and Carbon Counties, Pennsylvania. The park encompasses a gorge, which stretches along the Lehigh River from a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control dam in Luzerne County to Jim Thorpe in Carbon County.
The Susquehanna and Tioga Turnpike; also called the Berwick and Tioga Turnpike, and Susquehanna & Tioga Turnpike connecting via the high ground of tributary valleys Berwick and upstream, Tioga—chartered & incorporated in 1806, the toll road, like many middle ages toll roads in Europe was opened initially as an animal power turnpike in Northeastern Pennsylvania connecting early Central and Northern Eastern Pennsylvania along the Main Branch Susquehanna River to Lower New York State. Established in the early American canal age, and undercapitalized, it took several years to gradually extend improved trails in stages 100 miles (160 km) to Elmira, New York from its southern terminus at Berwick, Pennsylvania opposite Nescopeck across the Susquehanna River—in this manner it initially also sufficed as a bridle trail as well. Where demand existed from sources of natural resources or farmers seeking to ship farm goods to markets, it was systematically widened and improved into a wagon road.
Nesquehoning Mountain or Nesquehoning Ridge is a 15–17-mile-long (24–27 km) coal bearing ridge dividing the waters of Lehigh Valley to the north from the Schuylkill River valley and the several near parallel ridgelines of the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians barrier range all local members of which run generally WSW-ENE in the greater overall area.
East Mauch Chunk is a former independent borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located along the east bank of the Lehigh River on the opposite bank from the town business district, it was part of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The Nesquehoning Valley Railroad Company, herein called the Nesquehoning Valley Railroad (NVRR), is now a fallen flag standard-gauge, steam era shortline railroad built as a coal road to ship the Anthracite mined in the Southeastern Coal Region on either side of the Little Schuylkill River tributary Panther Creek and the history making coal towns of the Panther Creek Valley down the Lehigh River transportation corridor to the Eastern seaboard.
Nescopeck Mountain is a ridge in Columbia County and Luzerne County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. Its elevation is 1,594 feet (486 m) above sea level. The ridge is a forested ridge, with at least two types of forest and two systems of vernal pools. It is a very long and unbroken ridge with two water gaps: one carved by Catawissa Creek and one carved by Nescopeck Creek. This later gap was exploited as a transportation corridor with the construction of the Lausanne–Nescopeck Turnpike between the respective frontier communities at Lausanne Landing and Nescopeck in 1805 connecting the newly developing Wyoming Valley with Philadelphia and the Delaware River valley; cutting off over 100 miles between Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre. Today's Route PA 93 derives from this historic pack mule road.
Broad Mountain or Broad Ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians in Carbon County and Schuylkill County in Pennsylvania is a steep-faced, anthracite-bearing barrier ridge just south of both Beaver Meadows and Weatherly, north of Nesquehoning and west and south of the Lehigh River basin west of the southwest border of the Poconos. The mountain ridge line is mostly flat and looks very similar to the man-made piles of culm in the region from the roads and towns looking up.
Beaver Creek in Carbon County, Pennsylvania is an east-to-west-running tributary of the Lehigh River giving name to and draining the southern terrains of Beaver Meadows into Black Creek.
The Lausanne–Nescopeck Turnpike or Susquehanna & Lehigh Turnpike (1804–1840s), also mentioned often as the Lehigh–Susquehanna Turnpike and opened in 1805, was a highly profitable foot traffic toll road established during the earliest days of the American canal age—one of the many privately funded road projects established after the 1790s in the first years of the young United States era to open up and promote growth along either side of the American Frontiers by building connecting transport infrastructure.
Lausanne, alternately named Lausanne Landing of the 1790s–1820s was a small settlement at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in marshy delta-like flood plain. Some historic references will mention the presence of a 'Landing Tavern' as the entirety of the town. Lausanne township was originally organized out of dense wilderness along an ancient Amerindian Trail, the "Warriors' Path" an important regional route as it connected the Susquehanna River settlements of the lower Wyoming Valley to those around Philadelphia.
Hazle Creek is an American tributary source stream of the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States.