Murrysville, Pennsylvania

Murrysville, Pennsylvania
Home rule municipality
Hills in Murrysville
Flag Seal
Location of Murrysville in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
Murrysville Show map of Pennsylvania Murrysville Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 40°26′5″N79°39′24″W / 40.43472°N 79.65667°W / 40.43472; -79.65667
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Westmoreland
Settled	1788 (as Franklin Township)
Government
• Mayor	Regis J. Synan
• Chief Administrator	Michael L. Nestico
Area [1]
• Total	36.84 sq mi (95.41 km2)
• Land	36.83 sq mi (95.39 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.02 km2)
Elevation	1,110 ft (338.3 m)
Population  (2020) [2]
• Total	21,006
• Density	570.35/sq mi (220.21/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (Eastern)
ZIP code	15668, 15632 [3]
Area code(s)	724, 412
FIPS code	42-52432
Website	www.murrysville.com

Murrysville is a home rule municipality in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 21,006 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

History

The approximate site where the Haymaker brothers struck natural gas in Murrysville on November 3, 1878

The Haymaker Gas Well in Murrysville was the nation's first commercial natural gas well. For some time, it remained the largest commercial gas well in the world. ^[4] The well was drilled in 1878, and until a gas pipe line was attached to the well in 1883, approximately 35 million cubic feet of gas a day was released into the atmosphere, resulting in a total of about 60 billion cubic feet of natural gas released into the atmosphere from this single site ^[5] Murrysville was described in the first half of the 20th century as being "the center of a district dotted with gas wells, the first of which was bored in 1878; wild speculation in leases precipitated the open conflict known as the 'Haymaker Riots,' named for the speculator killed in one of them." ^[6]

Since 1933, Murrysville has had a "tree sign" spelling out the word "Murrysville". The trees were landscaped to grow and form the letters by local Boy Scouts. The sign is situated on a large hill as one enters the Municipality from the Murrysville–Monroeville border, near U.S. Route 22. In 1947, the sign was featured in "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" as the world's largest arboreal sign. ^[7] (It is no longer the world's largest). The "Y" in the Murrysville sign points to the Haymaker Gas Well.

In 1977, Murrysville was designated the "Gateway to Westmoreland County" by Mayor Walt Dollman in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce. In 2012, community leaders upgraded sign and landscaping elaborately at the main entrance at the Allegheny / Westmoreland border featuring this designation. As is shown at the introduction of this page, the Gateway designation is featured on the official Seal of the Municipality.

Murrysville became a home rule municipality in August 1976, when its electorate voted for a Charter designating it a Municipality. ^[8]

Geography

Murrysville is located at 40°26′5″N79°39′24″W / 40.43472°N 79.65667°W / 40.43472; -79.65667 (40.434828, -79.656724). ^[9] It is roughly 20 miles east of Pittsburgh on U.S. Route 22, ^[10] just east of the county line that separates Westmoreland and Allegheny counties. Murrysville is a control city on the sign for eastbound US 22 at the eastern end of I-376 in Monroeville.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the municipality had a total area of 36.9 square miles (96 km²), of which, 36.9 square miles (96 km²) of it is land and 0.03% is water.

Among the neighborhoods within Murrysville are Murrysville Heights, Heather Highlands, Franklin Estates, Settlers Ridge (The Ridge), Dunningtown, Newlonsburg, Ringertown, Sardis, and White Valley. Murrysville surrounds, but does not include, the Borough of Export, which is a separate municipal entity.

Surrounding municipalities

Murrysville has eight borders, including Upper Burrell Township to the north, Washington Township to the north and east, Salem Township to the south and southeast, Delmont to the southeast, Penn Township to the south, and the Allegheny County municipalities of Monroeville to the southwest and Plum to the west. The borough of Export is situated inside Murrysville in the south-southeast section.

Demographics

As of the census ^[11] of 2000, there were 18,872 people, 7,083 households, and 5,630 families located in the municipality. The population density was 511.0 inhabitants per square mile (197.3/km²). There were 7,396 housing units at an average density of 200.3 per square mile (77.3/km²). The racial makeup of the Municipality was 95.38% White, 0.61% African American, 0.05% Native American, 3.28% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.16% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.56% of the population.

There were 7,083 households, out of which 34.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.8% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.5% were non-families. 18.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.01.

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1880	81		—
1930	3,535		—
1940	3,797		7.4%
1950	4,937		30.0%
1960	8,517		72.5%
1970	12,244		43.8%
1980	16,036		31.0%
1990	17,240		7.5%
2000	18,872		9.5%
2010	20,079		6.4%
2020	21,006		4.6%
source:, [12] [13] [2]

In the Municipality population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 30.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.1 males.

The median income for a household in the Municipality was $64,071, and the median income for a family was $72,740. Males had a median income of $58,553 versus $32,567 for females. The per capita income for the Municipality was $32,017. About 2.2% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Murrysville is governed by a mayor (currently Regis J. Synan) ^[14] who is elected every two years and has executive/administrative powers, and a seven-member council, whose members are elected every four years and have precise legislative powers. ^[15]

In the mid-1970s, as suburban growth began to occur, the community rapidly transitioned through three forms of government (township, borough, and home rule) and four legal name changes (Franklin Township, Franklin Borough, Murrysville Borough, and Municipality of Murrysville). Since 1976, it has operated under its Home Rule Charter as the Municipality of Murrysville.

On Dec. 6, 2023, Murrysville Council approved gas fracking beneath its two largest parks, Duff and Murrysville Community Park, over the objections of at least 174 residents who petitioned Council. No plan was presented for using the incoming money from the leases. Council member Jason Lemak pointed to fracking operations around the Beaver Run Reservoir “We’re talking about parks, but there has been fracking going on for a long time below the water supply for us and 120,000 people,” he said. ^[16]

On Dec. 18, 2023, the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County issued a mandatory water conservation order for Murrysville and others, including energy companies using water from the Beaver Run Reservoir for fracking, due to an ongoing drought. ^[17] In the Department of Environmental Protection’s 2021 Climate Change Impacts Assessment, it is noted that precipitation patterns are expected to change over the next century. Those changes are likely to include more extreme and intense rainfall — something scientists already have reported noticing — and increased drier weather in between and drought, along with higher temperatures. ^[18] “In general, we expect worse drought over most of the U.S. as a result of human-caused warming, and Western Pennsylvania is no exception,” said Michael Mann, a professor and director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Our Fragile Moment.” ^[19]

Education

Murrysville is part of the Franklin Regional School District. The district operates four schools: Franklin Regional Primary School, Franklin Regional Intermediate School, Franklin Regional Middle School, and Franklin Regional High School, with Dr. Gennaro Piraino as the district's superintendent. ^[20] The district's high school boasts a graduation rate of 99.3% compared to the national average for public high schools of 82% ^[21] and is ranked #213 in Newsweek's 2016 "America's Top High Schools". ^[22] Private schools include Mother of Sorrows Catholic School. The Free Gospel Bible Institute (FGBI), a Holiness Pentecostal bible college, is located in Murrysville. ^[23]

Notable people

• Julie Benz (born 1972), actress
• Jeremiah Burrell (1815–1856), Western Pennsylvania lawyer and judge
• Bobby Engram (born 1973), Seattle Seahawks wide receiver; San Francisco 49ers assistant offensive coordinator
• Eli Evankovich (born 1982), PA House of Representatives, 54th District
• Tom Flynn (born 1962), defensive back for Green Bay Packers and New York Giants
• Josiah Given (1828–1908) attorney, soldier and Supreme Court justice of Iowa
• Spencer Lee (born 1998), Cadet and Junior World Champion in freestyle wrestling, three-time NCAA wrestling National Champion at the University of Iowa
• Ken Macha (born 1950), Milwaukee Brewers manager and major league third baseman
• Robert Moose (1947–1976), Pittsburgh Pirates, pitcher 1967–1976
• Manu Narayan (born 1973), actor
• Candace Otto (born 1980), Miss Pennsylvania 2003
• Maddie Ziegler (born 2002), dancer and actress ^[24]
• Mackenzie Ziegler (born 2004), dancer, singer, model and actress ^[24]

See also

• Westmoreland Conservancy
• Nonprofit citizen environmental group Protect P-T

References

1. "ArcGIS REST Services Directory". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
2. "Census Population API". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
3. "Murrysville PA ZIP Code". zipdatamaps.com. 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
4. "Murrysville Gas Well Historical Marker". ExplorePAHistory.com. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
5. Muller, Edward K. (1994). Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania : an inventory of historic engineering and industrial sites. Washington, DC: National Park Service. p. 323. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
6. Federal Writers' Project (1940). Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State (1st ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 394.
7. Cleary, Caitlin (June 6, 2005). "Murrysville landmark is fading from view". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
8. Population Estimates Boundary Changes Archived 2006-02-06 at the Wayback Machine , United States Census Bureau, 2007-07-01. Accessed 2008-11-06.
9. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
10. "Murrysville: United States". Geographical names. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
11. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau . Retrieved January 31, 2008.
12. "Land Patterns" (PDF). Municipality of Murrysville. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 8, 2004. Retrieved October 26, 2007.
13. "About Murrysville". Municipality of Murrysville. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
14. "Welcome from the Mayor". The Municipality of Murrysville. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
15. Murrysville Council Archived 2012-05-12 at the Wayback Machine
16. Varine, Patrick (December 6, 2023). "Murrysville Council OKs lease for gas, oil rights under 2 parks". TribLIVE.com. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
17. Cholodofsky, Rich (December 18, 2023). "Westmoreland municipal authority issues mandatory water conservation order". TribLIVE.com. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
18. "Impacts". Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
19. Signorini, Renatta (December 20, 2023). "Shrinking resource: Customers heed conservation order but Beaver Run Reservoir continues drop toward record-low level". TribLIVE.com. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
20. "Franklin Regional School District" . Retrieved January 25, 2020.
21. http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-high-school-graduation-rate-hits-new-record-high-0 U.S. High School Graduation Rate Hits New Record High | US Department of Education
22. http://www.newsweek.com/high-schools/americas-top-high-schools-2016 America's Top High Schools 2016 | Newsweek
23. Scott, Rebekah (January 5, 2006). "Murrysville Bible school produces teachers, preachers, prophets and apostles". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved June 17, 2022.
24. Rouvalis, Christina (October 21, 2013). "Inside the 'Dance Moms' Empire". Pittsburgh Magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2017.

External links

• Municipality website
• Murrysville's official Community Magazine
• Murrysville Economic and Community Development Corporation
• The Murrysville Star
• Murrysville Business Directory
• News articles about the Murrysville tree sign and efforts to restore it: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 16, 2006
• Penn-Franklin News, based in Murrysville