Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

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Fort Washington is an unincorporated census-designated place and suburb of Philadelphia in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,680 at the 2000 census.

Contents 1 History 1.1 American Revolutionary War 1.2 Great Train Wreck of 1856 1.3 Incorporation into Upper Dublin Township 2 Business and industry 2.1 Fort Washington Office Park 2.2 Fort Washington Expo Center 3 Geography 4 Churches and Synagogues 5 Schools 6 Demographics 7 Points of interest 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

[edit] American Revolutionary War

During the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War, George Washington and the Continental Army were encamped here after their October 4, 1777 defeat at the Battle of Germantown, and immediately prior to their march to Valley Forge. From December 5 - December 8, 1777, the Battle of White Marsh was fought here between British and American forces. Throughout the encampment, Washington was headquartered at the Emlen House, built by Quaker George Emlen in 1745. British commander General William Howe observed the American lines from the belltower of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church (at Bethlehem Pike and Camp Hill Road), site of the British encampment on December 5. Today, Fort Washington State Park contains the area in which the primary American defenses were situated.

[edit] Great Train Wreck of 1856

On July 17, 1856, Fort Washington was the site of one of the worst train accidents in the United States (The Great Train Wreck of 1856). On this day, two North Pennsylvania Railroad trains collided with one another near the Sandy Run station (later renamed to Camp Hill, now the defunct Felwick Station). The exact number of deaths is debated, but 59 were killed instantly and dozens more perished from their injuries. Many of the dead were children from St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church from the Kensington section of Philadelphia, who were traveling to Shaeff's Woods, a park in the Fort Washington area, for a sunday school picnic.[1]

[edit] Incorporation into Upper Dublin Township

On January 1, 1946, the Township of Upper Dublin was created, and in doing so, encompassed Fort Washington along with nine other communities. Parts of Fort Washington were also incorporated into Whitemarsh Township.

[edit] Business and industry

[edit] Fort Washington Office Park

The primary center of business and industry in the Township is the Fort Washington Office Park, which occupies 536 acres (2.2 km²) and contains six million square feet (560,000 m²) of building space. There are more than 65 buildings of various sizes up to 658,535 square feet (61,000 m²). The park contains the offices of over one-hundred different companies, including Honeywell, Aetna, AccuWeather, Eastern National, Genworth Financial and a suburban campus of Temple University. It also contains the corporate headquarters of Johnson & Johnson division McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals, marketers of over-the-counter and prescription pharmaceuticals including Tylenol® (acetaminophen) and Motrin® IB (ibuprofen) products. Their building is based on a 110 acre (450,000 m²) site and has a workforce of 2,600 employees. The office park was also home to the corporate headquarters of CDNOW, the pioneering online music retailer. In recent years, the Fort Washington Office Park has experienced a vacancy rate higher than that of other commercial/industrial parks in the region, due in some part to problems with flooding. ^{[1] [2]}

[edit] Fort Washington Expo Center

The Fort Washington Office Park was also home to the Fort Washington Expo Center. Opened in 1993, the Expo Center had hosted some of the region's biggest consumer and trade shows, and at 290,000 square feet, was the largest such suburban venue in the northeastern United States. The Expo Center closed in 2006, after the building was sold to owners who intend to convert the building into office space. ^[3]

[edit] Geography

Fort Washington is located at 40°8′19″N, 75°11′29″W (40.138559, -75.191419)^GR1. It is located approximately 15 minutes outside of Northwest Philadelphia and 30 minutes outside of center city Philadelphia.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the community has a total area of 7.1 km² (2.7 mi²), all land.

[edit] Churches and Synagogues

Most residents of Fort Washington are either Christian or Jewish. The most common Christian denominations include Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Roman Catholics. However, the majority of residents are relatively non-practicing, although many do attend religious services on Holy days.

There are four churches and one synagogue located in Fort Washington:

• Church of the Open Door (nondenominational)
• Or Hadash (Reconstructionist)
• St. Paul's United Church of Christ
• St. Thomas' Church Whitemarsh (Episcopal) (founded in 1698)
• Trinity Lutheran Church

[edit] Schools

Residents living in the Upper Dublin portion of Fort Washington are served by the Upper Dublin School District, while those living in parts incorporated into Whitemarsh are served by Colonial School District.

Public

• Fort Washington Elementary School (K-5)
• Upper Dublin High School (9-12) (ranked as the 8th best high school in the state) [2]

Private

• Germantown Academy (PK-12) (oldest nonsectarian day school in the country)
• Lakeside School (7-12)
• New Horizons Montessori School (PK-5)
• Open Door Christian Academy (PK-8)

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 3,680 people, 1,161 households, and 1,013 families residing in the community. The population density was 520.5/km² (1,349.9/mi²). There were 1,173 housing units at an average density of 165.9/km² (430.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the community was 91.30% White, 3.04% African American, 0.08% Native American, 5.03% Asian (0.46% Asian Indian, 2.20% Chinese, 1.93% Korean, 0.16% Vietnamese, 0.27% Other Asian), 0.11% from other races, and 0.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.71% of the population.(0.08% Mexican, 0.19% Puerto Rican, 0.11% Cuban, 0.33% Other Hispanic). 90.65% of the population is White, non-Hispanic.

There were 1,161 households out of which 45.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 81.7% were married couples living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.7% were non-families. 10.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was 3.32.

The population is spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 32.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.

The median income for a household in the community was $103,469, and the median income for a family was $112,863. Males had a median income of $76,205 versus $37,321 for females. The per capita income for the community was $43,090. About 1.5% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Points of interest

• Fort Washington State Park
• The Highlands Mansion & Garden
• Hope Lodge
• Clifton House

[edit] References