Cornwall, Pennsylvania

For other uses, see Cornwall (disambiguation).

Cornwall, Pennsylvania
Borough
Cornwall Iron Furnace
Keystone Marker
Location in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
Cornwall Location in Pennsylvania Show map of Pennsylvania Cornwall Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 40°16′23″N76°24′38″W / 40.27306°N 76.41056°W / 40.27306; -76.41056
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Lebanon
Settled	1734
Incorporated	1926
Government
• Type	Borough Council
• Council President	Carl Hilton (R)
Area [1]
• Total	9.76 sq mi (25.27 km2)
• Land	9.70 sq mi (25.13 km2)
• Water	0.05 sq mi (0.14 km2)
Elevation	554 ft (169 m)
Population  (2020) [2]
• Total	4,604
• Density	474.49/sq mi (183.20/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code	17016
Area code	717
FIPS code	42-16256
Website	www.cornwall-pa.com

Cornwall is a borough in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Lebanon, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,604 at the 2020 census. ^[3]

History

Cornwall was initially settled by Peter Grubb in 1734. ^[4] Peter was a Chester County stonemason who came to, what was then Lancaster County, in search of high quality stone for quarrying. First building his house and then a store, he discovered magnetite iron ore nearby and decided to test its quality, he found the ore to be exceedingly pure. Grubb wrote to Philadelphia and in 1734 was granted a warrant to purchase 300 acres (1.2 km²) of land. For three years Peter followed veins of ore until he found a large deposit that was easily accessible; however, this ore was not within the bounds of his property. So in 1737 he purchased an additional 142.5 acres (0.577 km²) of land. ^[5] In 1742 Peter built a cold blast furnace and named it Cornwall, after his father's birthplace in England. The Cornwall Iron Mine was, at one time, the largest open-pit mining operation in the world. They were mined continuously until June 30, 1973, totaling 236 years of production. ^[6]

Finding the necessary components nearby for smelting iron (water, limestone and timber for charcoal), Grubb built the Cornwall Iron Furnace and began production in 1742. The operation also included the Hopewell Forges on nearby Hammer Creek. Peter Grubb did not stay long to run the operation, but leased it out in 1745 for 20 years and returned to Wilmington, Delaware. In 1765 Peter's sons Curtis and Peter Jr. took over the operation, and in 1798 it passed to Robert Coleman and his family. Cornwall Furnace was in production from 1742 until 1883, and appears today much as it was when production ended. In 1932 the Coleman family deeded the property to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and it is now a designated National Historic Landmark open to the public. ^[7]

Eventually the whole town became known as Cornwall. It was incorporated as a borough on October 11, 1926, after having been a part of Lancaster County and for a while of Dauphin County. At the time it officially became a borough, it comprised six widely separated villages. ^[8]

Alden Villa was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. ^[9]

Geography

Cornwall is located at 40°16′23″N76°24′38″W / 40.27306°N 76.41056°W / 40.27306; -76.41056 (40.273192, -76.410667). ^[10]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 9.9 square miles (26 km²), of which 9.8 square miles (25 km²) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) (1.11%) is water.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1930	1,837		—
1940	1,680		−8.5%
1950	1,760		4.8%
1960	1,934		9.9%
1970	2,111		9.2%
1980	2,653		25.7%
1990	3,231		21.8%
2000	3,486		7.9%
2010	4,112		18.0%
2020	4,604		12.0%
Sources: [11] [12] [13] [2]

As of the census ^[12] of 2000, there were 3,486 people, 1,210 households, and 965 families residing in the borough. The population density was 357.2 inhabitants per square mile (137.9/km²). There were 1,261 housing units at an average density of 129.2 units per square mile (49.9 units/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 97.79% White, 0.34% African American, 0.20% Native American, 1.06% Asian, 0.32% from other races, and 0.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.75% of the population.

There were 1,210 households, out of which 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.9% were married couples living together, 4.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.2% were non-families. 17.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 20.9% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 28.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.9 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $59,550, and the median income for a family was $66,964. Males had a median income of $44,926 versus $28,125 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $27,904. About 1.1% of families and 1.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.0% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

References

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 9 July 2022.
4. Dieffenbach, Susan (2003-01-01). Cornwall Iron Furnace: Pennsylvania Trail of History Guide. Stackpole Books. ISBN   9780811726245.
5. Oblinger, Carl D.; Commission, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum (1984-06-01). Cornwall: the people and culture of an industrial Camelot, 1890-1980. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. ISBN   9780892710287.
6. Boyer, Charles; Donley, Robert (2011-01-01). Cornwall. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   9780738574653.
7. Dieffenbach, Susan (2003). Cornwall Iron Furnace, Pennsylvania Trail of History Guide. Stackpole Books.
8. "History of Cornwall". www.cornwall-pa.com.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
9. "National Register of Historic Places Listings". Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 4/18/11 through 4/22/11. National Park Service. 2011-04-29.
10. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
11. "Census of Population and Housing". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
12. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved 2008-01-31.
13. "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.

External links

• Official website