Zionsville, Pennsylvania | |
---|---|
Unincorporated community | |
Location of Zionsville in Pennsylvania | |
Coordinates: 40°28′47″N75°30′19″W / 40.47972°N 75.50528°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Pennsylvania |
County | Lehigh |
Townships | Upper Milford, Lower Milford |
Elevation | 200 m (600 ft) |
Population | |
• Metro | 865,310 (US: 68th) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP Code | 18092 |
Area code(s) | 610 and 484 |
Primary airport | Lehigh Valley International Airport |
Major hospital | Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest |
School district | East Penn |
Zionsville is a village mostly in Upper Milford Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania with parts of the village located in Lower Milford Township. The West Branch Hosensack Creek forms its natural southeastern boundary and drains it via the Hosensack Creek to the Perkiomen Creek.
Zionsville is part of the Lehigh Valley, which has a population of 861,899 and is the 68th-most populated metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census. Its ZIP Code is 18092.
The area of modern-day Zionsville was once inhabited by the Lenape Indian tribes. [4]
The Lenape tribes were known to live along river fronts or creeks and relied on fertile land around these areas for farming purposes. Due to the extensive and repetitive harvesting and planting of the same land, however, it degraded its quality and eventually was unable to sustain crop growth on these lands. The led them to become largely uninhabitable, and the tribes slowly left the area.
In the 17th century, Dutch colonists arrived into the area and began buying animal pelts from the Lenape in exchange for European products. In 1682, William Penn and Quaker colonists arrived and founded the Pennsylvania Colony in the lower Delaware River. A peace treaty was signed between newly arriving British and Lenape tribes. However, in the decades building up an estimated 20,000 colonists arrived in the area, forcing the Lenape to be displaced or assimilate. [5]
When William Penn died in 1718, his two sons, John and Thomas Penn, along with leaders running the colony, ceased practicing William Penn's policies. Attempting to gain more money, they began considering selling land belonging to the Lenape in a agreement with the Penn family now known as the Walking Purchase. The Lenape were displaced from their land in the agreement, and began raiding Pennsylvanian settlements. By 1788, however, most of the remaining Lenape began leaving Pennsylvania to settle in what was then known as Ohio Country, which included parts of present-day Western Pennsylvania, northwestern West Virginia, most of Ohio, and southeastern Indiana. [6] [7]
Old Zionsville was founded in 1734 by a group of German settlers on Kings Highway Road, building multiple churches in the region with the oldest being a log cabin built in 1740 which is no longer standing. [8] [9]
Zionsville is home to the historic Dillingersville Union School and Church, first built in 1735. [10]
Present-day Zionsville was originally part of Old Zionsville until 1876 when Perkiomen Railroad was constructed around a mile southeast of Old Zionsville, leading to the founding of what was then called Zionsville Station. The name was later changed to New Zionsville and then again to its present name of Zionsville. [11]
In January 2009, the Zionsville Post Office closed after the U.S. Postal Service refused to renew its lease. It served portions of Upper Milford, Lower Milford, and Hereford Township, including the villages of Corning, Dillingersville, Hosensack, Powder Valley, Sigmund, and some Five Points residents.
The residents of the ZIP Code 18092 have since been served by the Hereford Post Office but allowed to maintain the use of "Zionsville, PA 18092" as a legal part of the addresses. Zionsville PO Box customers have been hosted by the Old Zionsville Post Office while packages and certified mail that have to be signed for must be picked up in Hereford. [12] [13]
On June 9, 2020, a shipping container containing modified fireworks accidentally detonated along Orchard Road causing a large mushroom cloud that was visible for miles. The explosion set another shipping container ablaze and caused another explosion, causing fireworks to launch into the air, setting nearby corn fields on fire and damaging property. Firefighters were dispatched, the fire was quickly extinguished, and officials discovered the body of Brian Ehret, the owner of the property.
An investigation into the explosion by state officials and the ATF determined that terrorism was not involved in the explosion, and that Ehret had been modifying fireworks when the trailer caught ablaze and exploded. It is still unknown how the initial fire was started. [14] [15]
As of the 2010 census, the population of Zionsville was 3,223. Among the population, 97.1% of the population is white, 0.3% is black, 0.2% is Native American, and 1.1% is Asian. [16] The zip code is in Upper Milford and Lower Milford townships and, to a very small extent, in Hereford Township.
Lehigh Crane Iron Company once maintained a hematite mine in Zionsville, which was served by the north-to-south Perkiomen Branch of the Reading Railroad. This line remains active north from Pennsuburg to Emmaus as a branch of the East Penn Railroad. [17]
The climate type is very mild with the summer having high temperatures and humidity, and the winter containing cold to very cold temperatures and an average snowfall of 29.0" inches. According to the Koppen Climate Classification system, Zionsville is within the Humid Subtropical climate.
Zionsville is part of the East Penn School District. Students in grades 9-12 attend Emmaus High School. Students in grades six through eight attend either Eyer Middle School or Lower Macungie Middle School, both located in Macungie. Part of Zionsville, near the village's end in Lower Milford Township, is in the Southern Lehigh School District, where high school students attend Southern Lehigh High School in Center Valley.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Lehigh County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 374,557. Its county seat is Allentown, the state's third-largest city after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Hereford Township is a township in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the easternmost municipality within Berks County. Its population was 2,969 at the 2020 census. It is in Upper Perkiomen School District.
Lower Macungie Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The township's population was 31,964 as of the 2020 census, making it the second-largest population center in Lehigh County after Allentown and the third-largest population center in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area after Allentown and Bethlehem.
Lower Milford Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The population of Lower Milford Township was 3,775 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.
Macungie is the second oldest borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Macungie had a population of 3,257.
Upper Milford Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The township's population was 7,292 at the 2010 census. Upper Milford Township is a suburb of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
Upper Saucon Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census. The township had a population of 16,973 as of the 2020 census.
Shimerville is an unincorporated community, located on Pennsylvania Route 100 and Pennsylvania Route 29 South in Upper Milford Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The community is located outside and to the south of Macungie and to the west of Vera Cruz. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which has a population of 861,899 and is the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
Pennsylvania Route 29 is a 118-mile-long (190 km) north–south state highway that runs through most of eastern Pennsylvania.
East Penn School District is a large public school district in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Established in 1952, it was initially known as the East Penn Union School District.
Perkiomen Creek is a 37.7-mile-long (60.7 km) tributary of the Schuylkill River in Berks, Lehigh and Montgomery counties, Pennsylvania. The water course was also named Perquaminck Creek, on Thomas Holme's 1687 map.
Cedar Crest Boulevard, colloquially known as Cedar Crest and The Boulevard, is a major north-south highway in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. South of Interstate 78 (I-78), the road is part of Pennsylvania Route 29. North of it, the road becomes State Route 1019.
Vera Cruz is a small village in Upper Milford Township, Pennsylvania located south of Emmaus. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which has a population of 861,899 and is the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
Old Zionsville is an unincorporated community in Upper Milford Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which has a population of 861,899 and is the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
Powder Valley is a village in southern Upper Milford Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Powder Valley is part of the Lehigh Valley, which has a population of 861,899 and is the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
Hosensack (HOE-zen-sak) is an unincorporated community in Lower Milford Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, which has a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
Swabia Creek is a tributary of Little Lehigh Creek in Berks and Lehigh Counties in the eastern Pennsylvania region of the Lehigh Valley.
Five Points is a village in Hereford Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, located on the Perkiomen Creek near the boundary with Lehigh County. It is named for the intersection of Deer Hill, Five Points, Sigmund, Township, and Weaver Roads. The village of Hereford is located less than two miles to the southeast. It is split between the ZIP codes of Barto 19504, Macungie 18062, and Zionsville 18092.
Corning is a village in far southern Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, located in both Upper Milford and Lower Milford Townships. It borders Berks and Montgomery Counties.
Sigmund is an unincorporated community in Upper Milford Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Sigmund is located near Perkiomen Creek, a tributary of the Schuylkill River. It is a suburb of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley, which has a population of 861,899 and is the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.