Carbon County | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 40°55′N75°42′W / 40.92°N 75.7°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
Founded | March 13, 1843 (Divided from Northampton County) |
Named for | Coal deposits |
Seat | Jim Thorpe |
Largest borough | Palmerton |
Area | |
• Total | 387 sq mi (1,000 km2) |
• Land | 381 sq mi (990 km2) |
• Water | 5.9 sq mi (15 km2) 2% |
Population | |
• Estimate (2020) | 64,749 |
• Density | 170/sq mi (70/km2) |
Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
Congressional district | 7th |
Website | carboncounty |
Designated | June 13, 1982 [1] |
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. [2] The county is also part of Pennsylvania's Coal Region.
The county borders Lehigh and Northampton counties in the state's Lehigh Valley region to its south, Monroe County to its east, Luzerne County to its north, and Schuylkill County to its west. The county is approximately 33 miles (53 km) northwest of Allentown, the state's third-largest city, and 117 miles (188 km) west of New York City, the nation's largest city.
The county seat of Carbon County is Jim Thorpe, [3] which was founded in 1818 as Mauch Chunk. The Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River, flows through Carbon County.
In 1745, the first colonial settlement in Carbon County was established by a Moravian mission in Gnadenhutten, in present-day Lehighton. By 1752, increased hostility between colonialists and Native Americans put Gnadenhutten at risk for attack; in 1755, the community was attacked by Native Americans. [4]
In the late 1780s, the county's settlement at Lehigh Gap failed, and colonizers did not return for a decade, in the late 1780s. [5]
In 1791, a homesteader, Phillip Ginter, hunting on Sharp Mountain along Pisgah Mountain [6] discovered a black tone coal outcropping, and conveyed a chunk of it to Weissport.
Lehigh Coal Mine Company (LCMC) operations had managed to open up the mouth area of the Nesquehoning Creek by 1800. This area became known as Lausanne, or Lausanne Landing, after the inn and tavern built there called Landing Tavern. An Amerindian trail crossed the stream near the confluence with Jean's Run [7] and the camp grounds of their boat builders, climbing northwestwards along a traverse to the next water gap west, eroded into the southern flank of Broad Mountain in the Lehigh Valley. It connected across a barrier ridge whose waters originated in the saddle-pass where Hazleton was built. The trail became the Lehigh and Susquehanna Turnpike in 1804. PA Route 93 follows this route with the exception of where modern road building capabilities allowed improved positioning. This road cut 90–100 miles (140–160 km) off a trip from Philadelphia to the Wyoming Valley and the northern sections of the Coal Region.
In 1827, Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, based in present-day Jim Thorpe, launched the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, the nation's second operating railroad. [5] [8] The Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company, also located in Carbon County, was the first railway to operate steam locomotives as traction engines and prime movers in the United States. The Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway connected mines west of Beaver Meadows and Weatherly to the Lehigh Canal opposite Lehighton.
Carbon County was created on March 13, 1843, from parts of Northampton and Monroe counties and was named for the extensive deposits of anthracite coal in the region, where it was first discovered in 1791. Early attempts were made to exploit the deposits by Lehigh Coal Mine Company (1792), whose expeditions broke trail and pioneered river bank sites using mule powered technology to log, saw, and build arks to carry bags of coal to Philadelphia with only scant success.
In the 19th century, Carbon County was the location of trials and executions of the Molly Maguires, an Irish secret society that had been accused of terrorizing the region.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 387 square miles (1,000 km2), of which 381 square miles (990 km2) is land and 5.9 square miles (15 km2) (1.5%) is water. [9] Blue Mountain forms the southern boundary of Carbon County. The northeast area of the county is located in the Pocono Mountains and the northwest area includes portions of Broad and Spring mountains.
The county is drained by the Lehigh River except for a small area in western Packer Township and the borough of Lansford that are drained by the Still Creek and Panther Creek, respectively, into the Little Schuylkill River and the Schuylkill River, and the Audenried area in the northwest corner that drains into the Susquehanna River via the Catawissa Creek. The Lehigh River cuts a gorge between Jim Thorpe and White Haven, which hosts the Lehigh Gorge State Park.
Carbon County has a humid continental climate (Dfa/Dfb) and is mostly in hardiness zone 6b except for the NE part of the county and higher NW areas where it is 6a. Average monthly temperatures at Jake Arner Memorial Airport range from 27.8 °F in January to 72.5 °F in July, while at the Pocono interchange of the Turnpike they range from 22.9 °F in January to 68.3 °F in July. [10]
Carbon Transit fixed-route bus service consists of Route 701 (Coaldale-Palmerton) and Route 702 (Nesquehoning-Palmerton), both connecting to the LANta Route 325 bus in Palmerton. Carbon Transit also operates CT Flex service in Jim Thorpe, Penn Forest Township, and Kidder Township. Also, Hazleton Public Transit (HPT) bus route 30 serves northwestern Carbon County via Beaver Meadows and Junedale to Weatherly. Audenried is served by HPT route 20 (Hazleton-McAdoo/Kelayres).
Fullington Trailways provides intercity service to Carbon County with stops in Lehighton and Jim Thorpe. Martz Trailways has a stop in Kidder Township near the Pocono interchange of Interstate 476 for service between Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Allentown, Quakertown, and Philadelphia. This is an Amtrak Thruway route, connecting to Amtrak trains at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. Martz also operates casino bus routes to Atlantic City from the stop.
Jake Arner Memorial Airport in Lehighton provides general aviation. The nearest commercial passenger service is at Lehigh Valley International Airport or Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1850 | 15,686 | — | |
1860 | 21,033 | 34.1% | |
1870 | 28,144 | 33.8% | |
1880 | 31,923 | 13.4% | |
1890 | 38,624 | 21.0% | |
1900 | 44,510 | 15.2% | |
1910 | 52,846 | 18.7% | |
1920 | 62,565 | 18.4% | |
1930 | 63,380 | 1.3% | |
1940 | 61,735 | −2.6% | |
1950 | 57,558 | −6.8% | |
1960 | 52,889 | −8.1% | |
1970 | 50,573 | −4.4% | |
1980 | 53,285 | 5.4% | |
1990 | 56,846 | 6.7% | |
2000 | 58,802 | 3.4% | |
2010 | 65,249 | 11.0% | |
2020 | 64,749 | −0.8% | |
U.S. Decennial Census [11] 1790-1960 [12] 1900-1990 [13] 1990-2000 [14] 2010-2017 [15] |
As of the 2000 census, [16] there were 58,802 people, 23,701 households, and 16,424 families residing in the county. The population density was 154 people per square mile (59 people/km2). There were 30,492 housing units at an average density of 80 units per square mile (31/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.82% White, 0.60% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.32% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. 1.46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 29.4% were of German, 10.1% Irish, 9.2% Italian, 7.9% American, 6.6% Slovak, 6.0% Polish and 5.8% Ukrainian ancestry.
There were 23,701 households, out of which 28.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.80% were married couples living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.70% were non-families. 26.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.20% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 28.30% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 18.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 94.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.30 males.
Race | Num. | Perc. |
---|---|---|
White (NH) | 57,439 | 88.71% |
Black or African American (NH) | 1,070 | 1.65% |
Native American (NH) | 95 | 0.15% |
Asian (NH) | 327 | 0.51% |
Pacific Islander (NH) | 14 | 0.02% |
Other/Mixed (NH) | 2,162 | 3.33% |
Hispanic or Latino | 3,642 | 5.6% |
Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
2020 | 21,984 | 65.26% | 11,212 | 33.28% | 493 | 1.46% |
2016 | 18,743 | 64.65% | 8,936 | 30.82% | 1,314 | 4.53% |
2012 | 13,504 | 52.56% | 11,580 | 45.07% | 610 | 2.37% |
2008 | 12,957 | 47.90% | 13,464 | 49.77% | 629 | 2.33% |
2004 | 12,519 | 49.99% | 12,223 | 48.81% | 301 | 1.20% |
2000 | 9,717 | 45.67% | 10,668 | 50.14% | 892 | 4.19% |
1996 | 7,193 | 36.28% | 9,457 | 47.69% | 3,179 | 16.03% |
1992 | 7,243 | 33.44% | 9,072 | 41.89% | 5,344 | 24.67% |
1988 | 10,232 | 52.35% | 9,104 | 46.57% | 211 | 1.08% |
1984 | 10,701 | 54.41% | 8,836 | 44.93% | 131 | 0.67% |
1980 | 10,042 | 51.95% | 8,009 | 41.44% | 1,278 | 6.61% |
1976 | 8,883 | 44.48% | 10,791 | 54.03% | 299 | 1.50% |
1972 | 11,639 | 59.05% | 7,774 | 39.44% | 299 | 1.52% |
1968 | 9,954 | 46.13% | 10,634 | 49.28% | 991 | 4.59% |
1964 | 7,309 | 32.00% | 15,416 | 67.49% | 116 | 0.51% |
1960 | 12,586 | 50.28% | 12,391 | 49.50% | 55 | 0.22% |
1956 | 13,150 | 57.27% | 9,722 | 42.34% | 89 | 0.39% |
1952 | 12,283 | 53.43% | 10,571 | 45.98% | 134 | 0.58% |
1948 | 9,744 | 49.77% | 9,438 | 48.21% | 396 | 2.02% |
1944 | 9,837 | 46.91% | 11,060 | 52.74% | 73 | 0.35% |
1940 | 10,618 | 45.27% | 12,777 | 54.47% | 60 | 0.26% |
1936 | 11,298 | 43.77% | 14,179 | 54.93% | 334 | 1.29% |
1932 | 9,918 | 48.52% | 9,874 | 48.30% | 649 | 3.17% |
1928 | 15,047 | 64.98% | 8,010 | 34.59% | 98 | 0.42% |
1924 | 10,236 | 55.55% | 5,150 | 27.95% | 3,041 | 16.50% |
1920 | 7,900 | 59.19% | 5,030 | 37.69% | 416 | 3.12% |
1916 | 4,275 | 49.18% | 4,099 | 47.15% | 319 | 3.67% |
1912 | 1,246 | 13.95% | 3,652 | 40.88% | 4,036 | 45.18% |
1908 | 4,486 | 49.23% | 3,890 | 42.69% | 737 | 8.09% |
1904 | 4,505 | 53.93% | 2,998 | 35.89% | 850 | 10.18% |
1900 | 4,222 | 48.81% | 4,149 | 47.97% | 278 | 3.21% |
1896 | 4,534 | 53.93% | 3,609 | 42.93% | 264 | 3.14% |
1892 | 3,179 | 45.68% | 3,541 | 50.88% | 239 | 3.43% |
1888 | 3,279 | 45.69% | 3,665 | 51.07% | 233 | 3.25% |
Carbon County has long been considered a bellwether county for Pennsylvania statewide elections. In gubernatorial elections, it was perfect from 1952 to 2014. [20] [21] [22]
At the presidential level, Carbon County has also been a bellwether for Pennsylvania until recently with only one miss (the 1960 presidential election) between 1916 presidential election and the 2000 presidential election, and with a margin within 3.5 points of the statewide margin in every election from 1940 to 2000 except 1964 (5.3% more Democratic) and 1976 (6.9% more Democratic). Al Gore carried the county in 2000. George W. Bush defeated Democrat John Kerry 49.99% to 48.81%, or a margin of 296 votes, in 2004. [23]
Since then, Carbon County has trended Republican relative to the state as a whole; in the 2008 presidential election, John McCain outperformed in Carbon County by 8.5% relative to the state. In the 2012 presidential election, Mitt Romney outperformed by 12.9% relative to the state.
In the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump won the county overwhelmingly with 65.4% of the vote, the largest presidential victory in the county of any presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson's landslide in 1964 presidential election. [18]
As of February 7, 2024, there were 43,217 registered voters in the county. There are 21,871 (50.61%) registered Republicans, 14,592 (33.76%) registered Democrats, 4,723 (10.93%) voters registered non-affiliated voters, and 2,031 (4.70%) voters registered to other parties. [24]
Carbon Career and Technical Institute, public school located in Jim Thorpe
The public and private K-12 schools in Carbon County are served by Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21. [26]
Mauch Chunk Lake is a county-run park that offers swimming, camping, hiking and cross country skiing in the winter. There are three Pennsylvania state parks in Carbon County:
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and, in the case of Bloomsburg, a town. The following boroughs and townships are located in Carbon County:
Census-designated places are geographical areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.
The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Carbon County. [27]
†county seat
Rank | City/Town/etc. | Municipal type | Population (2010 Census) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lehighton | Borough | 5,500 |
2 | Palmerton | Borough | 5,414 |
3 | † Jim Thorpe | Borough | 4,781 |
4 | Indian Mountain Lake (partially in Monroe County) | CDP | 4,372 |
5 | Lansford | Borough | 3,941 |
6 | Nesquehoning | Borough | 3,349 |
7 | Summit Hill | Borough | 3,034 |
8 | Weatherly | Borough | 2,525 |
9 | Towamensing Trails | CDP | 2,292 |
10 | Weissport East | CDP | 1,624 |
11 | Bowmanstown | Borough | 937 |
12 | Tresckow | CDP | 880 |
13 | Beaver Meadows | Borough | 869 |
14 | Parryville | Borough | 525 |
15 | Holiday Pocono | CDP | 476 |
16 | Weissport | Borough | 412 |
17 | East Side | Borough | 317 |
18 | Albrightsville | CDP | 202 |
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.
East Penn Township is a rural township in the rough uplands terrain of the eastern Mahoning Hills area of 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.
Mahoning Township is a township in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 4,305 at the 2010 census, up from 3,978 at the 2000 census.
Pennsylvania Route 248 is a 31.3 mi (50.4 km) long state highway in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The western terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 209 in Weissport East, a CDP in Franklin Township. The eastern terminus is at PA 611 in Easton. The route begins at US 209 in Carbon County and heads southeast parallel to the Lehigh River as a four-lane divided highway to Bowmanstown, where it becomes a freeway and heads through Palmerton. Upon crossing Lehigh Gap in Blue Mountain, PA 248 enters Northampton County and becomes a two-lane undivided highway that heads southeast through rural areas, serving Bath and Nazareth. From here, the route runs southeast through suburban areas to Wilson, where it turns east and follows city streets through Easton.
The Lehigh Canal is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern regions of Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of 20 years beginning in 1818. The lower section spanned the distance between Easton and present-day Jim Thorpe. In Easton, the canal met the Pennsylvania Canal's Delaware Division and Morris Canals, which allowed anthracite coal and other goods to be transported further up the U.S. East Coast. At its height, the Lehigh Canal was 72 miles (116 km) long.
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.
Nesquehoning Creek is an east flowing 14.9-mile-long (24.0 km) tributary of the Lehigh River in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States.
Pennsylvania Route 903 is a 17.7-mile-long (28.5 km) state highway located in Carbon and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 209 in Jim Thorpe. The northern terminus is at PA 115 in Tunkhannock Township. The route runs through rural areas of the Pocono Mountains, with an interchange with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension in Penn Forest Township and a junction with PA 534 in Kidder Township. PA 903 is a two-lane undivided road nearly its entire length, besides the I-476 intersection. The route was designated in 1928 between US 209/US 309 in present-day Jim Thorpe, and a connecting road, now PA 115, south of Blakeslee. The highway was fully paved in the 1930s. Between 2008 and 2015, an E-ZPass-only interchange was constructed with I-476.
The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LCAN) (1988–2010) was a modern-day anthracite coal mining company headquartered in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. It acquired many properties and relaunched the Lehigh Coal Companies brand in 1988. The LCAN ran strip mining operations in the Panther Creek Valley east of Lansford, Pennsylvania along U.S. Route 209 with vast properties dominating the coal areas of Tamaqua, Coaldale, and Lansford.
Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company was a mining and transportation company headquartered in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, in present-day Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The company operated from 1818 until its dissolution in 1964 and played an early and influential role in the American Industrial Revolution.
Panther Creek is a west-draining left-bank tributary of the Little Schuylkill River's drainage basin and rises in the vicinity of the east side of Lansford in the plateau-like nearly flat terrain of the complex three-way saddle between Mount Pisgah to its east, Nesquehoning Ridge to the north and Pisgah Ridge to the south, both ridgelines flanking its entire course as it makes its way east-northeast to west-southwest.
Pisgah Mountain, or Pisgah Ridge on older USGS maps, is a ridgeline running 12.5 miles (20.1 km) from Tamaqua to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania from the Little Schuylkill River water gap to the Lehigh River water gap.
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.
Mauch Chunk Ridge or Mauch Chunk Mountain is a historically important barrier ridgeline north of the Blue Mountain escarpment and 3rd parallel ridgeline south of the Nesquehoning Creek after Nesquehoning Mountain and Pisgah Ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
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.
Lausanne Landing, Pennsylvania was a small settlement at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River. 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.
The Room Run Railroad was an early American gravity railroad with self-acting planes. It was built by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company to transport coal from the Room Run Mine in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania to landings at Mauch Chunk on the Lehigh River so it could be shipped on the Lehigh Canal to the Delaware River at Easton, Pennsylvania to markets in Philadelphia or New York City via the Delaware or Morris Canals.
The Panther Creek Railroad had its origins in 1849. The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (LC&N) constructed it between Lansford, PA and the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad operating as the Little Schuylkill Railroad in Tamaqua, PA. LC&N believed a direct route to take Panther Valley coal to eastern markets and a tunnel connecting Lansford to Hauto would open up possibilities with the Nesquehoning Valley Railroad. It also allowed the LC&N to cease coal shipments to the Lehigh Canal on the Summit Hill & Mauch Chunk Railroad, operating since 1827.