Mount Joy, Pennsylvania | |
---|---|
Mount Joy post office | |
![]() Location in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania | |
Coordinates: 40°06′36″N76°30′40″W / 40.11000°N 76.51111°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
County | Lancaster |
Government | |
• Mayor | Timothy D. Bradley Jr. (R) |
Area | |
• Total | 2.43 sq mi (6.28 km2) |
• Land | 2.41 sq mi (6.24 km2) |
• Water | 0.02 sq mi (0.04 km2) |
Elevation | 371 ft (113 m) |
Population | |
• Total | 8,325 |
• Density | 3,452.92/sq mi (1,333.22/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP code | 17552 |
Area codes | 717 and 223 |
Website | www |
Mount Joy is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,346 at the 2020 census, and an estimated 8,323 in 2021. [3]
The name is often shortened to "Mt Joy", as in Mencken (1963). [4] However, citizens of the town often point out that this abbreviation is not proper because the town is not named for a mountain but is named after the "Good Ship" Mountjoy which famously broke a Catholic siege during the Siege of Derry. [5] Due to the early settlement of the Protestant Scots-Irish in this region of Pennsylvania, many of the municipalities in the area were given names common to the North of Ireland, such as Derry Township, Londonderry Township, South Londonderry Township, Mount Joy Township, East Donegal Township, West Donegal Township, and Rapho Township.
Mount Joy is often named in lists of "delightfully-named towns" in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, along with Intercourse, Blue Ball, Lititz, Bareville, Bird-in-Hand and Paradise. [6] [7] [8] [9] [4]
Mount Joy is located in northwestern Lancaster County at 40°6′36″N76°30′40″W / 40.11000°N 76.51111°W (40.109895, -76.510977). [10] Pennsylvania Route 230 passes through the center of town as Main Street, leading southeast 12 miles (19 km) to Lancaster, the county seat, and northwest 6 miles (10 km) to Elizabethtown. Harrisburg, the state capital, is 25 miles (40 km) to the northwest via PA-230. PA-772 crosses PA-230 west of the borough center and leads northeast 7 miles (11 km) to Manheim and southwest 5 miles (8 km) to Marietta on the Susquehanna River.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6.3 km2), of which 0.02 square miles (0.04 km2), or 0.64%, are water. [11] Little Chiques Creek, a south-flowing tributary of Chiques Creek and part of the Susquehanna River watershed, crosses the eastern side of the borough.
In the 1970s, Mount Joy was chosen as the site of one of ten Decision Information Distribution System radio stations, designed to alert the public of an enemy attack. The system was never implemented and the station was not built.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1860 | 1,729 | — | |
1870 | 1,896 | 9.7% | |
1880 | 2,058 | 8.5% | |
1890 | 1,848 | −10.2% | |
1900 | 2,018 | 9.2% | |
1910 | 2,166 | 7.3% | |
1920 | 2,192 | 1.2% | |
1930 | 2,716 | 23.9% | |
1940 | 2,855 | 5.1% | |
1950 | 3,006 | 5.3% | |
1960 | 3,292 | 9.5% | |
1970 | 5,041 | 53.1% | |
1980 | 5,680 | 12.7% | |
1990 | 6,398 | 12.6% | |
2000 | 6,765 | 5.7% | |
2010 | 7,410 | 9.5% | |
2020 | 8,346 | 12.6% | |
2021 (est.) | 8,323 | [3] | −0.3% |
Sources: [12] [13] [14] [15] [2] |
The 2010 United States Census reports the following demographics for Mount Joy Borough: [16]
In the years since then many of these names have been changed to more elegant ones,2 and others have vanished with the ghost towns they adorned, but not a few still hang on. Indeed, there are plenty of lovely specimens to match them in the East, in regions that were also frontier in their days, e.g., the famous cluster in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania: Bird in Hand, Bareville, Blue Ball, Mt. Joy, Intercourse and Paradise.
...in such delightfully-named towns in Pennsylvania Dutchland as his native Mount Joy, and neighboring Lititz, Blue Ball, Bareville, Intercourse, Bird in Hand, and Paradise.
"...but anyone who names their towns Mount Joy, Intercourse, and Blue Ball can't be all bad. Obviously they have more on their minds than just religion."
Which brings us to Intercourse. You can imagine my delight when I found out that the Amish call the town of Intercourse, Pennsylvania, their home. There seems to be a lot of explanations from locals trying to pass off the name as a bastardisation of 'Enter Course' and so on, but seeing as there are other local towns called Blue Ball, Bird In Hand, and Mount Joy, I suspect that the person responsible had a very juvenile sense of humour. The town sits in upstate Pennsylvania and is a tourist trap for anyone even remotely curious about the Amish way of life.
Lancaster County, sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 552,984, making it Pennsylvania's sixth-most populous county. Its county seat is also Lancaster. Lancaster County comprises the Lancaster metropolitan statistical area. The county is part of the South Central region of the state.
Elizabethtown is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Harrisburg, the state capital. Small factories existed at the turn of the 20th century when the population in 1900 was 1,861. As of the 2020 census, the population of the borough was 11,639. Elizabethtown is commonly referred to in south-central Pennsylvania as E-Town. This nickname is also used for the local college and high school.
Intercourse is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, 10 miles (16 km) east of Lancaster on Pennsylvania Route 340. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,494, up from 1,274 at the previous census.
Lititz is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, 9 miles (14 km) north of the city of Lancaster. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 9,370.
Manheim is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,064 at the 2020 census. The borough was named after Kerpen-Manheim, Germany.
Marietta is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,633 at the 2020 census. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, northwest of Columbia.
Paradise is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a ZIP code of 17562. The population was 1,129 at the 2010 census.
Rheems is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, between the boroughs of Elizabethtown and Mount Joy. The population was 1,598 during the 2010 census.
Bird-in-Hand is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, in East Lampeter Township. The "Bird in Hand" ZIP code extends east from the CDP into Leacock and Upper Leacock townships. The community has a large Amish and Mennonite population. As of the 2010 census, the population within the CDP was 402.
East Donegal Township is a township in northwestern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 8,690.
Leacock-Leola-Bareville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 6,625. The area is heavily populated by the Amish and Mennonites. Bareville is often named in lists of "delightfully-named towns" in Pennsylvania Dutchland, along with Intercourse, Blue Ball, Lititz, Mount Joy, Bird-in-Hand and Paradise.
Mount Joy Township is a township that is located in northwestern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,753 at the time of the 2020 census.
Rothsville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,044 at the 2010 census. Lititz is the town for residents' mailing addresses.
Donegal is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a distinct municipality from the adjacent Donegal Township. The population was 103 at the 2020 census. Donegal is best known as an exit on the Pennsylvania Turnpike with restaurants, gas stations, and two hotels for travelers.
Salunga is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in West Hempfield and East Hempfield townships in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,695. The community was once part of the Salunga-Landisville CDP, before splitting into two separate CDPs for the 2010 census, the other being Landisville.
Leola is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes the unincorporated communities of Leola, Leacock, and Bareville, and prior to 2010 was known as the Leacock-Leola-Bareville census-designated place. Originally named "Mechanicsburg", its present name is a portmanteau of "Leacock" and the "Glenola" train station that once served the town. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 7,214.
Brownstown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in West Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,816.
Blue Ball is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in East Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. Blue Ball lies approximately 2 miles (3 km) east-northeast of the borough of New Holland at the intersection of US 322 and PA Route 23. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,031.
Pennsylvania Route 772 is an east–west 38.5-mile-long (62.0 km) state highway located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The western terminus of PA 772 is at PA 441 in Marietta, and its eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 30 just west of Gap. The route is mostly a two-lane road that passes through rural areas of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country to the north of the city of Lancaster. The highway goes through the boroughs of Mount Joy, Manheim, and Lititz, along with the villages of Rothsville, Leola, and Intercourse.
Penryn is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Penn Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 1,024.