Blakely, Pennsylvania

Blakely, Pennsylvania
Borough
House on Main Street
Location in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Blakely Location in Pennsylvania Show map of Pennsylvania Blakely Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 41°29′N75°36′W / 41.483°N 75.600°W / 41.483; -75.600
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Lackawanna
Established	27 August 1867
Government
• Mayor	Jeanette Acciare-Mariani
Area [1]
• Total	3.81 sq mi (9.88 km2)
• Land	3.81 sq mi (9.88 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	856 ft (261 m)
Population  (2020) [2]
• Total	6,657
• Density	1,745.87/sq mi (674.12/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP Code	18452
Area code	570
FIPS code	42-06928
Website	blakelyborough.com

Blakely is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 6,657 at the 2020 census. ^[3]

The Lackawanna River flows through Blakely, and within the borough is the village of Peckville.

History

Blakely Township was formed in 1818 from portions of old Providence Township and recently formed Greenfield Township, and named after War of 1812 naval hero Johnston Blakely, who captained the sloop Wasp in battle against the British Cruizer-class brig-sloop Avon in 1814. ^[4] As the first borough established from a portion of old Blakely Township, the Borough of Blakely as created on 27 August 1867 is also named after Capt. Johnston Blakely, ^[4] one of the most successful naval officers of his era. The "Johnston Blakeley Memorial" in Blakely is a large anchor from the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, decommissioned in the 1960s.

In the 1970s, Blakely was home to Masterpiece Inc., the seventh largest manufacturer of artificial Christmas trees. ^[5]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²), all land.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	659		—
1880	871		32.2%
1890	2,452		181.5%
1900	3,915		59.7%
1910	5,345		36.5%
1920	6,564		22.8%
1930	8,260		25.8%
1940	8,106		−1.9%
1950	6,828		−15.8%
1960	6,374		−6.6%
1970	6,391		0.3%
1980	7,438		16.4%
1990	7,222		−2.9%
2000	7,027		−2.7%
2010	6,564		−6.6%
2020	6,657		1.4%
2021 (est.)	6,660	[3]	0.0%
Sources: [6] [7] [8] [9] [2]

As of the census ^[10] of 2010, there were 6,564 people, 2,816 households, and 1,742 families in the borough. The population density was 1,727.4 inhabitants per square mile (667.0/km²). There were 3,024 housing units at an average density of 795.8 units per square mile (307.3 units/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 96.6% White, 1% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.7% Asian, 0.6% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.8% of the population.

There were 2,816 households, out of which 23% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.1% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 18.3% under the age of 18, 56.6% from 18 to 64, and 25.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.2 years.

The median income for a household in the borough was $38,153, and the median income for a family was $60,341. Males had a median income of $48,170 versus $32,158 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $23,063. About 6.6% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.2% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.

Parks and recreation

The "Blakely Borough Recreation Complex" is public sports complex located on the bank of the Lackawanna River. ^[11]

Notable people

• Gino J. Merli, Medal of Honor recipient ^[12]
• Stan Palys, professional baseball player ^[13]
• Joe Shaute, professional baseball player ^[14]
• Bill Sienkiewicz, comic book artist ^[15]

References

Baptist Church

1. "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
2. "Census Population API". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved Oct 12, 2022.
3. Bureau, US Census. "City and Town Population Totals: 2020—2021". Census.gov. US Census Bureau. Retrieved August 5, 2022.{{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
4. "Blakely Borough". History of Lackawanna County. Editor: Thomas Murphy. Published 1928. Accessed 30 September 2024.
5. "Merger Case Digest". American Bar Association. 1982.
6. "Census of Population and Housing". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
7. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved 2008-01-31.
8. "Incorporated Places and Minor Civil Divisions Datasets: Subcounty Resident Population Estimates: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012". Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
9. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
10. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved 2011-05-14.
11. Brown, Rebekah (March 19, 2013). "Blakely Council Votes to Change Name of Mellow Park". Scranton Times-Tribune.
12. Willbanks, James H. (2011). America's Heroes: Medal of Honor Recipients from the Civil War to Afghanistan. ABC-CLIO. ISBN   9781598843934.
13. "Stan Palys". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
14. "Joe Shaute". Baseball Reference. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
15. Booker, M. Keith (2010). Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels: Vol. 1. Greenwood. ISBN   9780313357473.

External links

• Official website